Can you believe this Ducati Envy and biased Monster "Review"??!!...HERESY

[GatorDuc]

http://www.trackdaymag.com/Article.aspx?id=3581

This article was found in a speed triple forum I frequent.  I have copied some of my replies and other triumph/ducati owner replies. Sorta interesting to hear their snide remarks about us drinking starbucks and eating grey-poupon.  Read the entire article then some replys I thought were well said from Ducatisti (including me).

My intial emotionally charged reply:
By "Foppish Prat", do you mean like wearing a blue helmet, blue tinted shield, and blue accented riding leathers while shifting your upper body slightly to the right of centerline during a left turn (pic in the article of you riding the monster)! Nice Duds tubby, you appear refined and fastidious in your manner of dress, however, I expected better riding technique from a severely biased "track day motorcycle journalist"!

This is some other guy's reply that I thought was well written:

After reading your recent article I promptly realized that I had stumbled upon the “Fox News or MSNBC's” adaptation of motorcycle journalism. In fact, I discovered that there was very little true journalism to be found at all. There were no unbiased opinions, no genuine or even half- hearted attempts at dispassionate journalistic integrity. Instead I came away feeling sorry for the “brand envy” that spewed uncontrollably from every sentence. The kind of poorly disguised malice that only serves to discredit the author to all who don't subscribe to like minded opinions.

For the life of me I can't understand the contempt that some motorcycle “enthusiasts” (oxymoron) harbor for Ducati. Could it be their success? Could it be their appeal? Could it be that they have cultivated chicness so successfully where others have failed? Could it be the astonishment that a boutique motorcycle brand has a 40 year history of cyclesport racing dominance?
http://www.worldsbk.com/season/champions?p_S_Campionato=SBK&p_PilotiCostruttori=C

In the end, the success of Ducati is immaterial. Instead we should focus on why the owners of one of the best production motorcycles of today (S3) constructed by one of the most storied manufacturers in the world (Triumph) spend their spare time nervously comparing it, desperately seeking equality and relevance. The Speed Triple is a fantastic motorcycle! We all know that. Anyone who has spent any time on one would surely be convinced of that. What is the essence of this brand jealousy? What is the reason for the contempt? On this board in particular there is bizarre message consistency on this subject.

I spend a great deal of my time on my 2 valve S2R 1000 (17,000 miles in 1.8 yrs). I can tell you that aside from finish parts and sound (brakes, lack of plastics) it is in no way Speedy's equal!! Read that sentence again if it helps! It possesses neither the raw power nor the torque of your beloved S3. Ask me how much sleep I lose owning that knowledge? The answer is none. Ask me how many motorcycle forums I have gone on in order to bash it's “sworn enemy?” None of course, but for different reasons I suspect. The only people I know who think a 100 horsepower air cooled motorcycle is the “sworn enemy” of the Triple are TRIUMPH OWNERS! I don't know any Ducati owners who care in the least bit that their bike isn't the fastest bike in the club. I don't know any Ducatisti that feel threatened by the success of the 1050, or by it's great riding characteristics. They don't care, they own what they like and ride it for their sake, not yours.

My local Ducati club is called the Coastal Ducati Club. Every month our “leader” (head drunk and fantastic human being) posts a featured member. You can search for us on the internet. This month our featured member is not a Ducati owner at all. He is instead the proud owner of a white Triumph Speed Triple. He rides with us, we ride with him. We all like motorcycles. None are threatened and all our passionate about their machines.

Triumph is a great brand. I think the Speed Triple is presently its crowning achievement. Without question it's the most motorcycle that can be had for the money and it delivers on all of it's promises and then some! Be confident in that, enjoy your Triumph and leave the bashing and cock measurements to the Squids. They don't know any better.

Following that, I added this,....hope you can get the gist, it was an entertaining thread; other guys commenting back were mostly in good fun, with comments about Ducati riders eating grey-poupon and shit.....

