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A move that has been rumored and tipped for some time now, Danilo Petrucci is headed to the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship for the 2022 season, on a Warhorse HSBK Ducati racing a Panigale V4.

The Italian rider all but confirmed the news when he was on our Paddock Pass Podcast, and even then the news was widely expected to come to reality soon, with Petrucci simply saying that the paperwork needed to be completed before he could make an announcement.

That day is here now though, and the Italian’s arrival in the MotoAmerica paddock is certainly going to help elevate the status of the series, not only with American fans, but also with international racing enthusiasts.

Ducati is the first OEM to brag about its 2021 sales results, and it is quite the brag from the Italian brand – with 59,447 units sold last year.

That sum is an all-time record for Ducati Motor Holding, and marks a 12% gain over the total sales from 2019, and a 24% gain over 2020’s results.

Helping take Ducati to that level was double-digit growth in all of the motorcycle-maker’s key markets, including the United States, where sales were up a staggering 33.5%.

That growth was surely fueled by the Ducati Multistrada V4 adventure bike, which accounted for nearly 1 in 5 Ducati’s sold in 2021.

Editor’s note: Breaking my collarbone just a couple weeks before the press launch of the new Ducati Monster in San Francisco, I asked the most discerning Ducatisti I knew to take my place and test this new street bike fro Asphalt & Rubber.

Colin has seen more than a few Ducati’s in his garage over his many, many years, so he knows the history of this iconic motorcycle name, and yet he has enough “other” bikes in his garage so as not to be a complete Italian snob. Enjoy his words, and the properly English accent they were written in. -JB

First a confession: I feel like an imposter. I am neither a moto-journalist nor a professional rider. But, I do have some qualifications.

I own an eclectic collection of Ducati icons from the 80s and 90s, and many other newer Ducatis have passed through my hands over the last 30 years including a beautiful, raucous, guttural, black Monster S4RS in the late aughts.

Now a second confession: that Monster was the only bike that ever really scared the crap out of me.

The ferocious power and torque and no electronics meant the front wheel needed no excuse to leave the pavement; usually when I least expected it and was not paying attention. This was a design feature not a fault.

It was…is…the reason people wanted that Monster. For me, it was exciting but exhausting. It had to go.

If you bought a Ducati Scrambler Nightshift this year, then your bike is up for a recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for front and rear turn signals that don’t flash brightly enough.

Because the issue runs afoul of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, “Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment”, a recall is required. In total, 228 motorcycles are affected by this recall.

It was just last week that we saw Ducati North America recalling nearly 6,000 motorcycles from several of its lines, including the Monster lineup, for issues with their rear brake hoses.

And now today, we see another 1,312 Monsters getting recalled for a similar issue (though there is likely overlap on the bike’s affected between the two recalls).

Specifically, this recall concerns the fact that the rear brake hose may be susceptible to heat damage, for a variety of different reasons.

If you bought a Ducati Monster, Supersport, or XDiavel in the past few years, you may have gotten hosed…rear brake hosed, that is.

Affecting 5,909 motorcycles, Ducati North America is recalling the Monster 797 (2017-2020), Monster 821 (2018-2020), Monster 1200 (2017-2020), Supersport (2017-2020), and XDiavel (2016-2020) models because their rear brake hose line may allow air into the braking system.

The Ducati Multistrada V4 has been making waves in the adventure-touring space since its debut last month, but for some unlucky owners, that fun is about to come to a stop.

This is because Ducati has found quality issues with the valve guides on some of the V4 Granturismo motors, which could lead to excessive wear and could cause the engine to lose power and ultimately fail at the head.

On December 17th, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) raided with armed tactical agents the offices of Ducati North America in Mountain View, California.

Though only a handful of employees were in the Mountain View office because of COVID restrictions during the time of the raid, it is being reported that roughly 30 agents stormed the building with a search warrant in hand.

An account of this happening was posted by a Ducati North America employee to the Bay Area Riders Forum, with RoadRacing World subsequently publishing the news.

The Ducati Streetfighter V4 and Ducati Streetfighter V4 S are being recalled in the United States because of issues concerning their flywheels.

The issue stems from the fact that the generator rotor (flywheel) could have a potential metallurgical issue – the steel bars used to form the flywheel may have cracks that even after the forging process are still present on the final component.

This could lead to the flywheel breaking during use.