My point exactly.

@Samrath: Very true; what I said about the public parking does not help him decide.
The point I was trying to make is that if public parking is a must have then having any bike that attracts attention is going to cause problems; so can also consider the parking factor when he decides to spend all the moolahhh...

Yeah. The bike will draw attention and you do not want people going near the bike and sometimes tampering the stickers, accessories.
I also faced this problem. A lot times I would find the gear would have been shifted, the rear view mirror position changed and so on which is really painful. Not every time you will be able to keep an eye on your bike while parked in a public place

@rahul : are both the legal versions costing you the same?

YES! almost the same.

well talking bout servicing and spare parts, Ducati (dealer) said there would be a service station in Pune whereas Honda's reply was there could be one in Pune.
STRANGE but this is an example of how playing with words can help in choosing/securing a brand or rather just gives a psychological edge in the minds of the buyer.
talk bout word placement!

^ ok , a tough choice to make then ... although ducati lures because of 'italian' , exclusvity and brand name , honda gives u the performance figures you can boast of.

In the end choose the one based on looks , service and spares.performance would be the same based on your usage I guess.

i know man.. so true! and thats the whole confusion about..

but again one thing works for the honda.. delivery. the mumbai showroom is said to launch in 3rd-4th week of april and i guess delivery would be immediately after that, probably a couple of days here and there, whereas for ducati i have to wait till june for it. Knowing me, i cant wait a single day to get my hands on the bike, leave alone a couple of months. ;-)

Mr. Ducati 695 was kind enough to take me on a pillion ride. And what i felt was that this bike is much more civilized than the litre bikes.

The 1000cc bikes[fully faired sbks] are extremely fast for Indian roads. I don't know how these people keep riding them in traffic! Where the litre bikes are whack-zang, the 600s are very controllable! Especially the Ducati felt very much gentle.

I think the twins are ridden with sensing power curve whereas the fours are ridden with revs.

Just my 0.02 $

Thanks to Ducati 695.

Guys these are some of the point of difference of the two bikes which i can think of. it really has got me confused.. please bare with it.. any suggestions to decide would really be helpful.
HONDA-
More powerful

better pick up

looks equally sexy

probably easier to service

spare parts easily available

more at the same price

japanese technology to boost it

DUCATI-

the name itself

a fact that honda is like any other bike infront of a ducati..

i prefer the oval round headlights of ducati to that of honda

but again honda has d sexiest, fat ass
looks just yummy!

but the italian red is everythn to crave for

the exhausts.. twin underseat exhausts in ducati in more appealin, makes it look more sexier thn the side exhaust in cb

ducati also 'sound' gud.. specially the roar if compared to honda, whch is more like a 'purr'

but ducati exhausts seem to get hot so mite cause discomfort 4 d pillion

but who rides a pillion nyways in a SBK

plus delivery is better for honda.. i jst cant wait another day leave alone a couple of months

but thn i wud coz i already hav waited sooo long so 2 mnths dont make as big a diff.. practically thnkin

@Rahul: If you want inline four, get the CB, you want a twin get the Duke! Two extra cylinders for "almost" the same price tag never hurts, you see!

However, if you want to boast of the 'exclusivity' factor (not that the CB would be any less exclusive), then get the Duke, eyes closed.

Are you considering the kind of petrol you would have to put in the bike?
As far as I understand CB1000R would require higher octane petrol preferably 97 (91 octane from shell will also do)
Monster might digest and can live on 91 octane or may be normal petrol (Correct me if I am wrong)

Hunting for high octane petrol also can be a pain.

You want the v-twin raw grunt on the monster or the powerful refined inline four on the CB1000r. It's up to you to decide

The Duc runs ok on 91 or 93, but will run better on 97. Since its an air cooled motor the higher octane petrol helps keep the temps a little lower. I notice a difference of about 5-8C in the running temperature.

The bike also feel better on 97 when its getting thrashed tho.

Hey Rahul,

Me too in the same line of thought as you (CB Vs Duc) ... ( except I don't have vitamin-M ready )
for me I would use it for regular Office commute & touring.
As Sumith Mentions availability of petrol is a factor to consider for touring.
Own a gt-250 (monster replica) would hope the own the Duc .

Cheers
Sunil

You have waited ever so many years, you cannot put in another few weeks more? It would be a pity not to become a Ducatisti just because you could not wait a few more weeks.

hello,
Will just share a piece of information i know.
I am from kolkata, and going to buy a cb1000r fireblade this month from New Delhi's Honda showroom. The showroom guy has promised me that periodic servicing of the bike will be taken care by him, as in the mechanics will be sent to kolkata from delhi whenever the service is due.
This at no extra coast, as of now. Hope he sticks to that....
cheers