This weekend looks to be another tough one for Nicky Hayden, who seems to be struggling again with his Ducati Desmosedici GP9 in today’s Free Practice Session. The American currently sits 15th on the grid, the very last position held by a factory rider. Contrast that with the 5th place Colin Edwards is currently holding on his satellite Tech3 Yamaha, which runs on a .
In this fourth installment of Ducati’s documentary on the Desmosedici, we focus on the the RR’s special Bridgeston BT-01 tires, which were specifically built with the Desmosedici in mind. The BT-01’s are the stickiest OEM tire Bridgestone has ever made, and is basically a MotoGP slick with tread to meet DOT standards. If you’re late to the DesmoDoco series, you can find , right here at A&R.
Last week, we leaked the fact that the Ducati Streetfigther has begun to arrive at US dealers, who are obliged to keep the bike under wraps until its official unveiling. The Streetfighter might be the most anticipated bike this summer, with the Bologna factory finally bringing a naked version of its 1098 Superbike.
Oberdan Bezzi, taking the next logical step in Ducati’s progression, has put pen to paper on what a Desmosedici based streetfighter might look like. The result is menacing, but we’ll wait for the carbon frame version.
Ducati North America boosted its market share across the United States in the first quarter of 2009, with record sales fueled by the Monster and Superbike line of motorcycles.
Ducati now boasts more than 10% of the sport and street bike sales in 20 key U.S. metropolitan markets, with the brand capturing 6% sales across the country.
Ducati has accused the Managing Director of MV Agusta, Henry D’ Onofrio, of commiting industrial espionage. Namely, the Bologna based Ducati accuses D’Onofrio of violating Ducati trade secrets, unlawful competition, and aggravated robbery against his former employer.
Since May 1st, D’Onofrio has been the Managing Director of MV Agusta, the company’s most senior post since its acquisition by Harley-Davidson. Before this, the 51 year-old Italian was the Corporate General Director of MV Agusta, and previously worked at Ducati as the company’s Chief Financial Officer.
If you have a Ducati Dealership in your home town, then chances are you may be closer to a Ducati Streetfighter than you think. Arriving as we speak to dealerships in the United States are nondescript cardboard covered metal crates, labeled “Ducati 1098”.
Big deal right, what Ducati dealership doesn’t have a few 1098 superbikes sitting on the showroom floor, or in the shop waiting to be put together? If you saw the box, you’d walk on buy unsuspecting that in fact Ducati has begun shipping the Streetfighter purposefully in these mislabeled crates to throw off any peeking eyes.
Yes, we’ve seen a Ducati Streetfighter on American soil, and on May 22nd so will you. That is of course, assuming you don’t go down to your local Ducati dealership and beg/borrow/steal a peak in their inventory lot. Tell them we sent you.
In this third installment of Ducati’s documentary on the Desmosedici, we focus on the the RR’s carbon fiber panels and body. In particular, Ducati explains the construction beind the all-carbon tail on the bike, and the advantages it gives the rider and the bike. If you’re late to the DesmoDoco series, you can find right here at A&R.
Ducati is recalling 1,755 units their 2009 Monster 696 motorcycle for problems with its main wiring harness. The harness may come in contact with the vertical cylinder head and exhaust pipe. This poor placement could possibly result in the harness being damaged, and the rider not looking nearly as cool on the cheapest bike Ducati has to offer. Also, the rider could die. For a Ducati rider, its hard to say which fate is worse.
It looks like Ducati will be moving out of their current headquarters at Borgo Panigale (just outside the old city walls of Bologna), and into a new facility down the road at Perscietana. The new facility will boast nearly 1.8 million square feet, with space included for events and exhibits for customers and visitors, along with a new restaurant and test track.
It looks like folks at Orange County Choppers will try their hand at a different type of twin in addition to their already existing custom chopper line. Paul Sr. in conjunction with Ducati North America have announced that OCC will be opening up a Ducati dealership in upstate New York called Ducati Hudson Valley. The venture comes as OCC celebrates its 10 year anniversary, and will be one of Ducati’s first Ducati Retail Design Projects.
Ducati has released the second part of a multipart documentary on the design and development of the Desmosedici RR. While the first video was a little content light, this next installment should delight the engineering inclined. Those with a social sciences degree we suggest noding, as if you understand what the hell is going on. We sure did. Watch the video (broken into 3 smaller parts) after the jump.