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UPDATE 2: Michael Lock has officially announced that he will be leaving Ducati North America.

UPDATE: John Paolo Canton, Ducati PR Manager, has responded in the comments that Lock was last spotted slaving away in his office, and it’s business as usual in Ducati North America.

With all the commotion going on today, our last piece of breaking news is the developing shake-up that’s going on at Ducati North America. Presumably involving the departure of Ducati North America CEO Michael Lock, we’ve been told changes at Ducati N.A. are occurring at the highest levels. All day we’ve been unable to reach anyone at Ducati’s Cupertino office, so we cannot confirm the report at this time…hey guys, pick up your phones!

TV ratings for the Dutch TT at Assen are in for the Italian TV market (one of the largest markets for MotoGP), and once again they show a decline in MotoGP’s allure without Valentino Rossi. With 2,579,000 viewers, making up 16.79% of the total television audience, MotoGP in Holland attracted only half the audience from last year’s event (5,249,000 viewers, 31.69% of the total television audience). With a similar trend in 125GP and Moto2, some in the Italian press are calling for Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta’s resignation, as these ratings are surely a sign of the sport’s demise.

KTM is looking for some help in naming its 125 Race and 125 Stunt bikes that were debuted at the 2009 EICMA show. When we saw these bikes launched in Milan, we couldn’t help but want one…even if they’re targeted towards kids. Knowing that the Austrian company’s relatively bland naming nomenclature isn’t likely to resonate with the kids of today, KTM is looking for some insight on how to capture this younger audience, and if they pick your entry you can claim a 125 Race or Stunt bike for your very own.

The British GP was the first full GP weekend without The Doctor present to charm the television with his media moxie (did we mention his crash was “worth” $8 million?), and as such we get our first glimpse into what the repercussions are for MotoGP with Rossi out of commission. Checking TV viewership, MotoGP’s stop at Silverstone saw a 20% decline in total viewership when compared to the last two GP’s at Jerez and Le Mans. The result is that advertisers in some markets are asking the local stations that cover MotoGP to readjust there viewership claims and media rates to account for the loss of audience.

There’s no doubt that Valentino Rossi’s injury at Mugello not only left a hole at Fiat-Yamaha garage, but also created a noticeable void for MotoGP racing as a whole. Perhaps one of the greatest GP racers of all-time, Rossi rarely crashes, and has never been injured so extensively before in his career. And for all the parties involved this incident, it is an untimely disaster that has financial repercussions.

But as the old marketing maxim goes, any press is good press, and with all the coverage that’s surrounded Rossi’s crash, a sizeable amount of “buzz” and media attention has been garnered for the associated parties. What is all that media attention worth? According to internet market research firm eXtrapola, just over 8 million in US dollars (over €6.5 million).

Royal Enfield Motors has released a statement saying that the historic company is getting ready to double its current production levels in the coming years. The proposed expansion, which would see the company’s current production level of 52,000 yearly motorcycles get bumped to 70,000 units in 2011, 90,000 units in 2012, and finally 100,000 units in 2013, stems from the positive response the company has seen to its fuel-injected motorcycles. This would seem to be refinement of Royal Enfield’s similar announcement 6 months ago, where the company also said it planned to double production.

Mission Motors has submitted an SEC Form D filing that shows that the San Francisco based company has raised $3.36 million in a $4.67 million investment round. While Mission Motors won’t comment on the SEC filing, the use of the funds is presumably to go towards bringing production of the Mission One and subsequent Mission motorcycles into reality, as the Mission Motors team gears up to bring its creations to market and establish a production facility.

We were hoping to hear something definitive about the Moto Morini acquisition early this week, and the news arrived right on schedule…but just not what we thought we’d hear. Unable to reach an agreement with the trade unions, Paolo Berlusconi’s company, New Garelli, which was created specifically for the takeover of Moto Morini, has backed out of the acquisition of the historic Italian brand.

In their statement, New Garelli cites the company’s inability to reach a mutual agreement with the labor unions as it’s main reason for backing out of the deal. With no other buyers in the mix, and the trade unions seemingly an immovable object, Moto Morini seems destined for the dead pool. Find the company’s statement after the jump.

You gotta love Erik Buell. Say what you will about his motorcycles, but the guy and his team live outside of the box, and it’s awesome. When Geoff May had an off at Miller Motorsports Park, and launched his Erik Buell Racing 1125RR into the air, the result was this busted PVM forged magnesium rear-wheel.

While most teams would throw it into the scrap heap, EBR is instead auctioning it off on eBay to help raise the funds needed for a replacement wheel. That’s entrepreneurship at it’s finest folks. The only thing that makes this auction better, is the description that follows.

BMW Motorrad is reporting that worldwide motorcycle sales were up 21% for the first five months of 2010, compared to 2009’s numbers. Sales were up 19.3% for the month of May alone, with 12,139 units sold, making for 45,431 units sold thus far in 2010. The newly revised BMW R1200GS/Adventure models account for 3,705 of the motorcycles sold in May, which is up almost 34% from last year.

While the GS comprises almost a third of BMW’s total sales in May, BMW reported that the F and K series motorcycles also showed strong demand in the month as well. Also making a strong showing is the all new S1000RR superbike, which sold 1,345 units in last month for a total of 5,236 units sold this year so far.

After getting his first offer to purchase Moto Morini rejected by the local unions, Paolo Berlusconi looks to have overcome the setback, and could finalize the purchase of the other Bologna brand by as early as next week. This news comes after provincial administrators called an emergency meeting, which resulted in some concession by Berlusconi.

At the center of the controversy is the number of workers Berlusconi will keep on at the Bologna-based plant. According to reports, this number has been increased from 20 to 26, out of total of 57 workers who worked at the plant before it entered into receivership. This concession does not come without consequences though.