I think it depends on the culture of where you are at.  I live in the Washington DC area and I see many ducatis (still not nearly as many as jap bikes).  In DC metro area I see a lot of squids who view my bike with very little respect.  A lot of the riders are spoiled kids who don't know shit about bikes.

I travel to the pittsburgh area a lot and very very very rarely see a ducati.  Most other riders are harley riders and either couldn't give two shits what the hell i'm riding or are very interested in the bike because it is italian, sounds mean and looks awesome.

let us all just go to Starbucks, get a dbl mochiabravalatte, polish our Dainese's and look down our noses to those who aren't worthy...commoners, peasants, filthy Japanese motorcycle riding trash. We are all so above the fray because we all own doo cah tayzz. We appreciate the finer things in life, and quite frankly can afford them ah hah hah....ah hah ha haaahhh..!!! Oh how does the other half live? Pffft....

Quote from: Rotten Randy on June 26, 2008, 02:13:53 PM
let us all just go to Starbucks, get a dbl mochiabravalatte, polish our Dainese's and look down our noses to those who aren't worthy...commoners, peasants, filthy Japanese motorcycle riding trash. We are all so above the fray because we all own doo cah tayzz. We appreciate the finer things in life, and quite frankly can afford them ah hah hah....ah hah ha haaahhh..!!! Oh how does the other half live? Pffft....

hahaha!!  That's right 

i have to admit, living in NW portland there are alot of snobs. Before i got my own monster, i saw a guy pull up on one and i was really interested in what kind of exaust he had on it. So i walked up to him and asked him, he actually put his nose up in the air and chuckled to himself and said "the expensive kind" meanwhile looking right through me for his friend he was waiting for. i could have kicked him in the balls for that.  I almost didnt get one for that reason alone, i didnt want to belong to the snob pack. But....now that i got one, i havent met one snob....all the local guys on this board are cool. not one snob in the bunch.....maybe that means im now the snob....

Quote from: SaltLick on June 26, 2008, 09:17:24 PM
i have to admit, living in NW portland there are alot of snobs. Before i got my own monster, i saw a guy pull up on one and i was really interested in what kind of exaust he had on it. So i walked up to him and asked him, he actually put his nose up in the air and chuckled to himself and said "the expensive kind" meanwhile looking right through me for his friend he was waiting for. i could have kicked him in the balls for that.  I almost didnt get one for that reason alone, i didnt want to belong to the snob pack. But....now that i got one, i havent met one snob....all the local guys on this board are cool. not one snob in the bunch.....maybe that means im now the snob....

you should have said something back at him for being an asshole...  but the fact that he had a friend wouldn't have been particularly beneficial to you..and that's exactly why he was an ass.. because he had a buddy to back him up in case you beat him up for being an asshole.. I hope I never come across one...

Quote from: SaltLick on June 26, 2008, 09:17:24 PM
i have to admit, living in NW portland there are alot of snobs. Before i got my own monster, i saw a guy pull up on one and i was really interested in what kind of exaust he had on it. So i walked up to him and asked him, he actually put his nose up in the air and chuckled to himself and said "the expensive kind" meanwhile looking right through me for his friend he was waiting for. i could have kicked him in the balls for that.  I almost didnt get one for that reason alone, i didnt want to belong to the snob pack. But....now that i got one, i havent met one snob....all the local guys on this board are cool. not one snob in the bunch.....maybe that means im now the snob....

Should have told him he would have been better off leaving the exhaust stock and using the money to buy a personality.

Quote from: arai_speed on June 25, 2008, 10:29:41 AM
What makes it "exclusive" to own a Duc?  I don't feel I'm part of some "exclusive group" because I own a Ducati.   

What makes them exclusive is that they don't make that many in comparison to, say, any of the Japanese Big 4. That makes them "exclusive". It's the same thing that makes OCC, Big Dog, etc. exclusive. It's not that the bikes or their owners are better than anyone else, they just happen to own a bike that is produced in smaller numbers than the others...

i look at a ducati the same way i look at owning my old 1974 honda 550.  It was unique and there wasnt many around. Ive always hated having the cookie cutter anything really. i play drums so i made my own drumset.

There was this guy at work that owned a susuzki gsxr 1000, the first day i parked my monster in the bike parking area he freaked out and parked his bike so close to mine that when i came out to get on it i almost couldnt.  The next day, i saw someone walking through the halls with a helmet and i asked if that was him that parked next to me. His face got all red and he said yeah, he admitted to doing it on purpose.  Instead of getting mad i laughed, he laughed too he knew it was stupid. So wed meet in the halls once in a while and talk about bikes, cornering, hell anything bike related. He apologized many times for parking like that.   Once we were outside mounting up, and he said "Man your bike is really sweet looking, i wish i could have afforded a bike like that" Right then and there i saw where his anger was coming from.

Quote from: NAKID on June 26, 2008, 11:37:51 PM
What makes them exclusive is that they don't make that many in comparison to, say, any of the Japanese Big 4. That makes them "exclusive". It's the same thing that makes OCC, Big Dog, etc. exclusive. It's not that the bikes or their owners are better than anyone else, they just happen to own a bike that is produced in smaller numbers than the others...

I would disagree, something produced in small quantities would make it rare, not exclusive.  A Ferrari is a rare car, and it's exclusive because of the price tag it carries.  It excludes the general population from buying one because of it's cost.

The general definition of exclusive is the following "admitting only members of a socially restricted or very carefully selected group"

A Ducati might be rare in your neck of the woods, but it's certainly not exclusive.  I can go today and buy a 696 from any Duc dealer around town. How is that "exclusive"?

Form looking online, a new 696 cost less then a new 600 "Jap" bike!

I think in short I've met more a-holes riding Ducati's then I've ever met on Jap bikes.  Maybe I should start a thread called "What's up with 'Ducati' Bike Riders?" 

I live in a really shitty area of Atlanta so most of the time I open carry my Springfield EMP in a leg drop. That pretty much stops anyone from talking or looking at me.