Gents, warning, this is going to be a long post :
Ducati, for the past few years has been shitting new M.Y's left and right...
Yes, there's always room for improvement of a product BUT, these are 18K+ toys we're talking about, basically, IMO, they're up to the point of alienating their already existing customers/user-base.
What, you spent 18.400€ for a Μ1200S 2 years back ? **** you, here's the new, re-styled model for early 2017.
Got a 23500€ Diavel Carbon back in late 2014/15 ? **** you, here's the new re-styled Diavel for 2016, Same thing with the Pani...
We're (almost) down to new smartphone/new Call of duty video game release schedule territory here boys for Christ's sake, what's next, YEARLY re-releases ?
Really, it's about the whole snake-oil kind of pitch, i mean, back in 2014 you had the M1200 and M1200S, same motor but the 1200 produced 5HP less - WHY ? (suddenly, the 2017 M1200 produces the same 150bhp as the S model)...
The S models always featured better equipment, yes, why the 5 HP difference though ? And while we're at it, why the de-tuned TS 11' motor from the get-go ? Why didn't they release the monsters with the full power (around the 160bhp mark) back in 2014 ? Maybe because they already had a new "more powerful" Monster in the works for it to be released after just a couple of years down the road (M1200R) ? I mean, you could see that **** coming from miles away, c'mon... :wink
We're not talking about "hey, we resolved some issues with previous M.Y's" and "here, bike comes with new...rims and graphics", nope, we're talking about almost new bike/model - even Gargamel...eeerm...Claudio Domenicali presented it to be as such.
Shorter wheelbase, smaller dimensions, more e-gizmos, quickshifter, different headlight and more HP, i mean, wtf - and this just merely 1 year after the M1200R, you know, a 20000€+ bike - you already know what's coming next, the 2017/2018 re-styled and improved M1200R, they've become incredibly transparent as a company - more so than they used to, THIS is my whole enstasis with the company, you can see from a mile away nowadays their upcoming sales-pitch, f*ck that...
If i were a M1200R owner i'd be incredibly pissed right now gents.
You already know what's coming next, right ? a new re-styled M821, 1200R and - maybe - for the last year of production a 1200RS model - just a couple of months before they unveil their next-gen monster :devil
Back to the 2017 M1200...technical upgrades aside...i don't know what they're smoking over at borgo Panigale, Audi's/German input
must be getting stronger - it's about the small, ugly details in my honest opinion...
You had the Diavel with that nice round headlight...only to have its looks destroyed by that Alien Queen, weird-looking headlight on the re-designed one, sure, it was full LED but it looked just wrong compared to the original one...
Enter the new monster : stubbier headlight, weird geometric-shaped sculpted parts (look at the undertail part and heatshield on the right header for example on the newer model), uglier re-designed instrument cover (kinda looks like the previou's gen's), reshaped seat-cowl and so on so forth - some of the beautiful curves are gone, enter angles.
Also, that weird "liquid-grey" color scheme, **** man, looks like some **** AMG would produce, doesn't look like a Duc, if you were to remove the logos from the tank would you recognize it as a monster ? Senna Grey (with red touches/details) would have worked, this one though ? i know it's a personal opinion but...nope.And let's not get started about the new MTS1200, doens't look remotely like an Italian bike - that's what companies like MV do better, the Turismo veloce 800 for example ? Pure Italian sex - the MTS1200 looks like an Angry bird that got hit with a hammer...in the face...and its sides.
Again, part of Ducati ownership is also about the details.
Finally, i think that re-designing the whole bike (because, let's face it, there are lots of improvements) was a mistake on their part :
So, you have your engineers and designers designing and producing an "exotica" product only for... back-peddling after only 2 years by releasing the new one ? It makes it look like their original vision of the bike was
wrong, i'm referring to the longer wheelbase, bulkier dimensions and - generally speaking - more comfy ergos, like many reviewers mentioned back in 2014, the newer monsters were/are more 'touring-worthy" if you're into that kind of thing.
Now you may argue that monsters aren't meant to be "sport tourers" and/or "roadsters" ("Miavel" anyone ?
) and what have you and that they got their original vision (the 2014 model) wrong from the get-go by releasing a "roadster" and not a sport-naked bike like the monster always was but...
it's what they released,
that was their initial vision and they should have sticked with it, this revisionist history can only hurt their image IMO as you can't put much faith into them anymore since, no matter the fact that you've spent almost 20K on one of their products you're going to get screwed in the near future after buying it since you know that they'll release their "new" one one year and a half/2 years later.
If they wanted to release a "new" monster they should have waited til' the next-gen release, sure, they could have changed the footpegs and other minor things (it'd be the normal thing to do seeing the complaints) but this new one ? it's like they're actively trying to - again - alienate their already existing fan/userbase...
Sorry for the long-winded posts, add to me 5HP and more e-gizmos if wrong :smile
Cheers