The glory-grabbing superbikes from Ducati owe much to the sustainability of the Monster line, now entering its 17th year. Ducati knows this. So they've created a very stylish and updated Monster, the 696. We rode it, in Spain!

Homologation obligations be praised! Ducati finally unleashed the turn-key 1098R Superbike at Barber Motorsports Park and we were there to ride it.

Unleash The Spin Doctors

“MotoGP technology for the street.” We’ve all heard this more times than we care to remember, from the very second GP racing went back to four-stroke machines, thus relating them to the production world. No matter how tenuous the connection, GP to street became a PR mantra. Personally, my ears started bleeding about the 100th press release or intro I attended where this was the spin of the day.

After a 15-hour flight to Eastern Creek Raceway outside Sydney, Australia, the first words from Yamaha’s mouth about the 2009 Yamaha R1 are: “born from MotoGP.” Not again... But they did fly us halfway around the world to see the thing, so before I brushed it under the table as hopeless PR propaganda and turned my iPod on, I gave them a couple minutes to explain. And, for once, it was actually worth a listen…

The winds of the East have blown the American way and I’ve been converted by the righteous belly of Buddah. Well, not totally, but last Friday sure opened my eyes to a safety feature that I’m sure more and more sportbikes will soon be equipped with. What am I talking about? While I can’t believe I’m even saying this, I’m talking about ABS (Anti-Lock Brake Systems) on a motorcycle – and for the first time in my life I actually have something nice to say about the set up.

Leave it to Honda to be the first kids on the block with the all-new C-ABS linked braking system, one which doesn’t hamper aggressive riding nearly as much as the other systems on the market, including some previous versions found on Honda’s own motorcycles.

The glory-grabbing superbikes from Ducati owe much to the sustainability of the Monster line, now entering its 17th year. Ducati knows this. So they've created a very stylish and updated Monster, the 696. We rode it, in Spain!