For me, it's one of the few bikes that does two things in perfect symphony;
1) Drop dead gorgeous looks that made me want this bike enough to consider selling my body to science to find the cash to buy it, and
2) The most visceral and raw riding experience, all those magazine hyperbolic descriptions apply; begs you to turn the throttle, falls into corners like it knows what you were thinking, grabs you by the guts and never lets go, [fill in hyperbole here]...
Now for ME, the newer line of Ducati superbikes are supersports have gained a real level of refinement at the expense of some of the rawness they once possessed, but they're still my choice over the more non-fussy inline-4 japanese sportbikes for a riding thrill.
Now, before you think I'm bashing japanese bikes, realize that I have owned 7 Hondas from the CBR's to VFR's and Hondas are my choice of track weapon. But the bike I find myself thinking about all day long when at work is my Ducati, the "other woman" in my life as it were.
There are a whole lot of cheaper bikes, several faster bikes, even bikes that are beautifully penned and perfectly executed...but none of them do for me what my Ducati does for me....
Here's the website for my Duc....a 1993 888SPO. One of 400 built in '93-'94 for homologation for world superbike. 300 like mine and 100 of the "Limited" editions in 1994.
http://www.888spo.com