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Ducati and its awe-inspiring 1098 has delivered a knockout blow to its competitors with the 2008 International Bike of the Year trophy, winning the coveted award with 22 total votes, 13 higher than the next closest motorcycle, the Triumph Street Triple. This award goes to the best motorcycle of the year and is voted on by 15 independent motorcycle publications. Not only did Ducati take the top spot overall, it dominated the charts by also snagging ties for third place with the 1098S, sixth place with the Desmosedici and seventh with the Hypermotard. That's an impressive feat by any measure, but perhaps even better news for the iconic Italian company is that consumers seem to overwhelmingly agree with the choice. For the first time ever, the IBOTY held an online poll to accompany its official vote and the 1098 took first place there too with 996 votes. Second place went to the Desmosedici, third went to the 1098S and eighth was taken by the Hypermotard.

Ducati has been on a role lately, also scoring the "Best Bike of the Year" award from the Supertest World Association. These awards are going to very deserving bikes, which are also translating directly to Ducati's best sales numbers ever. We look forward to seeing the coming response to Ducati's winning streak from the drawing boards of the competition. It's truly a good time to be a sportbike enthusiast.

Gallery: Ducati 1098 R

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• Ducati 1098 R: 180 horsepower, 364 pounds, traction control... il più bello

[Source: Cycle World]

click above for a full gallery of Ducati 1098 R images

This is truly the best Ducati bike that you are likely to get your hands on, considering that the Desmosedici RR MotoGP replica is probably out of reach and certainly sold out. Don't feel bad, though, 'cause the 1098 R is a most excellent consolation prize. We never did hate on the 999 like many Ducati loyalists seemed to, but we still recognize the 1098 R as a vast improvement. The details read as you might expect, such as the bigger bore, bigger stroke, bigger valves, and bigger throttle bodies housed inside the sand-cast engine cases that ought to adequately hurtle the Öhlins TTXR single rear shock and fully adjustable 43 mm Öhlins fork with low friction Titanium Nitride towards the next apex. Keeping up appearances is the carbon fiber bodywork, tri-colored color scheme (plus natural carbon fiber finish) and gold Marchesini Y-shaped forged wheels. Bello indeed.

Leading the list of electronic goodies is the traction control system, which is enabled with the included track-only ECU tuning. We imagine, however, that many riders will run the upgraded programming on the street regardless. Can't blame 'em if they do, and they'll be rewarded with a boost from 180 horsepower to 186. Every little bit counts, right?

Gallery: Ducati 1098 R

[Source: Ducati]