Just walked into a well know Ducati/Kawasaki dealer & couldn't see anything that floated my boat. Multistradas looked like HGV I've just parked outside on tacho break, HS2 Kwaka/ v4 streetfighter looked positively plastic & others all boringly the same. Duval looked fun for scaring poo from pillion. Only hyperstrada/hypermotard made my bits twitch a tiny bit. New Monsters are butt fook ugley.
I've got 2 old 1990s crates & both stirr me more than this Germanic stuff. Think I'm going to test ride a zzr1400 as never tried a hypertourer.
Having owned Ducati's for 21 years now, I have to agree there isn't a lot I get excited about. I could have another Panigale a V4, but I'm not rushing to buy one plus I went and bought a KTM in lockdown, kind of tells me everything with the current line-up
From my browsing, both KTM and Aprilia have seen to get it for road bikes. You don't need mad hp and ridiculous top speed. Ducati seem to have given up with the road and touring market. Many people here do track days only and Ducati seem to cater for that. But if you want a European road bike the message is clear - GO AWAY!
We seeem to have become a world that doesn't cater for the fact that other people might think differently. If i am honest its 200bhp sportsbikes that no longer float my boat...but others like them so that's fine by me. Ducati has to start appealing to younger and a broader group of buyers otherwise it will not survive as a Company.
I can't imagine they aren't watching the RS660 to see if a premium offering in the middleweight twin sector sells.
My impression is that the people at the top of Audi/VW/WhoeverHoldsThePurseStrings give not one f*ck. They will quite happily kill Ducati thinking that the Ducati customers will all go out and buy Audis instead. You can see people here voting with their feet - and Ducati give not one f**k!!!
I take it you've had more than a quick spin now then? I have to say I love mine, it's bonkers when it needs to be and a nice ride the rest of the time. I've got mine booked in to have the suspension tweaked as it can be a little harsh here and there. Even took the missus out for a quick blast yesterday, it's smaller than the last time she was pillion (on a Multi many years ago) but she enjoyed it, even though it was snowing LOL!!!
If you read through this it seems like their strategy is the opposite, "The turnover per bike figure has grown to € 14,883/motorcycle (2019: € 13,500), representing the highest value ever reached in the history of the Company. This consistently reflects the strategy of evolving the product range towards the highest and premium part of the market.", and it does seem to be working for them. Their place in the Porsche SE portfolio now seems quite secure, which must mean that the shareholders and the boards of Audi, Volkswagen Group and Porsche SE are happy with their performance.
Because their sales are actually increasing. As we all get older, we become more irrelevant. Its nothing knew.
I bought a Panigale V2 last year, £15k felt 'about right' given that the 899/959 were around £13.5k and there is a price rise element. Once thing Ducati do which I think many ignore, is that EVERY year they rise the RRP's by around £200-250, it kinda goes un-noticed until you think that if something like the V2 spans 3 model years, you pay £750 more for the same product upfront, that by the time you pay interest on gets much more than that. Is the V2 something I 'LUST' after... hmm, I really wanted one, because it ticks all my boxes, and does feel special. But hand on heart, the last Ducati I bought that had me literally not able to leave the garage for staring at it was the 848 Evo I bought in 2013. I'm the same, in that I walk into the dealers now and nothing really does it for me, I still enjoy looking at some of the MV stuff, am quite interested by the Aprilia stuff, but put off by the fact that within 3 months Aprilia (well actually Piaggio) will have trashed the RS660 with their pricing practices... you wait, I'd bet my lunch on it.. By summer there will be a dealer (like Wheels) selling RS660's for £8500.. fine if you wait and happy to do that, but again, no incentive to drive people into dealers now to go buy the new model.
