Well, I’m happy that I didn’t have to declare this week’s Showroom Showdown an "epic fail," as a few initial comments suggested some of our readers are downright hostile to the idea of bikes. Given the amount of mail CarDomain gets asking to add motorcycle makes and models to our vehicle database, I have to say that caught me a little off guard. But most of you were good sports. Of the Italian Stallions, the Ducati 1098 was the clear victor, beating the Aprilia by a two-to-one margin. For all the haters, don’t worry. Rob will make sure next week’s match up features cars. Stay tuned…

Rob is still out of town, and he left Showroom Showdown in my hands. After racking my brain trying to think of some cars to compare, I thought it might be fun to make this week’s showdown about motorcycles. After all, this is the perfect time of year to get on a bike! Both contestants are dead-sexy Italian V-twins with razor-sharp handling, and both will accelerate like cruise missiles. The Ducati comes with 15 more horses—160 compared to the Aprilia’s 145— but it costs $2000 more—$16 grand compared to $14—and Aprilia is marque that’s definitely seen less in the wild. So if you had to pony up some of your hard-earned cash, which would you choose?