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Ducati Vyper

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The tale that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s business card at one point read “I’m CEO, Bitch” is in fact true. Perhaps tired of dealing with investors and businessmen that didn’t take him seriously, or perhaps the young entrepreneur faced a tough time telling industry specialists twice or three times his age how the world was about to change, ol’Zuck was surely responding to the titles others had placed on him. Enervated at hearing phrases like “that kid” or “the Harvard dropout”, Zuckerberg’s “I’m CEO, Bitch” business card was not only about the young CEO having an equal seat at the table, but also about his personal brand, and reminded whomever held the card that were talking to the creator of one of most popular websites ever on the internet.

If we can stretch that metaphor a bit further, the new Ducati Superbike has its own identity crisis in the eyes of the public. Like the Ducati Vyper and Ducati Cayenne that came before it, we were first introduced to Ducati’s new flagship with its internal name: Xtreme. Whether out of the desire to drive webpage hits by creating controversy, or just actually being that gullible/naive about the story, mainstream outlets began using the nomenclature as if the Bologna brand had adopted product names that tugged on a common heart strings from the Twilight faithful.

Cleverly deciphering Ducati’s secret model numbering scheme, more educated publications latched onto the more likely Superbike 1199 verbiage. There was over course precedent for this +1 trend, after watching the Superbike 998 become the 999. Knowing that Ducati would be releasing a ridiculously over-square v-twin motor with the new Superbike, we also learned early on that the new power plant would be known as the Superquadrata, which sounds far more clever in Italian than its translated English. With all these different names being banded about for the same machine, we wanted to definitely put the business card wars to bed, and say conclusively that the new flagship from Bologna will be called the Ducati Superbike 1199 Superquadrata.

UPDATE: Photos of the rear do seem to confirm that passenger pegs exist and fold underneath the tail section.

British magazine website in other photos. While the tank and headlight still have some camouflage covering them, we get an especially clearer look at the Diavel’s left-hand side, which looks to be production ready.

Showing a unique trellis frame by Ducati standards, the Diavel also has a very pronounced “chin” fairing that likely helps draw air onto a lower radiator. Covering the top radiator appears to be another fairing the features gill slits, again likely for drawing air-flow through the whole of the bike.

Perhaps the biggest revelation to come from looking at these new photos, is the noticeable absence of a pillion and passenger footpegs, which brings up the question as to whether the Ducati Diavel will be a single-rider ride. You make the call in the photos after the jump.

The latest leak from Bologna shows how the upcoming Ducati power cruiser will look tipped over on its side, after an owner gets hit by car, or fails to get the kick stand down in time. Snarkiness aside, reports from the Italian news site Romagna NOI say the Diavel test rider was struck by a car while testing the bike.

The rider seems to be ok, and the bike looks to have held up quite well all things considered. One thing we can glean from the photo is the two-tone paint on the headlight cowling, which might help break up what were expecting to be a very ugly line.

Ducati has recieved a trademark with the UK Intellectual Property Office for the Bolognese word for devil, or “Diavel”, which according to MCN is to be the name of the company’s new performance cruiser.

Interestingly enough, Ducati has not trademarked the Diavel name with the United States Patent & Trademarks Office (USPTO). However with the British government, Ducati has reserved the Diavel mark for virtually every use possible, including lifestyle items like shirts, perfume, watches, and our personal favorite: skin cleansing lotions and creams.

Italian news site MotoSprint has stumbled upon perhaps the best photo yet of the new Ducati power cruiser, which has been dubbed the “Mega Monster”. From the side we can get a better glimpse on the bike’s overall lines and stature, which at leasts makes us more comfortable with how the bike’s final aesthetic will come to be. Love it or hate it? Let us know in the comments.

Source: MotoSprint via Ducati News Today

Spotted just outside Ducati’s Bologna factory by an amateur photographer, we now get a proper glimpse of Ducati’s “Mega Monster” performance cruiser. Based around a 1200cc v-twin motor, Ducati is hoping to tap into the American dominated cruiser market, and steal a few customers away from Harley-Davidson.

While, we’re not calling the Mega Monster a “butter face”…well…actually we are, hopefully the Rhinoplasty Fairy will come visit the bike before its debut at EICMA later this year. Ducati, for the love of God, please re-think this motorcycle. Check Motociclismo.it for more photos.

Source: Motociclismo.it

MotoBlog.it has snagged some spy shots of the rumored Ducati power cruiser, or Mega-Monster as it’s now being called in the press (the Ducati Vyper nomenclature has seemingly been dropped). Aimed to take on Yamaha V-Max and it’s crew, the Mega-Monster is a big step for Ducati in tackling new market segments.

Taking a page from the Multistrada 1200 campaign, which saw a plethora of “leaked” images, we don’t really know if you can call these photos true “spy shots”. As with that release, these photos are clearly being staged by Ducati PR people, and then being leaked to motorcycle magazines.

With each rider clearly wearing Ducati apparel, the dots are being connected for us as we can see that the Bologna brand has indeed been working on a cruiser-styled bike, despite saying the project was canned last year. Photos and more after the jump.

For many, this will come with a sigh of relief. Ducati VP of Marketing, Diego Sgorbati, has confirmed that Ducati has no intentions of making a cruiser motorcycle…for the time being. Long rumored to appear at the upcoming EICMA expo, the Ducati Vyper concept has stirred a few imaginations, as well as a few stomachs. Reported in various forms, we still like to visualize it with the renders that Luca from Bar-Design provided us with last year.

Could Ducati be building a street cruiser to compete against the likes of Harley-Davidson? That’s the rumor behind the so-called Ducati Vyper, which was started by a statement made by Ducati boss Claudio Domenicali, who revealed that Ducati is looking to branch out into a wider market. The 1400cc 170hp prototype is said to be already in running form, and has started preliminary tests at the Bologna factory.

The Vyper will feature a stroked version of the company’s Testastretta engine, and house it in Ducati’s signature steel-trellis frame. A 240 rear tire mounted onto a beefy hollow-section swing-arm is also believed to be on the new machine. Luca from Bar-Design has made some exclusive renders of the Ducati Vyper for Asphalt & Rubber, and if the original looks anything like this, we might just be believers in the Italian chopper concept.