Not bad...

Mmm...

I'm not much of a Ducati fan. They are the Panerai watches of motorcycles: overpriced, overrated toys for rich guys who buy them because that's what they have heard of, not because it's the best or most unique. Until this year the 1198 (and the 1098 before it) wasn't even the best Italian motorcycle in the premium sportbike segment. That distinction belonged to the Aprilia RSV-4. If you wanted to go even more exclusive you could get MV Augusta F4, which is everything that the 1198 is, only more: expensive, faster, lovely, and temperamental.

The new-for-this-year 1199 vaults Ducati to the front of the segment again. It's beautiful, fast, light, and  beautiful. It comes loaded with all sorts of fantastic electronic gewgaws to help you manage the ferocious power and enormous brakes. In short: it's the shit. Unlike previous iterations, this Ducati actually IS one of the best sportbikes you can buy, right out of the box. And did I mention that it looks beautiful?

For the record, I would never buy one. It might be awesome but it's not good value for money.

It's still mostly a rich guy's toy, but at least he's getting performance to go with his 'lifestyle' branding. Great job, Ducati.

Now if only Honda could get their act together and update the CBR1000RR...