Matt“Also, I’ve noticed that anytime someone brings up the concept of needing/wanting to “upgrade” from their beginner bike, you act like the the mere mention of it is personally insulting to you.”
No, or well, not the intention at least.
What I find annoying is the line of thinking that says “you’ll grow bored with a bike unless it has more power”. I think there is a definite want for more power than a starter bike. But I don’t think most people actually out grow the power of a middleweight (in this case, 600cc-800cc since the definition always changes).
I definitely think people want change and thus move to a different bike. I think North American culture has a huge bias that says “Bigger is better” so when people change bikes and upgrade, bigger is the overriding direction. Most guys I’ve talked to who own a litre bike travel above the speed limit and accelerate hard, but never take the bike into performance realms beyond what a 600cc could do. Usually they say the like the torque because it lets them shift less, but really it is a nice toy, and they like having “The best”.
I think telling anyone who is getting into motorcycles that they’ll probably want to change bikes within the first few years is the right thing to do (since many people seem to think that their first bike will be their last, and that just isn’t the case for the majority). I think that telling them they’ll want to upgrade because they’ll get bored with the performance of a bike is wrong. It says “The amount you enjoy your bike is proportional to the displacement”. It reinforces false logic.
I’ve got no problem with recommending the SV as a less expensive entry into the motorcycle world that is, as you say, mechanically a very similar bike. Saving cash at the expense of the little things that go with being a Ducati owner is certainly good advice. Saying that the person will be bored with the Ducati because of the engine performance, not so much.
I was, as Budd points out, also defending the Ducati as a pretty darned good street bike that, while never having the performance crown in its category (or best value) has endeared itself to tens of thousands of people. And should not be dismissed because its defining characteristic is the undefinable “personality”.
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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”
