Wow, that was a great article. I really wonder why Honda chose to change the bike so much. I know a lot of people who bought the Honda simply because of its user-friendly nature.
One question I have, is why the Ducati 999 is never included in these tests? I know it doesn't approach the value of these bikes, nor the horsepower, but as was stated, it's much more about the rider than the bike. Also, if someone is in the market for a 999, at $18k, it's not a huge stretch from the $12k range that the other bikes are in.
I would be interested to see what sort of lap times everyone would put in on the underpowered 999, and also how it compares as a street bike (where all the liter bikes are likely to spend the vast majority of their lifetimes).
In other words, I'm in the market for a new bike, considering a Ducati 999, Ducati S4Rs, or perhaps the GSXR1000, 750, or the ZX-10R. I'm just more interested in the entire experience than what the dyno says. Is there any chance the Ducati 999 will be included in a similar test at any point?