Yeah I looked up the HP4 last night on Cycle Trader, and see it listed at $76,###

Mr. Caruso,

Why dont you consider acquiring your first hooligan/assault scooter: the KTM 1290 Supper Duke?

Hagrid, I came within an inch of buying one two years ago, it is a beast!

I assumed you'd sell or trade-in the lil' 959

... in order to fund your new V4S Speciale

And if the '12 CBR has to go, too, and/or the VTX, that seems OK.

Negative Sir, no plan to sell any of them, just came in from a ride on the 959 about an hour ago, finally have the suspension dialed in, what a hoot, very quick bike despite only 133 BHP at the rear tire.

I believe the HP4 Race is in the real money class, maybe $80K or more? I'm not as tall as you but the S100RR fits me much better than the new V4, just sitting on them at the local dealer. Any additional toys you collect will be great, regardless what you choose.

HP4 is out of the question Rudy and even the Speciale V4 is a bridge too far, $30K is my defacto spending limit, so will have to make that work. Yes, the standard BMW S1000RR Sport felt pretty good and looks nice in the Motorrad livery but still felt a touch Plain Jane compared to the V4S which has a very special feeling. Just came back from a blast on my 959, Panigales are a special machine, different but in a good way.

Took the 959 out a short while ago and I think I have the suspension dialed pretty close now and it was noticeably quicker and more manageable in the bumps which was my biggest compliant. I snuck in one more turn of front preload, backed off on the front compression one full turn and the rear compression two full turns. Left front and rear rebound where they were which was quite a bit stiffer than standard. The bike was noticeably smoother in the rough stuff and turned in well on the brakes without any tendency to come around. Any sensation of floatiness was gone and the corner exit speed was stellar as was midcorner stability. As I said before , all of these bikes are getting closer now and it's hard to split 'em. It's gong to be tough to rank them, one more to go, the Repsol SP Honda for tomorrow. I'll see how that one works on the new suspension settings.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 10/10/2018 @ 2:50 PM *

The detector has become as much a part of my personal riding gear as a good helmet, indispensable.

What are you running?

http://www.zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=51AF9004-0294-021F-BA2374D01315E6E6

Last but certainly not least, is the Repsol CBR1000RR SP. What can I say? Everything on this bike is so smooth, from clutch release action to gearbox this is the epitome of refinement. The M4.32 Brembo Monoblocs are almost there with the '16 ZX-10Rs Brembo M50s for outright braking power but the feel and modulation are even better. Couldn't ask for better brakes really. As stated, everything on this bike is buttery smooth, gearbox shift action, brakes, engine vibration levels, power delivery, it's like a shot of Jack Daniels Bourbon. The engine is the definition of midrange power, good low end transitioning into that strong midrange punch but signs off early at about 10,500 rpm leaving a lot of over rev capacity. It's not the strongest motor but the gearing is spot on perfect and it is probably unbeatable by any of my other bikes up to about 140 mph. The Ohlins suspension bits are top shelf and right out of the box I thought this was the best handling machine ever. The suspension is that good but I noticed, as I begin to really push the pace on this machine, it uncovered a few shortcomings. I made some changes to stiffen it up and this is only the second ride since firming up the back end and softening and lowering the front end so the juries still out, may still have to tweek a bit to fine tune the action. That said, it's right up there with the '12 ZX-10R and '09 ZX-6R as a favorite. What's the bottom line to all this? It's that there are no real losers here when all are properly set up and on race rubber, there are just different shades of goodness. I know that sounds like a cop out but it's the truth and probably one reason why I've never sold any of my bikes over the years, just can't bare to part with any of them.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 10/11/2018 @ 1:58 PM *

Cop out, YES.

I'm holding a gun to your head. I'm feeling benevolent so I'll let you keep two. WHICH TWO??

Well, the new V4S will surely be one of them.....lol!

PICS!!!!

* Last updated by: extrapolator on 10/11/2018 @ 3:42 PM *

Hehe , not quite decided yet if I want to pull the trigger on that one Extrapolator, still watching the V-4 vids on Youtube and mulling over all the data in the old roadtests. This is a buttload of money and I have to decide if I really want it bad enough to fork over the big wad of $$$$.

Only $24K and Angeles Crest is the test drive

https://www.proitalia.com/default.asp?page=xNewInventoryDetail&id=5465773&p=2&make=ducati&s=Year&d=D&fr=xNewInventory

Rudy, I tried that link and no bueno, please check it.

Here, try this, no price though, where did you see $24,000 for a V4S, might have been the V4 Base model?

https://www.proitalia.com/inventory/v1/Current/Ducati/Superbike/2018-Panigale-V4/S--Glendale-California---8327291

I couldn't find Proitalia on Cycle Trader, all of the advertised prices I could find for the V4S were identical, I don't think they're dealing on these, supply and demand kind of thing Rudy.

https://www.cycletrader.com/listing/2018-Ducati-SUPERBIKE-PANIGALE-V4-S-5003531398

Rudy's link works for me .... shows $23,995

Could you repost the hyperlink you used?

Thanks!

https://www.proitalia.com/default.asp?page=xNewInventoryDetail&id=5465773&p=2&make=ducati&s=Year&d=D&fr=xNewInventory

Nevermind, I got it to work, it's a used V4S, a demo with 812 miles, still a good price though.

Would like to test ride one first to see what it's like, as this thread has shown, they're all so dang good it is hard to split them.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 10/12/2018 @ 11:04 AM *

I see you got it now, but FYI: Rudy didn't actually place the hyperlink under the text link he posted. With non-link text like that, Firefox allows you to select that text, right-click on it and click "Open Link".

Good luck with your new V4S!!! I'm still impatiently awaiting pics!!!

* Last updated by: extrapolator on 10/12/2018 @ 1:14 PM *

Thanks Extrapolator, I simple copy/pasted the link into my Internet Explorer web browser window and got an error message. Switched to Google Chrome and it opened no problem. Not sure why but that's OK.

Juries still out on this V-4S, it looks almost identical to my 959; but of course the level of power and electronics is absolutely world class. I would like to get one no doubt.

My only concern is something will come out in 2019 that blows it away i.e the new BMW, and possibly for less cash.

Thing about the poor bastiches that forked over $80,000 for the 2017 1299 Superleggera, great bike but it is reported slower around a track than the V4S.

https://www.cycletrader.com/listing/2017-Ducati-1299-Superleggera-5003191311

These are first world problems for sure.

Good luck with your new V4S!!! I'm still impatiently awaiting pics!!!

I'm still impatiently waiting for the COTA ZX-14 Ninja Forums track day and BBQ at KRUZ dude ranch. Seems like a no brainer for KRUZ to accurately complete his long awaited Sportbike Ratings study. I volunteer to show up with a new set of race slicks for the ZX-10R (either one of Master Kruz's - doesn't matter to me) and I will run as many test laps on each of your bikes until enough data is collected.

Who's with me ....

I know I'm starting to sound fickle here but I think the '16 ZX-10R just leap frogged into the top slot on my list. I just came back from a ride and I finally clicked with this bike, keep it up in the rpm range like you are on a jumbo ZX-6R and it is a rocket! I always knew this machine had the most potential, watch Bobby Fong on a Privateer ZX-10R Superstock bike run down the Yoshimura Factory Superbikes of Roger Hayden and Tony Elias at COTA at 22:36, he ends up with a podium finish, third Superbike and first Superstock:

http://www.baixar-musica.com/video/motoamerica-championship-of-texas-cota-motul-superbike-race-1-hd-G-1ZjWCPSDU.html

* Last updated by: Kruz on 10/18/2018 @ 3:32 PM *