That was my point though, companies go through issues and decide business wise how to deal with them. I'm not saying Ducati is perfect. Nor am I saying BMW is crap because of my K1200R. In fact I said the opposite, I enjoyed that bike and all of my BMW cars and will continue to do so, even with some issues here and there. I've been lucky with my Ducati's and haven't had major issues while I know others who have.
And I didn't say a BMW S1000RR has no soul. In fact I happen to really like the S1000RR and BMW motorcycles generally goofy styling. And I don't think any sane individual in the know can ever knock the performance of the BMW. They really brought it when they released that bike!
What I did say was that Japanese bikes don't sing like (have the exhaust note) that a Ducati has, and they don't have the soul of a Ducati... That's a personal opinion of mine where I tend to feel a more passionate connection with my Ducs over my Suzuki bikes I've owned - which in no way means I didn't enjoy them. Even the 37bhp GS500 was a blast to ride, and I had it at a ton of track days at the Streets of Willow. Just that there's that something inexplicable when I rode my 748S and now the Diavel that is only there with the Ducs.
The K1200R was also an awesome machine. Silly fast (170hp @ crank, top speed 169 indicated) and handled very well even with the Paralever front suspension, even at the track. I honestly was very bummed when I decided to sell it as it wasn't worth financially to drop $4k into the bike to fix the transmission at that time. So I sold it and got a Diavel. But I loved that bike, man.
Just wanted to clear it up, I am not knocking BMW or Japanese bikes with my statement in my previous post.
Edit to add, the Honda RC51, sometimes referred to as the "Honda Ducati", does actually sing like a Ducati
