When Ducati thoroughly re-engineered its large displacement, air-cooled 90° v-twin engine a couple of years ago (see our article dated October 21, 2002), it clearly had an eye on upcoming emission standards, both in the United States and in Europe.
As it turns out, air-cooled, v-twins are likely to remain the backbone of Ducati’s line-up for several years, particularly, as rumors surface of yet more Sportclassic models on the way (these are the retro models Ducat began to show last year, all powered by air-cooled twins) and revised supersport and Monster models continuing to be powered by the air-cooled motors. Ducati’s highest sales volume comes from the Monster line of bikes.