Just to get this thread back on the already hijacked topic of race wins equating to sales and why it matters to us...
First off I agree with the other posters about half the reason the manufactures race at all is to sell bikes. (how Honda making Indy or F1 engines helps sell civics and accords I have no clue though... and no that technology does not trickle down) But it does matter to me if they win Frosty, I think it matters to the hordes of Ducatista that wear their Ducati shirts and wave their Ducati flags on the "Ducati island" portion of the stands at races. Ducati (and other teams) want owners to feel like they are part of the Ducati family and part of the team (heck, our money does help fund them...). If you go to a race, it's just kinda cool to see the sea of red in the crowd representing the Ducati fans, simliar to the huge sea of red that Ferrari draws to F1 races.
And no, we don't ride the exact same bike as the WSBK team, but I personally still want believe the bike I bought is made by the best engineers (ahem, relating to the OP subject of bolts falling off... see, I'm back on thread topic now) and a company that knows how to make the "best" race bikes. I'm not going to lie, there a sense of pride wearing a Ducati tshirt when they win, and Ducati wants you to feel that way... It's no different than wearing your sports team's jersey when they play.
And it's more difficult to defend why you bought a Ducati to your Aprilia or Kawasaki friends when it's losing races, has bolts falling off, tft screens needing replacement, etc and all you've got to defend back is "but it's the prettiest!" and then try to argue to them that emotional experience of riding it is better and their bikes are boring and wouldn't understand...
