SPIED! Ducati 900 Supersport Returns?

Just in from our counterparts at MCN in England, a leaked photo of an all-new Ducati motorcycle. How all new? How about a 90-degree V-twin and a trellis frame! Okay, so not a huge departure for the boys from Bologna, but this "Project 1312" machine does appear to be bringing back the SuperSport moniker to the Italian brand. Word around the viewing room at World Ducati Week is that this new bike will essentially be a new 900 SS.

Check out the article from our friends at MCN here at motorcyclenews.com.

This is significant because the SS bikes have receded into the background of modern Ducati lore, especially as the air-cooled engine has all but died off (it lives in the Scrambler line) and Ducati has leaned heavily on its lineup of superquadro superbikes and 1,200cc liquid-cooled flagship machines—think Panigales, and Multistrada/Diavel respectively. The last SuperSports to make a splash in the US market was the Pierre Terblanche-penned SS models of the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

Needless to say, this new bike would be a totally different animal, with liquid-cooled power coming from a Hypermotard 939-derived powerplant (click here for the Hyperstrada 939 First Ride) and perhaps even the dash from the new Multistrada. In other words, this is a SuperSport that we would expect to be much more upright, sophisticated, and would not use the ultra short-stroke engine from the Panigale line. We expect Ducati to pull the cover off this new bike—at either Intermot in Cologne or EICMA in Milan—in the fall.

Other enticing but unverified bikes that have surfaced this year include this Husqvarna 1301 Power Cruiser and this Triumph Scrambler prototype said to be based off the new Street Twin, and we're all looking forward to the arrival of the FZ-07 based Super Tenere.