là lo avete*, instant perfection. The bike now holds a line, changes its line and tracks a line absolutely perfectly. I can now chuck the bike around with considerable verve and it exhibits no bad habits whatsoever. Job done. It just goes to show you, that great suspension can turn on its owner and be a pain when not set up right. Look out for my next reality TV special: "When good suspension goes bad." Best I give this thing back before I break something.

I wanted to mention the gearbox ratios, as they seem shorter than I remembered the Mille having (but aren't). They are perfect at speed or when riding angry as it always seems to be in the right gear at the right time taking advantage of its depth of torque. Both the RC51 and 996 needed a stirring of the pot to keep up, whereas the Mille R always effed off in a hurry regardless of gear. A great aid to that get up and go must be attributed to the fuel injection. Spot on fueling gives instant results dependant on throttle input. Even low speed on/off throttle applications produced no stumbles or hesitation, molto buono*.

As far as performance is concerned the stock Mille will eat a stock Ducati, period. Start playing around with both bikes and the differences become negligible. The Honda RC51 beats the R on the Dyno, but lags behind in roll-ons and is easily beaten up to 150+... go figure.

All this speed talk requires juicy brakes to help keep you out of trouble. The brembos deliver with astounding feel and modulationability (Hey! I think I just made a word up)
These particular Brembos are the new "Gold Series", that's gold in color not chemical composition, but golden they are too. Four pots, good pads, great stoppies, no probs'.