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Here is reality for me...I have been riding sport bikes only for about 10 years. I love going fast. I had a Kawasaki ZX-7R I loved that bike. Then I got my Ducati 996. My first experience with the 916-998 bike was I heard it first for 2 blocks. WOW!!! what a sound! Then I saw it for the first time with its front wheel in the air. As it wheelied past me it set off a couple of car alarms at the car dealership I was working at. WOW!!! what stunning machine. That bike has been my goal ever since. The Ducati has an emotion to it the Japanese bikes have never had and I doubt ever will. I still miss my Kawasaki, I enjoyed the bike very much, but there wasn't that emotion that comes with the Ducati. The Duc is 10x's easier to work on, get ready for track days, etc. I will also say, the newer Ducatis have lost some of the emotion, charm and simplicity. My buddy had a 1098 (same guy who owned the 916 then a 998) he said it was a nightmare to just take the body panels off, especially compared to the 916-998 series.
IMHO - Don't get the bike based on a stat sheet. You can go get the latest and greatest bike stats, and then "build" the motor and do all the stuff to your bike that will make it faster or lighter or lower, or more chrome...or....or. My bike has one major problem....ME! I can only make it go as fast as I make it go. At track days, I am the slowest guy there, but I have fun, I don't put others in harms way, and I don't put me in harms way. I don't have a ducati because I needed something to meet my level of riding, if that were the case I would be on a Vespa. I have a ducati based on the emotion it gives me. If the R1 gives you that emotion then don't waste your money on a ducati, if the BMW gives you that emotion, then who cares what it looks like.
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