Ducati Hypermotard Motorcycles, page #52

Moto blog

The 848, challenged

Last year I decided to enter the 848 Challenge and ever since that decision, a challenge is exactly what I've had on my hands.On one of his last days at the magazine, Barry - our mag designer - took Ducati's 848 to Brands for some instruction with our very own Niall Mackenzie. An ex-GP god, a pristine Italian superbike and a dry Brands Hatch. What would possibly go wrong?

2011 Ducati Monster 1100 EVO Review – First Impressions

Pete says, ‘Grrawarsnarlke grmble  grmble!’  He’s become a monster for this new Ducati. Salve, from Catania, Sicilia! It’s always nice meeting up with an old friend you haven’t seen in a couple years.

Ciao, bella! Quick visit to the Ducati Museum and Factory

The MotoGP room at the Ducati Museum located at Ducati’s world headquarters in Bologna, Italy. This span of Desmosedici GP bikes represents every iteration of the Desmo, including the number 1 plate-wearing bike  ridden by Casey Stoner. Just on the right edge of this pic is Nicky Hayden’s #69 Desmo.

Press launches - the ugly truth. Part 3

So with an afternoon of sightseeing completed (a rare luxury on most launches) it's back to the hotel for the press conference. These are you usually long winded, tooth pulling affairs with Japanese technicians insisting on speaking their bestest engrish which only serves to elongate the proceedings. Nothing kills a presentation more than reading every word of a powerpoint slide verbatum, even thought the viewers can read exactly the same words (and probably a lot faster).  The Crossrunner presentation was mercifully brief and snappy followed by dinner in the hotel and a reasonably early night as everyone had already been up for twenty hours.

WSBK Racer Maxime Berger Losing His Rear Wheel at Donington Park

We’re still in awe of a bizarre incident from the past weekend’s World Superbike Race at England’s Donington Park. If you haven’t heard what happened yet, check the video after the jump or read about it in our race report. We’ve seen crashes before where a rider lost control of his rear wheel, but not like this.

Come To ‘Da Rossi’ For A Pizza And More

At 32 years of age, some might say that Valentino Rossi is edging towards the twilight years of his career. At least now he’s got something to fall back on once he hangs up his leathers, as he announced the opening of his pizzeria in his home town of Tavullia, Italy. In the meantime, you can be sure this place will be packed each race weekend.

Get your suspension set up, do it now!

Things are coming along nicely in the Speed Triple camp. I’ve finally removed my gaffa tapped heated jacket controls from the tank, and fitted a pair of Bridgestones sticky but durable BT-16’s. Last week a huge box full of R&G crash protection stuff arrived so that will be fitted at the weekend for peace of mind, just as well really because the Triumph now feels like a finely tuned scratcher thanks to a recent new discovery.

Ducati 848 EVO Appears in Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Commercial [Video]

Get the Flash Player to see this player. Mercedes-Benz’s high-performance tuning subsidiary AMG has released the first of likely many commercials featuring its partnership with Ducati. AMG and Ducati announced their partnership in November, which includes sponsorship of the Ducati MotoGP as well as various marketing and cross-promotional opportunities.

Behind the scenes in Qatar

Just because you have the name Jorge Lorenzo on your screen and you've won a world championship doesn't mean you'll get an easy time at scrutineering. In Qatar the technical inspection staff made the factory Yamaha mechanics remove bodywork and unbolt some electrical components in order to get a better look at the guts of the 2011 M1. Everything was in order of course but what a great opportunity for the scrutineers to exercise their power and have a poke around the most high tech Yamaha on the planet.

Ducati MotoGP: Smoke and mirrors

There's often more lurking within a seemingly innocuous press release than first meets the eye. The latest communication from Ducati's MotoGP spin doctor would, at first, lend you to believe that the team are buoyed with steely optimism and are hopeful that their hard work ethic and diligence will get them to the top of the time sheets in two shakes of a 10 mil' Facom T-bar. The results from their pre-season testing sessions have so far been pretty glum with both Nicky Hayden and their golden boy Valentino Rossi trailing the rest of the pack by a couple of seconds.