Ducati Extreme superbike

As the summer approaches in Europe and North America, and we begin to freeze and start to feel crook with the cold weather in Australia, the motorcycle rumour mill is beginning to hit overdrive, and Ducati's new generation 2012 mode year superbike will be a major talking point.

This is the season when rumours emerge and don't go away until at least November, when the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan usually confirms or denies such wanton gossip.

Today's topic of discussion begins in Italy, and concerns Ducati's new generation superbike. There's already a lot of information available on the new bike, such as the fact that it will be about 10kg lighter and have an 20hp (15kW ) in its trousers compared to the current 1198.

Yep, it should be a radical machine.

It will use much of the technology developed for Ducati's MotoGP race bike such as an aluminium airbox and headtube section designed to improve airflow to the engine and reduce weight, and it will also make use of a 'Superquadrata' or super square engine design.

The Ducati superbike will employ a horizontally mounted rear shock hooked up to an unusually long swingarm and some reports are suggesting the bike will get both underseat and underbody exhaust outlets.

But what we don't know is what the new bike will be called. It's been referred to as the Superquadrata in the past, in deference to its engine, but it's official name was expected to be the 1199.

However sources inside Ducati have been referring to the motorcycle as the Ducati Extreme, which sounds almost as incredulous as the Diavel sounded at first.

Italian magazine Motociclismo has snaffled the first official images of the new bike and is expected to release them in early July, after which point we'll have a better idea of what the new model looks like, and hopefully what it'll be called.

The image shown is a rendering by Luca Bar, and is expected to be a close approximation of the finished bike, and the first public unveiling of the "Extreme" will take place in November, Milan, at the EICMA motorcycle show.

Let us know your thoughts on the idea of the Ducati Extreme name in the comments below.