You may have been hearing a bit about this EPA compliance spreadsheet that has been outing more than its fair share of new motorcycles for the 2013 model-year. Tipping us off to a number of Kawasaki’s soon-to-be-announced models, like the 2013 Kawasaki Ninja 300, the 2013 Kawasaki Ninja 400R, the return of the 636cc Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, our continued torture with the carb-based Kawasaki Ninja 250R, EPA document also makes mention of a BMW F800GT, as well as a Ducati 1199 Panigale SP.
As any good Ducatisti knows, the Italian brand’s SP models boast more farkle for the buck, which helps Ducati move more product by doing a pseudo-update to the model. Out for only a year now, the Ducati 1199 Panigale has been selling well in the United States, as well as abroad, which makes this hint about an SP variant a bit surprising given the sales success thus far.
However peculiar, the EPA document lists the following models from Ducati under the the 1199 Panigale line item: 1199 Panigale ABS, 1199 Panigale S, 1199 Panigale SP, 1199 PanigaleS ABS, 1199PanigaleS TCLE ABS, which accounts for all the models currently in Ducati North America’s line-up, plus one extra: the SP version.
With Ducati already set to debut three versions of its water-cooled Hypermotard 848 at EICMA later this year, there are rumors the Ducati Superbike 848 could also be replaced, with several models getting re-worked as well. Our suspicion is that the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak edition will get an update with the livery the team ran at this year’s hill climb, while the Ducati 1199 Panigale SP could debut, and help make more sense out of the Panigale’s expensive price tag. As always, time will tell.
Source: EPA
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