The ex-BMW engineer 'Ulli' based out at TianMa circuit was involved in the mechanical/transmission design, and has by all accounts, had only positive things to say about the overall design & quality of the CFMoto 650NK. I will be catching up with him this weekend when I hit SH for the day or two. As for input from Ducati, me thinks thats just an urban legend that flies on Motofans.cn and other Chinese moto websites/forums. I will check and report back.
I've also been invited by the Taizhou based Zhejiang agent to head down for a test-ride of the said 650NK as I'm considering adding it to the stable, and can avail myself of the offer of a test-ride without any obligations.

Will report back on my thoughts and impression after that takes place sometime next week.