999 Coolant

Are you not supposed to make sure you don't put red stuff in an engine that's had blue stuff in it or vice versa?

 

You cannot simply rely on the colour, but it is certainly the case that mixing different types is unwise (by type I don't mean brand). You really need to consider what the Ducati recommendation is, and what the history is (are you still on factory-fit coolant, do you have service history/invoices that show what has been put in?). I have a Ducati service-specification sheet which lists models up to 996 (although I only refer to it for my SS air-cooled), but unfortunately it only reports coolant capacity and not type.

Otherwise, on other bikes I have erred on the side of caution and used bike-specific premixed having heard rumours that bikes have seals in their water pumps which are more sensitive, supposedly in some cases wearing out sooner with car coolant. This might be a myth though. There does seem quite a range in price for coolant marketed for bikes, so it pays to shop around - I've found Castrol a more reasonable price than some others.

As for flushing, if done gently it can't do any harm I suppose, and I have done it before replacing coolant in a bike which had indeterminate mileage on its old coolant, although it had come out looking clean.

 

Iirc, it needs to be silicate free to avoid wearing the pump.