Float your boat?

I’m talking about Ducati’s new V4, of course. That’s the big news from EICMA, despite the fact we’ve all known about it unofficially for what seems an eternity. The proof will very much be in the tasting, but I reckon it’ll make for a worthy challenger in next year’s SBOTY shootout. It’s got the peak power, it’s certainly got the torque, and we’re hoping that Ducati’s best bods have crafted a frame that’s more than just eye-candy.

I’ll be honest, I’m writing this ten days before the EICMA show, but we’ve done our best to gather as much embargoed info on as many 2018 releases as possible, which you’ll find detailed in the Upfront section. There’s some cool stuff in the pipeline, and some random stuff as well. I’m sure Yamaha’s new MT-09 powered Niken is set to divide opinion the world over, just as it readily has in the Fast Bikes office. Innovation or desperation? You decide.

At least it’ll be difficult to crash, which is no bad thing for me. I had my first spill in three years the other day, which really caught me out. Thankfully, I managed to navigate around Donington’s ramped kerbs in the process – things could’ve turned out far worse than they did. As it happened, I was back out in the next race and looking set for a second place finish until my brother Brod sneakily passed me and bumped me back to third. It’s an awesome thing racing against my brother, and we’re far from the only siblings who try to outdo each other on the race track, as the Sibling Racers feature at the back of the mag will attest. Funnily enough, Tom and Tim Neave were also competing against us in that same race, plus two other brothers. It doesn’t get much more incestuous than that.

In other news, Fagan’s been checking out blowers this month. Take your mind out the gutter… I mean Kawasaki’s wacky H2 of course, which got pitched against a bowel-loosening 500bhp turbo’d Gixer. That’s some serious ponies, but he came back preaching the righteousness of such lunacy as you can read all about.

And continuing on that theme, this issue’s naked middleweight group test generated a fair of chunk of lunacy, mostly at the hands of TT racer Boothy who seemed hell bent on jumping every bike he came into contact with. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun, but I’m not sure the seven fantastic weapons we abused would say the same… it’s a bloody good job they can’t talk. On a final note, we’ve got a stand at the Motorcycle Live Show in November. Swing by.