Well, I think I can wrap this up and officially join the club. Much thanks to everyone for their help and input - you can trust that it was all taken into consideration and each comment had due influence on my decision. Long story, but I ended up with a really nice Black 05 S4R.
I did some serious soul-searching over the S2R vs S4R and it all came down to the maintenance. After much internet searching I'm confident that I can maintain this Italian mistress on my own.
I brought it home last night (really, really late) and took it for the first ride this morning. Initial impressions - Wow, is that clutch loud, but I like the "mechanicality" of it (my own word). Surprisingly light, almost like a big dirt bike. Love the rumble (stock exhaust for now
![Embarrassed](https://ducatimonsterforum.org/Smileys/classic/embarrassed.gif)
). Really big, smile producing torque. Immediate love - I'm feeling confident that I made a good decision.
I came off the bike and immediately phoned my brother (also a lifetime in line 4 Japanese bike guy) and told him I now can attest to the allure of Ducati.
e in the market for a nice full Arrow setup, but until the funding for that comes along I'm going to look into opening up the stock exhaust in some way.
The bike has a few tasteful mods: Very well done tail chop (looks factory), bar end mirrors, misc. carbon fiber bits, open clutch cover, etc. My immediate concern is to do something with that abortion that Ducati calls an exhaust. I'll b