Ducati->ke622 Corse, the Italian motorcycle brand’s racing team division, has signed a partnership deal with KYMCO, making the latter the official scooter supplier of Ducati’s MotoGP->ke2192 and World Superbike->ke2195 squads.

As part of the arrangement between the two sides, KYMCO will be supplying a handful of its Agility R16 50 4T + scooters to Ducati Corse where they will presumably be used in the MotoGP and World Superbike paddocks. Apparently, these Agility R16 50 4T + scooters are also being treated to a Ducati makeover featuring rider-specific liveries being used by the team’s MotoGP and WSBK riders.

You’ll be able to tell the difference between the sets of Agility R16 50 4T + scooters that will be used in MotoGP and World Superbike. The Ducati MotoGP team will be using Agility R16 50 4T + scooters dressed in the team’s official red and white matte livery whereas the scooters that will be used by the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike team in the WSBK will be dressed up in the team’s famous red and black livery.

Unfortunately, KYMCO isn’t planning to put versions of these scooters for sale, even as limited editions. So if you we’re thinking of scoring any one of these KYMCO-scooters-dressed-up-as-Ducatis, you’re going to be out of luck.

Then again, if Ducati had its own line of scooters to begin with, it wouldn’t have the need to partner with a scooter company like KYMCO. But yeah, that’s an entirely different can of worms.

Continue reading to read more about Ducati’s new partnership with KYMCO

Why it matters

I know that Ducati has yet to officially announce plans to launch a scooter line, but you know what would’ve been really cool? Instead of partnering with KYMCO, Ducati could’ve used the opportunity to build prototype scooters that will be used exclusively by its MotoGP and World Superbike teams.

It’s brilliant for a number of reasons. First, Ducati can gauge the public’s reaction towards the scooters without having to make any promises that it would proceed with building an entire line outright. Just because Ducati Corse will be using these scooters in MotoGP and the World Superbike, it doesn’t mean that they’re headed to dealerships soon thereafter.

Second, it’s a different approach to the usual motorcycle show route where Ducati showcases these models so they can be scrutinised by both the media and the public. Instead of taking that admittedly overused method, the company could steal some headlines just by trotting these scooters in the paddocks. That kind of thing will get the public buzzing in ways an anticipated motorcycle show debut won’t be able to do.

I will concede that such a scenario is unlikely to happen anytime soon now that KYMCO’s onboard. I’ll be clear here: I’m not saying that the Ducati-KYMCO partnership is a bad idea. It’s actually good for both brands and it creates a cross-promotional tieup that will get its share of dialogue from a lot of people who watch MotoGP and the World Superbike.

I just threw that idea out since Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali made it clear back in March 2015 that the company wasn’t closing its doors on the possibility of introducing a Ducati scooter in the future.

Who knows, maybe there’s still time for something like that happen.