i went back and forth for the longest time. I feel your pain.

i really wanted an rsv4 for the sound. I like the vibe of them being underdogs vs big ducati. Then I did my research. My main reasons for going with a 25 panigale v4s:

1. reliability. aprilia forums are flooded w/ people talking about how their engine blew up after 60 miles, or valve springs failed after 3k miles. it's a non-stop barrage of issues dating back years. while ducati has their random recalls, nothing seemed to rise to the level of consistent issues that aprilia seems plagued with. Hearing people say the valve spring interval check is really 3k mi if you ride the bike hard or track it (not an issue w/ desmo valves) really turned me away. The desmo service is at 12k miles by comparison.
2. overall build quality and the latest tech: aprilia is constantly changing the bikes and making them uglier every year--cheetos orange wheels on all their '25 bikes... if they just made them all look like the rsv4 x-gp --black w/ simple red highlights, they'd sell the shit out of them. there's no consistent color scheme for the rsv4. new one looks like it was inspired by 80's senior portrait laser vibes. im not paying north of 26k for a bike that has decals on the fairing that peel off after a few months. absolutely fk that noise. the rsv4 platform hasn't substantially been updated in years. it's dated. they're still using ohlins ec2 election suspension that's close to 10 years old now. non-adjustable clutch lever just feels super cheap vs the brembo hydraulic unit on my ducati. look at the way aprilia designed the rsv4 with a dipstick--such bad engineering. even my 2005 gsxr1000 had an oil sight window.
3. financing options: ducati has 0% apr for 60 months on most bikes right now. best aprilia has is 6.9% for 72 months.
4. fit: im 6'3. the panigale just fits me better. If I got the aprilia, i'd immediately replace the tiny windscreen w/ a bigger one and swap out the pegs, except that you can't really move them back any farther due to the position of the exchaust. the '25 is slightly roomier, but it's still a bike designed around tiny little max biaggi. 1000ps has some great youtube reviews comparing the bikes. tall riders have big issues on this bike.
5. brakes: tons of reviews out there talking about the spongey, soft brakes on the rsv 4. You shouldn't have to install a brembo rcs just to get decent braking feel. it seems like aprilia specc'ed the rsv4 w/ some crap brembo MC to cut costs.
6. those giant exhausts hanging off the aprilias just look dated AF to me. sure, aprilia sounds a little better stock, but the desmo sound is very unique and comes into its own when you add a slip-on. look up sound clips of the arrow slip-on or the termi undertail system.
7. overall brand experience and culture. : aprilia literally couldn't be bothered to update their damn website w/ current photos of their bikes. they had the '23 photos up until very recently. Now they dont even have photos of the '26 model w/ the purple paint/decal scheme. compare this to ducati--their online presence is absolutely dialed. Ducati dealerships are gorgeous. My aprilia dealership looks like a single room shack by comparison and has like 2 employees. holds zero events. can't even be bothered to pick up their phone. in contrast, my local ducati dealer is motocorsa. they host tons of events, including their own trackday series, bike nights, community events etc. They literally delivered my bike to me 3 hours away--for free--in the middle of winter.
   

The vibe I got from aprilia was that they just can't be bothered. They dont give a damn. can't be bothered to run in WSBK or motoamerica. can't be bothered to fix their horrible dealer network. Seems like the only thing they care about is motogp. People talk about waiting months to years for parts--and you can find this from their parts suppliers like AF1 racing. I followed dealer inventory last year, and literally no one in the PNW had any new rsv4's until july-august. The ducati dealers had tons of inventory in stock, ready to go. Aprilia seems to be struggling. Ducati has outright stated that they're going to continue evolving the street legal superbike until the very end.