The single factor (of several) most related to outcome satisfaction, is insight - you need to know to identify and then prioritize different aspects of an item into appropriate tiers of importance (tier 1, 2, 3, etc…). People (especially men, by the data) are not good at this. Routinely, when people wind up somewhat dissatisfied with a purchase, it’s because they misidentify tier 3 issues as tier 1 issues and vice versa. There is literature on this you can reference.
If reliability is actually a tier 1 issue (because finding yourself stranded on the side of the road has you ready to drop it off at the crusher), but you falsely perceive the opposite (that having a fast, sexy bike is a tier 1 issue, because “Dayyuum those panigales are fast and look good!”), you risk being dissatisfied if you find yourself on the side of the road because your fast, sexy motorcycle broke down (especially when someone casually passes you on an uber-reliable cbr).
Alternatively, the person inclined to say, “Meh, it only strands me once in a while - the rest of the time it’s a dead sexy beast of a bike!”, will likely be satisfied.
You might also consider that broadly speaking there is 3 categories of vehicles:
1. Those that run nearly flawlessly with minimal maintenance
2. Those that need more frequent maintenance but almost never leave you stranded
3. Those that will probably have you calling roadside assistance
Care to guess which group most Hondas are in, and which group most Ducatis are in?
If you’re used to, or will only be satisfied with #1, you might look hard at that cbr.
