Yes the Live Wire deal turned into a fiasco. Motoring through Central and South America being followed by a diesel truck equipped with a generator. Total joke book.
I don't have the money to be influenced by marketing to that level.
However...
BMW did say (I'm paraphrasing ) that providing the bikes for the "Long Way Round" trip was the best marketing decision they ever made....
While, KTM was approached first and rejected the request as they thought it would hurt the brand. They didn't have enough faith in Charlie and Ewan (and the team) that they would be able to complete the trip, and not that their bikes were not the right tool for the job.
I don't have the money to be influenced by marketing to that level.
However...
BMW did say (I'm paraphrasing ) that providing the bikes for the "Long Way Round" trip was the best marketing decision they ever made....
While, KTM was approached first and rejected the request as they thought it would hurt the brand. They didn't have enough faith in Charlie and Ewan (and the team) that they would be able to complete the trip, and not that their bikes were not the right tool for the job.
I suppose it was a tough call for KTM. Their flagship 950 was still in it's early stages and struggled with issues on almost all the bikes systems. They also had no global service network, so parts and KTM factory support would have needed to travel with the bikes.
On the other hand, C&E would have made things look better than they were. A Long Way Up didn't harp on bike issues, Long Way Around would have been same for KTMs.
Yes the Live Wire deal turned into a fiasco. Motoring through Central and South America being followed by a diesel truck equipped with a generator. Total joke book.
They must have only looked at the $$$ presented to them as a promotional bribe . I'm sure it wasn't their first choice when looking at possible bikes to choose from.
I suppose it was a tough call for KTM. Their flagship 950 was still in it's early stages and struggled with issues on almost all the bikes systems. They also had no global service network, so parts and KTM factory support would have needed to travel with the bikes.
On the other hand, C&E would have made things look better than they were. A Long Way Up didn't harp on bike issues, Long Way Around would have been same for KTMs.
Every year Ducati has a Race of Champions at their annual World Ducati Week held in Italy. They invite all the factory and satellite racers from MotoGP and WSBK to participate in an exhibition race using their current street-legal superbike. In 2019, this was the paint scheme on the Panigales they were using:
The V4S Corse of that year came out in the same livery and I really wanted to pick one up, but it was not in the cards.
A few years later, they re-used similar livery on the Hypermotard, so...
A couple of years ago, I was watching the Dakar, and Audi ran their new electric dune buggy, the eTron. Danilo Petrucci, who had just come off a MotoGP season with Ducati also ran the Dakar that same year (albeit on a KTM). Anyway, when Ducati unveiled their new model year Desert X, they decided to deck the bike out in the Audi eTron paint scheme and got Petrucci to do the press for it. This was the new livery:
After owning my first hot hatch (mk4 gti) I quickly understood that maintenance and upkeep are quite important so now most of the time my wallet dictates what I own. That said, I'm older now and I thought different when I was in my 20s. I'm sure if you ask a younger crowd a lot of them would have a different story to tell.
My newest obsession direct from the race world, this time the NORRA Mexican 1000 Rally in Baja:
Mmmmm... Desert X Rally...
Desert X's are piling up on dealership floors. They had their "flavour of the year" moment and now the get-a-new-bike-a-year ballers have moved on to the next greatest thing.
Problem is that Ducati won't subsidize the dealers with trunk money, and the only incentive they are offering are low finance rates.
The saleswoman I deal with has been enticing me with 60-month 0% financing, don't pay a cent for 90 days.
Conservatively invested, it's worth about $7-8,000 off a $30,000 bike, but still... I like my discount up front and guaranteed.
I think if I wait them out, they're gonna have to discount eventually. There are still plenty of 2023 NOS models on the floor and 2025s are being constantly pushed in through the loading dock doors...
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