New Design?

["Tom Brown" <tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Robert:

>><< Maybe BMW wants to remain a niche player selling underpowered
>>motorcycles at
>>inflated prices. The difference between Ducati and BMW who both have
>>high prices on their high end models is that Ducati delivers a bike
>>with significant power, not so for BMW. As far as sport touring models
>>go, Ducati's ST4 is less expensive than BMW K1200RS or R11RS. The same
>>goes for Aprilia, another niche player.

You know, when you just read Cycle World and compare specs, it's amazing
that everyone doesn't own a Kawasaki ZR6.

As someone who's owned an ST4, I can tell you that I just wasn't impressed.
The best things about this bike was the sound and the red paint.   It was
weak in low and mid range, the handling wasn't any better than my RT and the
maintenance is ridiculous.   A water cooled 4-valve Ducati engine should not
be used on a long distance touring bike.   Add chain drive to the equation
and I would no more take that thing across the country than a Jaguar XK-120.
I know there are people who do, but I'll just never be one of them.

I love the handling of RTs.   If you get them set up right, they are
extremely entertaining.  Add to this the fact that you can ride them all day
and they're hard to beat.

I'm on my 2nd RT.  I put 62,000 on my first and already have 8K on this new
one.   I upgraded because I got a terrific deal on this bike, not because I
needed it.   It was in great working order and looked terrific.   The new
bike is a little better and will not be a candidate for major work for quite
a while.   I'm happy.

I sold my '99 ST4 within 8 months of buying it.   The reasons for selling
were:  1. I bought a '00 Mille R and it was more comfortable than I thought
it would be.  The Mille was 10 times more fun to ride and actually quieter
too, even with a Leo Vinci CF can on it.   2.  The ST4 wasn't more fun to
ride than the RT and the RT was much more comfortable, reliable and
maintainable.

I still have the Mille and will keep it because it's so nice to ride if
you're not going more than 500 miles or so and the prices have fallen on
them quite a bit.  It's easy to maintain, reliable and a very good bike.  If
you can find a good deal on a 2000 RSV Mille R, buy it!

- -TB

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