| Just took my ST 4 in for 12 month service and got a Yamaha 250 Scooter as a loaner. Performs adequately in commuting chores, is smooth, pretty fast, quiet, great brakes, starts right up and rides right off everytime, has lots of storage, but is totally boring. The dealer said basically the same thing and he uses a Vespa 125 with panniers and rear luggage for commuting. He said there is no smile factor in the Yamadog, but he lights up everytime he rides the Vespers.... I like my ST4 mucho, but my first ride on an ST3 was a lot of fun and pretty surprising. Seemed to be smooth and responsive. A horsepower and torque boost would make it a pretty pleasant tourer I would imagine. Still, sad to see the 4 go. Dealer said there may be something new down the line, but he is not sure what. The 4 is pretty civilized, but it still lights me up everytime as there is that V-twin eroticism I guess. If Ducati chooses to lose that in exchange for more civilization, I think they will lose clientele at the same time. THere needs to be some roughness in the equation or you just end up riding a glorified scooter.
Finally, a poster made the remark that the Japanese are not innovators. I think we are well past that stage. There is so much innovation in Jap bikes that you are just not aware of. Innvovation is one of the last selling points of Japanese products as China continues to become the factory of the world. But declaring the Japanese to be non-innovators is a little like saying Brits don't know how to drink beer (Germans love that one).  | 
29-Nov-2005, 07:46 
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