Forgive me for being politically incorrect, but it goes without saying that the Ducati name has a reputation, stronger than I realized, that's not exactly "Bud Light".
I'm amazed to learn how incredibly well known "Ducati" is to *non* riders. In fact, it seems like everyone knows what a Ducati "is" [i.e. fast, expensive Italian bike]. Perhaps it's the way the name has a cool Italian ring to it, much like Ferrari?? Not sure, but it has a resonance to it that sounds exotic and is also incredibly memorable.
In any case, here are a few examples that I've run into and I'd love to hear about others.
-the pre-teen kid who was "wowwwing" my bike with his dad, and after I said he could sit on it, walked away saying "I can't believe I just touched a Ducati"
-the guy in a Ferrari who was beside me at a traffic light, looked over, and nodded at me in the same "bro" way that I would expect from a fellow rider.
-the guy who was beside me at another light, who looked out at the bike, stared for a few seconds, and then came back out the window with his camera to take a pic. It sure wasn't me he was shooting
-at least 25% of the time that I fill the tank, someone comes over to check out the bike, talk about it, mention that Ducati's are fast, etc. When I had my KTM - itself a sweet ride - I'd say that sort of thing was less than 5% of the time. Much less.
I'm amazed to learn how incredibly well known "Ducati" is to *non* riders. In fact, it seems like everyone knows what a Ducati "is" [i.e. fast, expensive Italian bike]. Perhaps it's the way the name has a cool Italian ring to it, much like Ferrari?? Not sure, but it has a resonance to it that sounds exotic and is also incredibly memorable.
In any case, here are a few examples that I've run into and I'd love to hear about others.
-the pre-teen kid who was "wowwwing" my bike with his dad, and after I said he could sit on it, walked away saying "I can't believe I just touched a Ducati"
-the guy in a Ferrari who was beside me at a traffic light, looked over, and nodded at me in the same "bro" way that I would expect from a fellow rider.
-the guy who was beside me at another light, who looked out at the bike, stared for a few seconds, and then came back out the window with his camera to take a pic. It sure wasn't me he was shooting
-at least 25% of the time that I fill the tank, someone comes over to check out the bike, talk about it, mention that Ducati's are fast, etc. When I had my KTM - itself a sweet ride - I'd say that sort of thing was less than 5% of the time. Much less.
