Samray wrote:I always liked this Tadao quote:
Well the most interesting model I've ridden is the Ducati 916. ...........................................................................................
.... just a shame he went to the wrong factory in Italy ............
You couldn’t possibly be hinting that
any Aprilia (never mind the lowly Falco), could have been a better choice than the iconic 916 could you Andy, how could you make such a ridiculous statement.
Anyway I couldn’t possibly leave it at that without further investigation/comparison.
Let’s start with the power/performance/power to weight.
Falco has slightly more power than the 916
Falco actually revs a bit higher so top end is pretty similar.
Falco has a much better mid range so wins that one easy.
Dry weight is fractionally less, so wins on power to weight as well.
Reliability?
I may have been very lucky but the Falco has been by far the most reliable bike I have ever had in over 40 years biking. Never met anybody who ever seriously used the word reliable for a 916!
Every test I have ever seen between a Duke and the RSV, the RSV has won, especially the early RSVs against the 916, (which we all know were close to the Falco
Even the 996 was down on the Falco, but the 998s onwards were better, but we’re just talking 916s here.
A standard Falco would probably not handle quite as well, but even with just a Mille rear shock and a decent suspension set up job, it was probably almost as good, the Mille was always tested slightly better.
The Falco would probably not turn in as quick, but probably not that different.
Let’s look at cost of ownership?
Falco - much cheaper to buy, better fuel economy, and even the Falco is a bit cheaper to service than a 916.
Looks?
It has to be a win for the 916, if I had a large mansion, I would have one on a pedestal in the living room like Foggy did.
Not just for the beautiful iconic looks -
because the thing is so bloody uncomfortable and old fart like me would never be able to ride it for more than 10 mins. without turning into a cripple.
When I first saw it I fell in love and deamed of owning one sometime, until I tried to sit on an early one at the NEC,
Aaaaaaaah - Comfort, no contest the Falco wins by a mile, and I still actually think the Falco is a great looking bike, wouldn’t have kept it for 6 years if I opened up the garage door each time and saw something that looked like a VFR12.
Talking about what bike you have to none bikers, prestige of ownership, Duke wins by a mile!
Going to a big bike meet, (like Willingham on a summer Wednesday with nearly a 1000 biikes), in the early years when I had the Falco, there were sometimes up to a hundred Dukes, but people walked past them all and stood around in groups looking at the only Falco.
Normal comment was “that looks really nice mate, never seen one of them before, what is it?", so Falco wins on that one.
So after due analysis of all the above facts, the Falco wins just!
Your case is proved!
