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MotoGP: Andrea Iannone Will Skip Motegi, Back for PI

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Andrea Iannone is to miss the MotoGP round at Motegi. The Italian has been advised by his doctors to skip the first of the three Pacific flyaway rounds to allow the vertebra he fractured at Misano to heal.

Iannone picked up the injury on the first day of his home race at Misano. Though the injury is on the forward side of the T3 vertebra, making it less vulnerable to a repeat injury, the fracture has caused him to miss both Misano and Aragon. Motegi will be the third race which Iannone will be forced to miss.

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Recall

Ducati XDiavel Recalled for Loose Final Drive Pulley

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Ducati North America is recalling a number of its XDiavel power cruisers for final drive pulley that may not have been sufficiently tightened at the factory. The recall affects 1,433 units, bike manufactured between July 7th, 2015 to June 22nd, 2016.

With the pulley not properly tightened, there might be a loss of power to the rear wheel, which increases the risk of a crash. As such, Ducati dealerships will install a new washer under the final drive pulley, in order to increase the tightening torque. This will be done free of charge.

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Bikes

Ducati SuperSport Priced at $13,000 for the USA

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If were to judge things by traffic on Asphalt & Rubber alone, the new Ducati SuperSport was the bike of the 2016 INTERMOT show in Cologne, Germany. The return of a cult classic, it seems Ducati has successfully tapped into the vein that made the original so well-loved.

Releasing pricing for the US market today, there might be more to love about new SuperSport and its up-spec SuperSport S sibling, as both bikes come with attractive price tags.

As such, the 2017 Ducati SuperSport will MSRP for $12,995 in the USA, while the 2017 Ducati SuperSport S will come with a sticker price of $14,795 MSRP.

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Bikes

2017 Ducati SuperSport – The Sport Bike Returns

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The Ducati SuperSport is back for the 2017 model year, bringing a street-focused sport bike into Ducati’s motorcycle lineup once again. As you would expect, the 2017 Ducati SuperSport will come in two models, the SuperSport base model and a higher-spec SuperSport S model.

Both bikes use the 937cc, water-cooled, 113hp v-twin engine that’s found in the Ducati Hypermotard 939. Ducati has also used a steel trellis frame for the SuperSport, which looks very similar to the one used on the current Monster line. Obviously, the front fairing takes some cues from the Panigale superbike.

Ducati’s focus is for the SuperSport to augment its street lineup with something sporty that could go on the race track, but would be more at home on twisty roads, even with a passenger on the back.

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Bikes

Ducati SuperSport Photos Leaked

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The big reveal for Ducati, at INTERMOT, will be the Ducati SuperSport. Bologna already teased this machine at this year’s World Ducati Week gathering at Misano, giving hardcore Ducatisti a first look at the sporty street bike.

Naturally, photos of the machine promptly leaked from WDW2016, which coupled with eyewitness reports, means we have a pretty good idea what to expect in Cologne, Germany this week.

Because of all that, we can confirm that the following are indeed photos of the 2017 Ducati SuperSport, though we will obviously have to wait until tomorrow to see high-resolution images and tech specs released.

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Bikes

The Ducati SuperSport Gets Teased Ahead of INTERMOT

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The start of “New Bike Season” is nearly here, with various brands getting their teaser campaigns ready for next week’s INTERMOT show. One of the best in the business at this, Ducati is ready to unveil its long-awaited Ducati SuperSport model.

The rebirth of one of Ducati’s more popular models in the past, the 2017 Ducati SuperSport works on the same idea of making a sporty street bike, which is not only good for spirited weekend rides, but also capable of doing some short-distance touring.

As such, the SuperSport fits a narrow niche in Ducati’s lineup, somewhere between the Hyperstrada 939, the Monster 821, and the Panigale 959.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #34 – Doohickey

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Episode 34 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast starts off by using the two new Ducati Scrambler models, which were spotted in CARB filings earlier this month, as a jumping off point to talk about how motorcycle manufacturers are chasing the post-authentic biker movement.

We then opine a bit about the apparent decline in the number of scrambler and café racer builds we are seeing in the custom motorcycle scene right now, and how we think that superbikes from the 1980s could be the next platform of choice for bike builders.

This takes the show into a discussion about the rise of electronics, and how they not only affect the motorcycle hobbyist, but also custom motorcycle builders. We then finish up the show with a listener question that asks about for selling advice on a heavily customized Japanese motorcycle.

There might be a revolving KLR joke in there as well…all in all, it’s another classic Two Enthusiasts Podcast show.

As always, you can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Enjoy the show!

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Bikes

A Baby Version of the Ducati Multistrada Cometh?

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The above photo was sent to the Italian website Moto.it by one of its readers, and it is supposedly a photo of an upcoming new version of the Ducati Multistrada, which is physically smaller than the current 1200cc model.

Presumably, this would make the machine in question then the Ducati Multistrada 939, thus adding to the Euro4 compliant engine’s call to action for the 2017 model year.

We say this all hypothetically however, because it is hard to verify anything from this photo…beyond the very obvious double-sided swingarm setup.

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Bikes

Two New Ducati Scramblers Spotted in CARB Docs?

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More new model news, as filings with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) suggest that we will see two new Scrambler models debuting, later this year.

We come to this conclusion because emissions papers from CARB state that “Scrambler CR” and “Scrambler DS” models are coming from Ducati for 2017, in addition to the models we already have from the Italian manufacturer.

The two-letter designations imply that we are likely to see a café racer (CR) version of the Ducati Scrambler, as well as a dual-sport (DS) version of the machine, which we have already seen in spy photos.

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Bikes

#RideHVMC Freeman Racing Pays Tribute to the FDNY

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This weekend is the final round of the MotoAmerica Championship, being held at the New Jersey Motorsports Park. This weekend also marks the 15th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, The Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93.

We all know the sacrifices that were made by New York’s first responders, though admittedly sometimes we take those sacrifices for granted. The sacrifice hasn’t been lost on the #RideHVMC Freeman Racing Ducati team though, who are based out of Ossining, New York.

As such, Corey Alexander and the #RideHVMC Freeman Racing Ducati Panigale R will be wearing a special livery that commemorates the men and women of the New York City Fire Department. As you will see in the photos after the jump, “Engine 23” is a fetching motorcycle, with a touching message.

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Bikes

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #30 – The Need for Speed

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Your weekly two-wheeled podcast addiction continues with Episode 30 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast. This installment sees us discussing three different powertrains, the motorcycles that they power.

First up is Harley-Davidson’s new Milwaukee-Eight engine, which will power its Big Twin touring models for the 2017 model year. We then turn our attention to Ducati (no surprise there), and discuss the seeming return of the air-cooled Ducati Monster, which was spied last week.

We finish the show with a lengthy debrief on the Alta Motors Redshift MX, as Quentin and I had previously spent a day riding this electric dirt bike in the mountains near Portland, Oregon.

As always, you can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Enjoy the show!

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