Age you must be mad I would never go back to Japs now. You buy them and they look all nice and people come up to you at meets for the first 12months and ask this and that and then the Japs bring out another model and no one wants to know you anymore and you just blend in to the mass. I have had my 999S for 3 years and it gets as much attention as the day I bought it. Even if you dont like the look of the 999 it still draws because its a Ducati. I bet your 996 is still the same. Ducatis are not 2 a penny, but I am affraid Jap stuff is. Like you I look at new Jap stuff and think that looks good but after a while I know I would be bored by the sterile feel and lack of character. My cousin bought a ZX10 and ordered it in Orange to be different. He said to me when he got it that his bike would no longer be put in the shadows by my Duke. Well he was right to a point but was frustrated by how many people would walk over at meets, look at his bike say that looks good but then carry on over to mine and stay talking to me for a while. Now after 12 months nobody is even looking because there is a Suzuki thou or something else Jap which is brand new. I still have my little band of people chit chatting about the Duke though.
