I had an Aprilia Tuono before this, and I have to say that it was the most solidly performing bike I've ever had, and perhaps the weirdest looking. I've only had the beautiful and more comfortable 848 for 3000 miles, but to be ride-able it needed $2k worth of suspension work. The Tuono had a nasty flat spot at 4-5k, but that was fixed for $1300 and wasn't something that was likely to pitch you into the trees like the devil-toys that Ducati tries to pass off as suspension.
I will always consider both Aprilia and Ducati in the future, but so far the Kool-aid hasn't been that addictive. Both have strengths and weaknesses.