All the anticipation... has there been any other Ducati like the 1199?

For the life of me, I cannot remember the kind of anticipation that I've seen for a past Ducati the way things are ramping up for the 1199 Panigale.

I remember the 999 getting a megaton of press in 2002 before it was released... but Ducati has been riding a wave of publicity and the 1199 seems to have things amped up even more.

I know we're all waiting for the 1199... has there been any other Ducati you've anticipated as much for?

Yes, I would say the 2008 Desmosedici D16RR
I would imagine that would have to be the most anticipated Ducati ever !
It was initially announced in 2004, promised by 2006, and finally hit the showrooms by Feb 2008 ( almost 4 years of waiting ! )
Here are some details
Ducati Desmosedici RR - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
and a link to pictures of my custom painted one...
Marlboro Ducati Desmosedici D16RR - BARF - Bay Area Riders Forum

i have always wanted to ducati but money never was there, i remember seeing the 916 for the first time and thinking, this is ground breaking and way ahead of it's time. now i am finally getting my own duc and i can't wait!

Indeed - I recall the same anticipation for the 888, 916 and anything to replace the 999!

It's funny but I think the anticipation only affects those that are in line to get one of the new bikes.

Outside of those lucky few I don't think its as important.

The Desmo is a great bike but few can afford one, so even though it was a long time coming I never gave it a second thought.

The Hailwood was an incredibly anticipated bike and because of the sales tactic of only being available for preorder over the net it had a lot of press and anticipation from even those who did not buy one.

I ordered my streetfighter about 6 month in advance and among those of us waiting it was highly anticipated and discussed for months.
But the SF didn't bring much attention from many except those who were ready to pop.

The 1098 had a lot of press and anticipation for thousands more than any Duc before, and the bike brought a lot of new people to the brand.
And like the 1199 it spurned a whole crop of new forums on the net well before it was ever released for sale.

But I don't think any of them are quite on the same scale as the 1199 because of the sweeping changes and the promise of other-worldly performance.
Once it's released and the magazines get to test it the wave will start all over again and look out - it could turn into a tsunami.

I think there is--and will be--more excitement and hype around the Panigale than your typical launch due in part to the awesomeness of the bike, but also due to the fact that there isn't much happening in the sportbike world--other than lots of updated decals for 2012!

I do fine most of the time, but relapse very quickly when I get on the Ducati forums. I can't wait till April.