Another day, and another MotoGP team launch (there’s a bevy of launches over the next few days, if you didn’t already know). Today, it was Ducati Corse’s time to shine, with the Italian brand’s MotoGP team taking the stage in Bologna.

As was the case with the Yamaha MotoGP team launch, the bike on display was last year’s model, with new a livery. But, the event did give us our first chance to see Jorge Lorenzo in his new Ducati colors, and it was an opportunity to hear the 2015 World Champion talk about his new home at Ducati Corse.

Much of the launch focused on the collegial atmosphere inside Ducati Corse – an interesting topic to focus upon – with Lorenzo echoing the feeling of hope and progress, also talking extensively about the collaboration inside the MotoGP team.

The comments were interesting because of the contrast they present to the former teammates of Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo. One thing is clear though, Ducati expects strong results for the 2017 season, and they are taking the matter very seriously.

As such, don’t expect to see the team’s new aerodynamic package until the first session of the Qatar GP. Until then, enjoy the bounty of high-resolution photos we have of the Ducati Desmosedici GP in its 2017 livery, after the jump.

MotoGP

Yamaha have kicked off the 2017 MotoGP season. The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team were the first to present their bike, their riders, their team, and most importantly, their sponsors and color scheme to the world. Launches being what they are – a show primarily put on for the benefit of their sponsors – there was nothing radical to see. The bikes on display had been painted in the correct colors – the Yamaha blue a little darker, the Movistar M a lot bigger, Monster’s sponsorship being visually demoted a little further, the green claw M looking a little too much like Movistar’s M – but they were not the actual 2017 bikes, the eagle-eyed MotoGP technical blogger Manziana spotted. More disappointing is the news broken by GPOne.com, that Ducati are to present what is basically a GP16 in 2017 colors.

Bikes

I’m not sure if I missed the memo, or if Honda just didn’t make much of a fuss about it, but pricing for the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR and its kin are now showing on the American Honda website. Prices for the new Honda CBR1000RR seems to be only available in the USA right now, but early indications appear that Big Red is asking for quite the pretty penny for its freshly updated superbike. As such, current pricing is as follows: Honda CBR1000RR – $16,499; Honda CBR1000RR ABS – TBD; Honda CBR1000RR SP – $19,999; Honda CBR1000RR SP2 – $24,999.

Opinion/Editorial

What do chickens have to do with potatoes? For that matter, what do chickens have to do with steel? And what do both of those things have to do with tires? The answer isn’t as obvious as you may think, and this week everyone in the motorcycle industry is asking themselves what European motorcycles have to do with beef exports. The answer to all these questions is the same though, and it involves the rather unsophisticated motorcycle industry being dragged into the rather complex world of international trade negotiation. Let me explain. What’s the beef? You see for nearly 30 years now, the United States has been battling with the European Union over the prohibition of hormone-raised beef being sold on the European market.

Bikes

The Motor Bike Expo is underway in Verona, Italy right now, and MV Agusta is there showing off two of its special livery machines, to help grab headlines and to keep buzz moving around the Italian brand. The first bike is the MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR “Ballistic Trident” that we have already shown you, and the other is today’s installment, the MV Agusta Dragster 800 “Blackout”. As the name implies, the Blackout is built off the Dragster 800 platform, with copious amounts of black paint used. In other news, water is wet, right? The design is pretty interesting though, and I mean that in the Chinese proverb sense of the word.