I will never forget the 2007 NY Show at the Javits center - that is where I fell in love with MV.
I was previously riding an '03 Gixxer 1k, which I must say, did love quite a bit... It had so much power (PC3 + Yosh, etc) and was fairly comfortable given my size (6'0, but built like a football player). I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with my next bike, but knew that '07 was definitely the year for an upgrade. When the '03 Gixxer 1k came out, it was the hottest bike of the year. This year, I didn't really see any liter-class bike stand out from the rest.
I checked out the latest Japanese offerings, but they were all lackluster. The new Gixxer in particular was suspect, because here we were at the NY show, and they don't even have engine performance specs yet? That to me indicated that they were having problems and still tweaking things at the last minute to make their numbers where they needed to be.
Anyway, the 1098 S Tricolore is a beautiful bike, and if not for my aversion from twins (I just don't like the feel), I would have strongly considered it. The Ducati booth was, in fact, horribly cramped.
When I finally made my way towards the MV area everything changed.
First of all, the F4CC is simply stunning. I was there on early Saturday morning, and it definitely stole the show. The only word I could use to describe it is flawless.
That all being said, when I saw the Senna it was love at first sight. I just had to have one. I spent the next several hours debating in my head as to whether or not I could justify the expense for an "exclusive" (not just the sticker price, but all that comes with it regarding maintenance). By the time Sunday night rolled around I was feverishly trying to find dealers in the area to lock in on a Senna. I wound up ordering from FBF since they were the only one in the greater area that was open on a Monday and had one for sale. I will finally get my hands on it this coming week.
Rambling aside, the show was great, the Ducati's are beautiful, but the MV's are just downright gorgeous. I am now a proud owner as a result.