As I write this, Australian Casey Stoner is the fastest in practice for Sunday's last MotoGP event of the season at Valencia, Spain. Stoner has already clinched the world championship for himself and the manufacturer's championship for his sponsor, Ducati.
Ducati is the David among Goliaths at the races. Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki are giant companies and must have huge racing budgets. Somehow, though the other outfits have tried fiercely and expensively to beat them, a Ducati has consistently been the fastest bike at the races.
Years ago, when I craved "connoisseur" motorcycles, Italian bikes seduced me. Ownership of a few and observation of dozens dulled their luster. Certain problems appeared to be chronic among all the Italian brands, electrical problems especially. Kinda soured me.
The last few years, as computers have perfected design and manufacture, and as Japanese electrical parts have become nearly universal the world around, I have caught myself yearning again for a spirited Italian thoroughbred.
Tamar has one. It's a Piaggio scooter, a four-year-old LT150, a big-wheel model that has been rugged and nearly trouble free. Nearly. Last night as she left work, her Piaggio stopped running on University Boulevard here in Denver. Tamar had her suspicions about why it stopped, and she was right.
This afternoon, I replaced nearly the only remaining original handlebar switch, this one the on/off rocker "kill switch" on the right handlebar. The part was cheap and installing it was easy.
The same things could be said about the turn signal switch across the bar, and the starter button. I've replaced both. And a headlight bulb. It was cheap but installing it was a chore. The bulb expired because the voltage regulator failed. It was cheap neither in purchase price or labor cost for diagnosis and installation.
Tamar loves her scooter. It really is a fine product, easy and rewarding to ride, great looking... Hey, it's Italian.
If you believe, as I did, that today's Italian mechanical products are as reliable and appliance-like as Japanese items, I'd suggest that you ask your Ducati, Vespa, MotoGuzzi or Aprilia dealer if they have a kill switch in stock - or if they have to order one for you.
Remember, they don't like to stock slow-moving items. If it doesn't sell in a few months, they won't reorder it. If existing kill switches seldom fail, they will not stock new ones.
So when they tell you that, yes, we do have one of those on hand...
If Casey Stoner's remarkable success on an Italian motorcycle delights you, and you love the way they look and work and make you feel, please don't let me discourage you from owning one.
Maybe the Italian motorcycle companies care primarily about building fast, gorgeous, sexy bikes and scooters, and not so much about making or sourcing durable electrical components.
So if you hate niggling problems and the occasional surprise minor failure, I'd look elsewhere.
All that said, if Tamar bought another scooter tomorrow, she'd go for the limited-edition Vespa 250 with the headlight mounted '50s-style on the front fender. Lovely...
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