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If you take a look through our coverage of World Superbike’s stop in Assen this weekend, you’ll notice a trend in the standings on how riders finished in relation to what type of equipment they ran in the race. The trend seems to suggest an advantage for the inline-four cylinder bikes, and didn’t go unnoticed by Carlos Checa, who found himself struggling to compete with the four cylindered machines this weekend on his twin cylindered Ducati.

As one of the privateer Ducati’s on the grid, Checa and the Althea Ducati team believe the current WSBK rules hinder the twins in being competitive with the focus in both acceleration and top speed. You make the call after the jump.

UPDATE 2: Ducati has just informed us that the Monster 796 is being considered an early 2011 model year motorcycle, we’ve update our post to reflect this.

UPDATE: Pricing for the 2011 Ducati Monster 796 will be $9,995 in the USA.

The rumor floodgates were wide-open this weekend about a possible late model entry by Ducati that would see the Italian company add a Monster 796 to its 2010 model lineup. We can now confirm that the 2011 Ducati Monster 796 has been added to the Monster product line, and will fit in-between the 696cc and 1100cc versions of the Monster.

The impetus for this late addition is reportedly because of poor sales in the 1100cc range of Monsters, which has prompted Ducati to further segment the line-up with a middle offering. The Monster is actually Ducati’s best selling line of motorcycle, and the brand is keen to maximize its return on the newly updated design, and is seemingly pinning its hopes on this late entry. Video, photos, and more of the 2011 Ducati Monster 796 below.

How important is the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200 to the Italian company? Consider this, despite releasing a bevy of new and revised motorcycles for the 2010 model year, only the Multistrada 1200 has seen the Bologna company bend over backwards to market its sport-tourer with a bevy of videos. Part of this is due to the extra pocket change seen in the adventure segment of motorcycling, but an even more important reason for Ducati’s aggressive media push is the need for the Italian brand to stand for something more than just expensive sport bikes.

Before there were Hypermotards and Multistrada 1200’s, Ducati still saw the lion’s share of its sales come from the Monster line, despite the company being better known for its Superbike line. Unlike some other companies, Ducati was fortunate enough to realize that you can’t play in only one market segment, and began looking for new ways to expand it’s product lineup…thus the Multistrada 1200 was born. In an effort to keep up with all the marketing around the beak-nosed bike, we’ve compiled all of the Ducati Multistrada 1200 videos we could find, so sit back, grab a beverage, and enjoy them after the jump.

Finishing the end of a limited-production run of 1,500 motorcycles, only eight Ducati Desmosedici RR motorcycles remain in the United States as Pro Italia of Glendale, CA just took delivery of the last Desmo that will hit US shores from Bologna. The venerable GP replica that a common man can own made quite a stir when it was announced, and speculation has already begun about a successor for the RR. Will the next incarnation (if there is one) be an 800cc version? Or well Corsa Rosa wait for MotoGP’s switch back to 1000cc’s?

Oberdan Bezzi has inked another motorcycle sketch, and this time the Italian designer has a modern take on an old school favorite with an Italian twist. Re-imgaging the Martini Ducati design, Obiboi takes the Martini racing theme and has modernized it on a Ducati Desmosedici. True to his roots, Bezzi sees this as being the ideal pairing of brands for the 2011 MotoGP season, and of course only Valentino Rossi himself could be at the helm. The 2011 MotoGP silly season rumor fest is still a ways out; but make no mistake, Italians have some big hopes for next season…despite the fact we still have the entire 2010 season of MotoGP ahead of us first.

Modular motorcycle design is the wave of the future, and it would seem Ducati agrees with this same sentiment that we’ve been harping on for the past 9 months or so. Perusing through the USPTO’s records for patent applications, we found this interesting nugget submitted by Ducati Motor Holdings S.p.A. Known better as Patent Application #US 2009/0308677 A1, or “Simplified Motorcycle”, Ducati’s patent application outlines a motorcycle that is devoid of a frame, and instead has all the components of the motorcycle bolt on directly onto the motor.

Ducati owns probably the most valuable brand name in motorcycling, and like many brands Ducati finds ways to monetize this asset by licensing it out to other companies. One great marriage and example of this is the Ducati branded apparel available from Puma, which sees both brands benefitting from a racing/apparel association. One not so great example of this concept however is the Toshiba Satellite U500 Ducati Edition laptop, which sees the vanilla of portable computers get stamped with the mark of Corse Rosa.

Debuting at the Rome Motodays event this week, Bimota unveiled a very special bike: the 2010 Bimota DB6 Superlight. Unfortunately we weren’t there to witness this wonderful piece of carbon fiber mastery, but the good folks at OmniMoto were, and have a gallery full of delicious photographs that are sure to become your next desktop wallpaper. Why is the Bimota DB6 Superlight so special? It could be it’s carbon trellis frame, or it’s carbon trellis swingarm, or its feather light weight, or it could just be a combination of all of the above. Find out more about the DB6 Superlight after the jump.

Paginas Amarillas Aspar Team, the MotoGP team headed by Jorge “Aspar” Martinez, has just released it’s livery for the 2010 season. Now we’ve seen Ducati’s in yellow racing trim before, and it was no big deal. But for some reason, this goldenrod Ducati Desmosedici just doesn’t look quite right, and unfortunately for Aspar’s rider Hector Barbera, we’re starting the short bus jokes as of right now. Leave your own in the comments section.

The Italian press is one of those entities that you have to both love and hate at the same time. Rumors are swirling today in Italy about a possible merger between Ducati and Piaggio that is being investigated by strategy consulting firm McKinsey & Co. According to reports, the goal of  such a merger would be to create one large Italian motorcycle manufacturer capable of competing with the Japanese Four. However like all good gossip, you have to consider the source and run things past the smell test, and this rumor smells like something fanciful made up by the Italian media.

Nicolas Petit, a 25 year old Frenchman who lives just outside of Paris, is a motorcycle mechanic by day, and motorcycle sketcher by night. With already an impressive resume of motorcycle design sketches and renders to his name, we think Nicolas can add one more stunning example to the list: the Ducati Desmosedici RR Trike concept. We’re not huge fans of trikes here at A&R, but when you base your concept off one of the most powerful streetbikes ever created, it certainly catches our attention. Photos and more after the jump.