[ironbuttduc]

The brakes feel "wooden" because you weren't going fast enough!

I had the same impression of my SS after coming off a Honda. Thought I'd made a big mistake. It didn't have the "refinement" the Honda had. Think of it like strong coffee or dark beer, you don't like it so much at first, yet you're oddly drawn to it. After some time, you won't want anything else. You can eliminate a lot of the vibrating by running at a higher RPM. I smooths out nicely above about 4500. The clutch is heavy. That's the one complaint I still have, especially in a San Francisco traffic jam on the way to Laguna! I've heard both ways on the slave cylinder. They're about $200 so it wasn't worth it to me.

What you'll really come to love about the bike is the pull and the handling once you get it dialed in. Like being on a monorail!

Ducatis don't purr like cats like the japanese bikes do. They snarl and spit and bark, but they're fun once you "get it."