The name “DesertX” should be a familiar moniker for Ducatisti, as the Desert X concept was the belle of the ball at the 2019 EIMCA show.
Back then though, the Desert X was a concept bike built under the Scrambler Ducati name, and it featured a 1,079cc air-cooled v-twin engine.
Oh, how things have changed! Now being teased for a December 9th debut, it would seem that the Italians have done more than reformat the name, and that makes us very happy.
Talk of a v-twin middleweight Ducati Streetfighter V2 have been percolating ever since the Italian brand debuted its V4 motorcycle with a similar name.
With the Ducati Streetfighter V4 a hit. with the Ducati-loyal and sport bike enthusiasts alike, clearly the folks in Bologna can sense the moment approaching for an encore at a lower price point.
This is where the rumors of a Ducati Streetfighter V2 come into play, and the basics are fairly easy to guess: take the Ducati Panigale V2 sport bike, and strip away the fairings for the classic streetfighter look.
The first piece of Ducati’s World Superbike puzzle was revealed today, as the Italian brand is welcoming back Alvaro Bautista to its ranks for the 2022 season.
Alvaro Bautista is set to replace Scott Redding (who is headed to the BMW Motorrad squad for more money), and all signs point to Chaz Davies also leaving the Italian brand at the end of the season (Davies is currently 10th in the WorldSBK Championship).
Where the Panigale V4 goes, the Streetfighter V4 follows – or so the thinking would be, if all things were rational in Borgo Panigale.
At the very least, it would explain today’s rumor about the Italian brand, as Motorcycle.com is reporting that Ducati is preparing to release a Streetfighter V4 SP model.
That news comes from EPA documents that the publications has scoped, which indicated the name of the bike, and that no changes are made to its 205hp (152 kW) V4 engine.
As expected, today we see the debut of a limited edition Troy Bayliss model from Ducati Motor Holding, but unexpectedly the bike in question is the based off the Ducati Panigale V2.
Officially called the Ducati Panigale V2 Bayliss 1st Champion 20th Anniversary, the motorcycle features a fetching livery, adorned with the racing number of three-time World Champion, Troy Bayliss.
There is more here though than just some paint and a $4,500 markup (MSRP is set at $21,000, whereas a base model will cost you $16,500).
Ducati is teasing the arrival of something special, with the number “21” on it, with an online event scheduled for Thursday, July 22nd. That is all the official information that we have…
Big sales growth numbers are going to be all the rage this year, as the motorcycle industry recoups lost sales during the pandemic, and we see a resurgence of people getting outside on two wheels.
So while the headline that Ducati is boasting a 43% increase in sales for the first six months of 2021, compared to the same time period as last year, sounds pretty impressive, the bar is pretty low.
If a motorcycle company doesn’t post double-digit sales figures for Q1 or Q2, now that is something worth talking about.
An interesting rumor is going around about Ducati working on a seamless shifting gearbox for its street bike lineup. The rumors are grounded in patent documents, and the notion that the new gearbox would feature on Ducati’s next-generation superbike.
As expected, Valentino Rossi’s Aramco Racing Team VR46 MotoGP squad will be on Ducati machinery when it comes into the premier class next season.
Considered widely to be the best bike on the grid, and with Ducati eager to expand its ranks in the grand prix class, the leasing of Italian machines by VR46 was widely tipped, despite Rossi’s links to Yamaha.
As such, the Saudi-funded race team has a three-year contract with Ducati Corse for Desmosedici race bikes, which will span the 2022-2024 seasons, while the Saudi government has a five-year deal with VR46.
Today, the Gresini Racing Team announced that their immediate future lies with Ducati.
The Italian team, now run by Nadia Padovani, the widow of team’s founder Fausto Gresini, will lease Ducati Desmosedici machines from the Bologna factory for the 2022 and 2023 MotoGP seasons.
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.