International Motorcyce Show
San Mateo, CA. 12/18/06

If you're reading this it's pretty fair to say you love Ducati motorcycles. And if you love Ducati motorcycles, most especially Ducati Superbikes, then it's fair to say that the last bunch of years have been a challenge for you. There was the new body style, the rule change in superbike going to 1000cc (which swung a lance through superbike grids across America virtually eliminating any and all Ducati superbike efforts), and then again - there was the new body syle...



I know something awoke inside of me the first time I saw the 916. Something I'd never before imagined. But by the late nineties and espcially early 2000's, I was more than ready to meet the next generation of Ducati superbikes. And then, in 2003, they came... The new superbikes arrived. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who jumped at my first chance to see them. But the first time I did, my head cocked to one side like a beagle, my nose scrunched up, and I thought, "Hmmm. Maybe I wasn't ready after all."

And so it has been, for the last few years, that we, Ducatisti, have been left a little bit hungry. Hungry for more power, hungry for less weight, for more AMA wins, and then most of all - for that old familiar feeling that a beautifully sculpted Ducati Superbike can give you when you lay your eyes upon it. Well my Ducati friends, those times are upon us again! The new 1098 grabs back at you again, something like the 916 did, but this time it's got some punch to go along with the looks. The 1098 in stock trim has more power than the 999R race bike we ran all this past season - and that thing was pretty damn fast! The 1098 is a boat load lighter, the swingarm is monstrous, the nose looks down at you like it's the 916's older brother, and that tag on it's side -1098 - just dares you to swing a leg over.

The 1098 simply owned the International Motorcycle Show in San Mateo this year. It floored people all day long. We just got back, and we did NOT forget to bring our camera. Please enjoy our photos below. Then rejoice, call your Momma, jump up and down - do whatever you do when a Ducati Superbike grabs you in that rare and special way only a Ducati can.

Brothers and sisters, it's that time again...