Brad Pitt may or may not have gotten his clutch cables bent out of shape over Tom Cruise's taking delivery of a new $72,500 Ducati Desmosedici RR motorcycle before Pitt did, as reported Feb. 5 by TMZ.com. Though P.R. flaks for both megawatt stars denied the beef, that was less important to me than the object of their rumored affection. I immediately called Ducati headquarters — not to confirm or deny the rumor, but to get the skinny on the Desmosedici RR.
"The word on the bike is it's the most exotic roadgoing motorcycle ever," John Paolo Canton, press officer for Ducati, told me. "It's so far advanced from any bike on the street that it's in a category of its own.
It's the equivalent of a Ferrari, completely off the charts. It's race-oriented and almost has no business on the street."
In other words, you're not going to use this thing to fetch your Sunday bagel. The "RR" part of the name derives from the Ducati Corse Grand Prix racing Desmosedici GP6, the same bike that famed racers Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau competed with in the 2006 MotoGP World Championship.
The hefty sticker isn't putting anyone off, either. "It's a sold-out limited edition," says Canton. "We only made 1,500, and they all sold for $72,500. We're not making money on it at that price.
We thought we would sell about 200 as a marketing exercise. But we've got everyone buying, from car owners to racers to celebs. Yeah, it's a lot of money for a bike, but the U.S. race bike version costs over a million to build. For a streetgoing replica, it's well worth the money."
Although all 1,500 Desmosedicis are sold out, it's not a case of owners showing up to Ducati and driving theirs off the lot. Reservations have been accepted via the official Ducati dealer network since June 2, 2006, and production of the limited-edition bikes began last October. Production of all orders won't be completed until this December. For $72.5 G, owners get a three-year warranty and three years of scheduled maintenance, free of charge.
And what of the rumored Pitt-Cruise scrap?
"For the sake of keeping things straight," Canton says, "It never happened. Brad Pitt didn't have one on order."Read more: "New Ducati motorcycle is one sweet ride"
วันศุกร์ที่ 8 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2552
Ducati brings a splash of color to its motorcycles
Performance purists could be upset while other motorcycle enthusiasts may have a hard time deciding on a color as Ducati rolls out a rainbow of choices for its Monster models.
The Italian motorcycle manufacturer continues to ride down the road of offering owners the opportunity to customize their ride with thirteen choices of color in the Monster series. Claiming to be the first to offer a single model in thirteen colors, the move continues a lane change made by Ducati at the beginning of the year when they highlighted the ease and ability to customize the new Monster series of motorcycles using its dealership network as a showcase.
In January, dealers from around the country submitted their customized designs of the new monster 1100S motorcycle, with Ducati giving them mere days to conceive and complete. The contest honored the premiere of the 1100S, which weighs in at an astonishing 47lbs less than its closest class competitor but it’s powerhouse of a 1100cc air-cooled engine gives it an impressive power-to-weight ratio. Ducati claim the M1100 S combines the carnal nakedness of the original Monster with the latest technology and styling.
The winning design (pictured right - click to enlarge) featured the Los Angeles City Hall building, an artist’s rendering of Downtown Los Angeles seen from overhead and a tank stripe which pays homage to the new Ducati Logo.
Transitioning from the mindset of limiting colors to its more traditional red, black silver or white the palette not only extends to the newly offered thirteen bright colors, but they can be changed out in about 10 minutes in the form of a "Kit Monster Art" consisting of tank, mudguard, micro-bikini fairing, and seat cover.
The Italian motorcycle manufacturer continues to ride down the road of offering owners the opportunity to customize their ride with thirteen choices of color in the Monster series. Claiming to be the first to offer a single model in thirteen colors, the move continues a lane change made by Ducati at the beginning of the year when they highlighted the ease and ability to customize the new Monster series of motorcycles using its dealership network as a showcase.
In January, dealers from around the country submitted their customized designs of the new monster 1100S motorcycle, with Ducati giving them mere days to conceive and complete. The contest honored the premiere of the 1100S, which weighs in at an astonishing 47lbs less than its closest class competitor but it’s powerhouse of a 1100cc air-cooled engine gives it an impressive power-to-weight ratio. Ducati claim the M1100 S combines the carnal nakedness of the original Monster with the latest technology and styling.
The winning design (pictured right - click to enlarge) featured the Los Angeles City Hall building, an artist’s rendering of Downtown Los Angeles seen from overhead and a tank stripe which pays homage to the new Ducati Logo.
Transitioning from the mindset of limiting colors to its more traditional red, black silver or white the palette not only extends to the newly offered thirteen bright colors, but they can be changed out in about 10 minutes in the form of a "Kit Monster Art" consisting of tank, mudguard, micro-bikini fairing, and seat cover.
Ducati's Latest
Ducati recently debuted three new bikes at the International Motorcycle Exhibition in Milan: a Monster 696, an 848 Superbike and an "extreme racing version" of its 1098, the 1098 R. Here's a rundown of what you can expect from these road rockets:
วันจันทร์ที่ 4 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2552
วันอาทิตย์ที่ 3 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2552
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