Sat on one at Laguna Seca, its comfy. I like it in general and my father (who hasn't ridden since he was 17) said he liked it too. Well setup bike, and I love the story behind it.
The trellis frame is a nice touch and I think Ducati stopped developing on their trellis frame too soon so there's room for developement there. They are using some top shelf products like Ohlins suspension components and I'm wondering if they can manage to get cheaper components to deliver comparable performance, of course the cheaper components won't match the performance of the high grade parts but they might pull the MSRP down far enough to make this bike a real contender for the common man's buck.
There's not really much more I can say about it because I haven't ridden it. Maybe they should have a test ride day around Laguna Seca this year, or at Indy. That would probably help to promote the bike. Maybe drop a line to some of the big names at the races and see if they'll come check it out and give their two cents.
I hope they can get it off the ground, it is a very promising project. Maybe he can get a few more American companies behind it, or even join forces with someone like... I don't know, Eric Buell... to set up a strong dealership network for both their bikes?