I love my S3, f'ing love it. But, I feel like I can objectively say that Ducatis are bad-ass as well. I bought an 1098S about 8 months ago and bought my girlfriend a Monster 696. Guess what, I love riding both of them as well. I'm a huge motorcycle enthusiast, I would have gotten my girlfriend the street triple (cuz it outperforms the m696 numbers wise) but she's too short to be comfortable on it. So I don't have a biased either way. She loves her Monster and people literally take pictures of her on it (randomly at street lights, bike meets, bars...), they get a kick out of a chick on a chic bike. I would say that article is supremely biased as well. In fact the snazzy dressed author admits his feelings of envy and insecurity in his first few paragraphs. News Flash....the S3 and a bone stock monster 1100 are not really comparable. Who gives a shit anyway!! Buy what you like (or what you can afford) and be happy with it. This fascination over Ducati owners having "more money than brains" is populist horse-shit. The Ducati owners I know could give two shits about whether a triumph is better than what they ride. They love the look and visceral sound that comes from their Ducs, and they're usually engrossed in the history/lore of the company. Oh and about the torque that V-twins provide (or don't provide), I guarantee you that the torque of my 1098 wide open throttle would make your little Ewok shit its forest diaper! Grow up pal. You ride a cool bike, quit trying to convince yourself of its supremacy.

Oh yeah R100Pilot(the guy who wrote the article) one more thing, that cool-guy quote you use as your signature......"We are motorcycle people; we walk tall and we laugh at whatever's funny. We shit on the chests of the Weird... But when we ride very fast motorcycles, we ride with immaculate sanity."
â€" HST (RIP), Song of the Sausage Creature
....surprise, surprise, HST's inspiration for that article was a test drive of a DUCATI! Check it out for yourself....http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html

[hbliam]

I missed the part about caring about an argument going on at another forum.....

[corey]

^^Zing.

[Duc Fever]

The author of the article seems like the kind of sad guy that never seems to fit in anywhere, so he buys a bike thinking that automatically makes him fit in with other riders and to hammer his point home he shows his rabid loyalty to his new group of friends by bashing thier "perceived" enemies. Sad. He just does not get it.

[Porsche Monkey]

The author of the article seems like the kind of sad guy that never seems to fit in anywhere, so he buys a bike thinking that automatically makes him fit in with other riders and to hammer his point home he shows his rabid loyalty to his new group of friends by bashing thier "perceived" enemies. Sad. He just does not get it.

So just because I own a cool bike does not mean I fit in?  You hurt my feelings.

[duccarlos]

I saw nothing wrong with that article. He gave his review of the bike.

[Bun-bun]

I saw nothing wrong with that article. He gave his review of the bike.

Agreed.
At no point during my reading did rabid foam even drip, much less gush, from my screen. This was one mans opinion, YMMV.

[monster2b]

I guess the one thing I don't get about his review is his take on the different motors.  The 1100 Monster left him wanting more while he was happy with the V twin of the Sport Classic? Seems to be baggin on the Monster just because it "competes" with his S3.

Whatever, I'm going for a ride.

[roy-nexus-6]

I enjoyed the article. What some people interpreted to be sarcasm/envy, I saw wry humor. Maybe its just me. 

I found his opinion of the Sports Classics amusing: ie they are fun to ride! Lol - name me a well made modern bike that isn't fun to ride on some level? Hell, I'm itching to try the new Honda Cub! 

[psycledelic]

The author of the article seems like the kind of sad guy that never seems to fit in anywhere, so he buys a bike thinking that automatically makes him fit in with other riders and to hammer his point home he shows his rabid loyalty to his new group of friends by bashing thier "perceived" enemies. Sad. He just does not get it.

When did we start talking about Harley Davidson riders?

[duccarlos]

I will correct 2 things from the article:

a) NPR is not in Atlanta. They are located about an hour and a half NE of Atlanta. They are close to Athens. Very cool guys. 
b) NPR does not have a semi truck full of track bikes. Dealers have access to the DNA semi and they ask them to bring the bikes to the track. DNA coordinates the use of the bikes while the dealers simply promote the event. Late last year DNA brought a semi full of HM to Jennings. This was promoted by Melillimoto.

[topangster]

I actually didn't find his review that offensive.  More tongue in cheek than actually critical (he obviously wants a Duc!) And I have to think, had he ridden a Monster like mine (s2r 1000), he might have had a different reaction.  He probably couldn't think clearly, let alone WRITE clearly, after having his nuts jammed into the tank on the 1100.  I got dizzy just sitting on it in the showroom.  And he clearly got a stiffy after riding the Sport Classic...

So, all in all, not such a bad review from a Street Triple rider.

Topangster

[GLantern]

I want a ducati towel 

O and on topic he does admit to being biased 

[El Matador]

I want a ducati towel 

And a ducati water!

[swampduc]

And a ducati water!

Hell, I'll chuck you one of those next time I see you. Got some in Birmingham!