#ducati

The Ducati Superleggera V4 borders on obscene. With up to 235 horses on tap with the race exhaust and pushing something hovering at around 400 pounds, the sheer amount of thrust bends your perception of…well, everything. And yet, despite the absurd amount of power mixed with its carbon-fiber and titanium-infused diet, the Ducati Superleggera V4 still handles and circulates around a racetrack as well, if not better, than anything else I’ve ridden. And if the stopwatch ultimately proves me wrong someday, certainly nothing I’ve ridden to date can match the utter exhilaration the Superleggera V4 provides. 

There are Sport-Tourers, and then there are Sport-Tourers. The Ducati Multistrada 1260 S Grand Tour is the latter, a cut above the rest. It checks all the boxes: stonking engine, state-of-the-art electronics, great suspension and brakes, decent-but-not-isolating weather protection, and included cargo-carrying capacity. Every time I ride the Multistrada 1260 S Grand Tour, I think how retirement is a long seven years away and wouldn’t I rather just pack my bits and bobs onto the back of this bike and head for parts unplanned?

Perhaps it’s time to change the category’s name since both bikes mentioned here surely classify as hyper-nakeds. With both of these bikes, you get big, burly engines mounted to aggressively styled chassis. For riders who believe that too much of everything is just enough, 2020 is the year for you in naked motorcycles. To our eyes, the Kawasaki Z H2 embodies the best of this category and achieves it through a unique powerplant, making it worthy of the Best Naked Motorcycle MOBO. When we have one in the MO Garage Complex, the boys are always fighting over it. Here’s why:

Ducati revealed a new Monster with a 937cc engine, modern electronics and, in a departure from the line’s history, replaced the traditional steel trellis frame with an aluminum alloy frame.

In a cross-branding exercise with its Emilia-Romagna neighbor (and technically, it’s parent company), Ducati revealed a new Lamborghini edition version of the Diavel 1260. The limited edition Ducati Diavel 1260 Lamborghini is styled after the automaker’s Siàn FKP 37 supercar, sporting the same Gea Green and Electrum Gold color scheme, similar-looking wheels and lightweight carbon fiber elements.

In addition to the updated Supersport 950 recently announced, Ducati has also unveiled a new member of the Panigale V4 family – the 2021 Panigale V4 SP. Essentially a Panigale V4 R but with the S model’s 1103cc engine, carbon fiber wheels, and electronic Öhlins suspension, the SP marks a return for the Sport Production initials after several years away.

Ducati has updated its SuperSport for 2021, giving it Panigale V4-inspired styling and a six-axis inertial measurement unit while bringing it in line with Euro 5 standards. Ducati also officially added “950” to the model’s name, which is interesting in that it suggests other displacements might be in the works, but at this point, the 2021 line-up will consist of the SuperSport 950 and the SuperSport 950 S.

Ducati says the Nightshift, “whose name immediately evokes the atmosphere of the night, fits into the `Land of Joy’ as the ideal choice for all those looking for an essential and stylish bike at the same time, with a comfortable riding position, also in the company of a passenger and which allows its owner to experiment through customization.”Yours exclusively in Aviator Grey, the Nightshift gets a new flat seat in Cafè Racer style for two. A straight and narrow handlebar is added to the Cafè Racer mirrors, with number plates taken from the Full Throttle. 

Ducati has updated its XDiavel range to meet Euro 5, adding two new variants for 2021: XDiavel Dark and XDiavel Black Star (pictured above). The good news: the Euro 5 update adds 8 hp to the XDiavel’s claimed power figures. The bad news: only countries where the emission standard is in place will get the update, meaning countries like the U.S. will not see a performance increase. Further bad news: the XDiavel Black Star will not be offered in North America.

Ducati officially revealed its new Multistrada V4, which joins the two-cylinder Multistrada 1260 and Multistrada 950 in its adventure-touring lineup. The 2021 Ducati Multistrada V4 will be offered in three versions, the base model V4, the V4 S and the V4 S Sport.

Ducati is set to announce its new Multistrada V4 tomorrow at 1 pm EST/10 am PST, but we’ve got an early glimpse of the new adventure-touring model and some initial details thanks to a vehicle certification document from Australia.

Ducati announced small updates to its Streetfighter V4 models, making it Euro 5 compliant, and added a new “Dark Stealth” matt black color option for the V4 S. All told, the changes for the 2021 model are pretty subtle, which makes sense for a model introduced just a year ago.

All our conjecture was resolved early this morning when Ducati CEO Domenicali unveiled the new V-Four engine that will power the next generation Ducati Multistrada. The biggest surprise is that the new “Granturismo” 1158 engine will not use desmodromic valve actuation, but regular springs. That doesn’t seem like a bad thing in this application, as it gives the engine “record-breaking maintenance intervals”– 60,000 km or just over 37,000 miles. (It’s probably an excellent thing, in fact, since the mystery and expense of having to have one’s desmodromic valves adjusted has always loomed large for the non-wealthy when contemplating Ducati ownership.)

You all know the saying, “You get what you pay for.” It’s an important life lesson that rings true for many aspects of life. Like cheap tools, the pleasure we get for the minimal cost outlay quickly evaporates as soon as it breaks much sooner than it should. Shoulda bought the good one is what we inevitably say to ourselves every time.

Ducati announced that production of the Multistrada V4 has already begun at its factory in Borgo Panigale, Italy, while claiming that the adventure-tourer will be the world’s first production motorcycle equipped with front and rear radar technology.