Cod philosophy time: It’s funny how behaviour on either side of the biggest ideological divides can be indistinguishable — in politics, we’ve got the fascisms of the right and of the left, each behaving in near-identical ways, while in motorcyling we have Ducati and Harley Davidson.
The Harley rider is someone who’s bought comprehensively into the brand’s v-twin cult of appearance, style and attitude. Why else would they put up with abysmal performance, atrocious handling and vibration that would shame a jackhammer? They’ve paid over the odds for a machine that does nothing that you can’t find for less money and with greater reliability elsewhere. That’s only the start — no Harley is considered to be worth a second glance unless it’s been laden with enough extras and chrome to make the original purchase price pale into insignificance. We sneer at the Harley rider.
Now look at us Ducati riders: folks who’ve bought comprehensively into the v-twin brand’s cult of appearance, style and attitude. Why else would we put up with filling-destroying suspension, spine-mangling riding positions and a paranoia about never going out without the warranty card and a mobile phone? We pay over the odds for a level of performance that can be matched or exceeded for way less money and we then spend a fortune on tricking the machine up to make it stand out even more from its peers. Sorry, am I repeating myself?

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