I might have agreed with you a couple years ago, but not so much any more. Other than looks I think the new CBR Fireblade SP is in nearly all objective categories a better track bike than a Ducati…it has a better chassis, a more powerful engine, a better front end, a better swingarm, and much better upgrade potential and options. Regardless of price and name, it’s a better track bike than the VRS.
To you it’s obvious that one is better solely based on the name and brand cache….i don’t buy into that.
A Ducati ‘IS STILL A DUCATI’ and therefore special is an imagined mental paradigm, and some of us are questioning that these days. Especially because Ducati seems to have become predatory to people with that mindset who are willing to accept the ‘.... you it’s a Ducati and special’ pricing model while not delivering a product that’s all that special compared to a few of its competitors offerings.
I’ll make an argument for the Fireblade actually being more special than the V4S:
Honda is by orders of magnitude the world’s largest and most profitable motorcycle maker. So there’s a real business case that they are the best motorcycle manufacturer. They produce what people actually want who ride these bikes with bullet proof reliability and at a fair price point…And with the CBR1000rr-r Fireblade SP they are throwing their enormous weight at producing the best HALO track bike in the market right now.
