ducati air cooled engines.

[peanut_man]

Why do we have to make excuses for these engines?!!. Clearly the reason is nostalgia and character, not performance!! The 2 valve, air cooled engines may produce a bit more torque but for the most part any other modern engine configuration is more efficient than our engines. At the end of the day the reason Ducati still produces these obsolete engines is because enough of us still "like them". That is it, end of the story.

I, like most Ducatisti, constantly make fun of Harley Davison's owners but at the end of the day we like our bikes for very similar reasons.

I disagree.  There's no excuses to be made for air-cooled engines.  There are advantages / disadvantages to air or water-cooled engines.  In my experience, air-cooled engine gets me ~50mpg, water cooled gets me ~40mpg.  Ducati CEO also admits that the reason for air-cooled engine for the Hypermotard was simply because it can be made much lighter than water cooled engines, and that's what Ducati wants for the Hypermotard.  For me, personally, it's also cleaner, less cluttered looking.  It's character tends toward more torque (which is mentioned above) which is great for street.  I had a Honda CBR 600RR before, and that bike is NOT made for street.  My 696 is just about the most perfect bike for the street, IMHO.

Take your pick, but there are definitely honest reasons why these engines exists and will continue to be produced in the future.