The group's ownership doesn't necessarily inform design choices. The 1098/1198 project was designed by Giandrea Fabbro and the V4 by Julien Clement, neither are German and Julien was an intern for both Yamaha and Ducati.
I might be one of the few that thinks Ducati are killing it in the looks department. I think the Scrambler, Scrambler 1100, Supersport and now the V4 look fantastic. They’ve all been controversial for some but they move the game on a bit. You park next to anything else and they stand out. They look so much ‘cleaner.’ The R1 is a lovely bike but the CBR, GSXR, RSV4 and S1000r are just so meh. All great in their own ways but a bit appliance like in their looks.
