ducati pricing

For a little while now I have been interested in the Ducati GT1000 as a possible for my next motorcycle. Since I am a little obsessive about certain things, motorcycles is one of these things. I researched by looking at the specs and reading as many reviews as possible. I also researched the GT’s cousin, the Monster.
I noticed that the reviews approached these two bikes very differently, yet the price tags were very similar. The new Monster 1100 (particularly the S model) is packed with up to the minute riding technology (adjustable suspension, single sided swing arm, alloy wheels, great breaks). The GT on the other hand is loaded with newish, yet out of date technology (non-adjustable forks, standard swing arm, spoked wheels, good breaks).
To get to the bottom of it, I compared the two bikes via their spec sheets. I then went to an OEM parts website and priced the various parts that were different and I came up with this spreadsheet. This spreadsheet showcases how much more the components for the Monster costs as compared to the GT1000. I didn’t price out the engine, since there are too many parts to price.
At the end of it all, the cost difference was approaching $4000. That being said, I discounted the end total by 50% to account for retail markup. This reduced the cost difference to roughly $2000.
The conclusion is the Monster is either underpriced, or the GT1000 is overpriced. There may be some strategy behind this. The Monster has loads of competition and therefore can’t be priced too high. The GT1000, on the other hand, has very limited competition. Therefore they have the ability to price higher and also Ducati doesn’t want to appear too cheap. They are a luxury brand, after all.

My ideal bike would have the ergonomics of the GT1000 but the components of the Monster. That bike doesn’t seem to exist. In which case I want a $2000 coupon on the GT1000.
I intend to contact Ducati about this, I’ll update this post if I hear back.

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