I like your optimism but it seems the die has already been cast. I've been speaking to a few suppliers who I have had dealings with as a customer, as well as my own local dealer, and all are of the same concensus. This is one ugly bike, if it bears any resemblance to the photos leaked thus far. That's not a promising sign for a product/flagship model that should be stealing the limelight in November. It's almost impossible to assess the extent of the damage that was done by losing the designer so far into the V4 project and it begs the question why he left. Maybe TJ99 can shed some light on this. What is clear is that it's resulted in a half baked outcome and one which has raised not much more than a luke warm welcome. Tooling will by now have been finalized I would have thought, as production must surely be set to start shortly after the November launch, if it hasn't started already, so unless we've all been duped by what we've seen, then it's a given that this bike will not herald the excitement that the Panigale created when it hit the floor at EICMA in 2012. Curiosity at best but not much else. Such a shame. I still feel that for a bike that was to signify a milestone for the company, namely the first mass produced V4 model, they would have wanted to make a real statement and wow us all with a new, fresh and exciting design. Sounds as if those ideas got quashed along the way and we're left with an "also ran" instead. Reminiscent of the 999 launch in some ways. Disappointed for the company and a little surprised at their short-sightedness. This was their one chance to capitalize on a turning point for them and come out with a real head turning motorcycle, eclipsing even the Panigale. Instead they are riding on the coat tails of a succesful design and adapting it to a new engine. Not so much innovation as plagarism. Nothing original to see here...move along.
