greg the pole said:
besides, the latest, and flashiest, allways gets the nod.
At best you can only judge on how you find them, and to ride I preferred the last model GS to the Yamaha, but not by much and the Yamaha won on everything that mattered long term - reliability, service costs, dealer backup (especially non franchised as few indies want to touch BMW's / Ducati's / Guzzi's etc)
Magazines have to come up with drivel for people to read, and pretend they can ride the latest superbikes to the limits and tell the difference, most of them are at least 10 seconds a lap of national Superstock lap times, a mate of mine has coached many journo's (rides as CSS coach) and said they vary from fairly competent to completely hopeless, but none are really quick - which is why they often use ex-racers....
... not that that helps because what would work for Rossi at his pace is probably not best for me at my pace.
And even with supersport bikes real owners do not ride them flat out everywhere, with bikes like ours even less so, but the road testers tend to compare on how good they are when being caned around in a manner few owners would so even if they report their findings accurately they are not a reflection of how most punters will find them during 99% of their own riding.
I know I would prefer the latest GS / KTM / Ducati for a quick blast, or even long term "ownership" if someone else was footing the bill and in the event of a failure would whisk a new bike to me right away, or if money was no object, in which case the KTM1190 would be my first port of call.
The BMW would still be a no, just because I would never hand them a penny of my cash ever again, I can forgive KTM and Guzzi a few foibles, not so much Ducati as they are not really a niche manufacturer anymore, the BMW attitude of build a flawed bike and let the punters beta test it annoys me, as does their attitude and arrogance, smarmy dealers and "superior" owners. ::009::
