Ducati Motorcycles

About Ducati

Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. is an Italian company that designs and manufactures motorcycles. Headquartered in Bologna, Italy, Ducati is owned by Audi through its Italian subsidiary Lamborghini.

In 1926 Antonio Cavalieri Ducati and his three sons, Adriano, Marcello, and Bruno Cavalieri Ducati; founded Societa Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati in Bologna to produce vacuum tubes, condensers and other radio components.

At the small Turinese firm SIATA (Societa Italiana per Applicazioni Tecniche Auto-Aviatorie), Aldo Farinelli began developing a small pushrod engine for mounting on bicycles. Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called the "Cucciolo" (Italian for "puppy"). The first Cucciolos were available alone, to be mounted on standard bicycles, by the buyer; however, businessmen soon bought the little engines in quantity, and offered complete motorized-bicycle units for sale.

So in 1950, in collaboration with SIATA, the Ducati firm finally offered its own Cucciolo-based motorcycle. This first Ducati motorcycle was a 48 cc bike weighing 98 lb (44 kg) with a top speed of 40 mph (64 km/h) had a 15 mm carburetor giving just under 200 mpg-US (1.2 L/100 km; 240 mpg-imp). Ducati soon dropped the Cucciolo name in favor of "55M" and "65TL". The chief designer of most Ducati motorcycles in the 1950s was Fabio Taglioni

In 1952 Ducati introduced 65TS cycle and Cruiser (a four-stroke motor scooter).

In 1953, management split the company into two separate entities, Ducati Meccanica SpA and Ducati Elettronica, in acknowledgment of its diverging motorcycle and electronics product lines.

In the 1960s, Ducati earned its place in motorcycling history by producing the fastest 250 cc road bike then available, the Mach 1.

In the 1970s Ducati began producing large-displacement V-twin motorcycles and in 1973, released a V-twin with the trademarked desmodromic valve design.

In 1973, Ducati commemorated its 1972 win at the Imola 200 with the production model green frame Ducati 750 SuperSport.

In 1993 Monster model appeared, a bike with exposed trellis and engine. It makes about half of all sales.

Ducati is best known for high performance motorcycles characterized by large capacity four-stroke, 90° V-twin engines, featuring a desmodromic valve design. Ducati refers to this configuration as L-twin because one cylinder is vertical while the other is horizontal, making it look like a letter "L". Modern Ducatis remain among the dominant performance motorcycles available today partly because of the desmodromic valve design, which is nearing its 50th year of use.

While most other manufacturers utilize wet clutches (with the spinning parts bathed in oil) Ducati previously used multiplate dry clutches in many of their motorcycles. The dry clutch eliminates the power loss from oil viscosity drag on the engine even though the engagement may not be as smooth as the oil bath versions but the clutch plates can wear more rapidly. Ducati has converted to wet clutches across their current product lines.

Ducati also extensively uses the Trellis Steel Frame configuration, although Ducati's MotoGP project broke with this tradition by introducing a revolutionary carbon fibre frame for the Ducati Desmosedici GP9.

Moto blog

Ultimate biking dream ‘Part 2’

WHAT'S that adage again? Oh yes, ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get.’ Well luckily we asked… And we got! You may have read our recent post where Visordown reporter Luke Bowler entered Bennetts’ ‘Ultimate biking dream’ hoping for some chain lube.

Ducati Restructures Presence in India, Cutting Ties with Distributor Precision Motor

Ducati announced it is ending its relationship with importer Precision Motor and setting up its own operations in India. Precision Motors has been Ducati’s official importer since 2008, but the relationship has soured recently with reports of poor customer service and delays in deliveries. Ducati will now begin establishing its own dealer network in India, likely relying on the resources of parent company Audi and other Volkswagen Group brands.

2013 Long Beach International Motorcycle Show Report

Today the motorcycle press descended upon the Long Beach Convention Center to attend media day at the annual International Motorcycle Show. After feasting from a continental breakfast buffet the discerning journalists set to the task of reporting on the bounty of new model motorcycles – most of which has been previously showcased in our November EICMA reporting. If you missed anything from that show here’s a run down of what to look forward to: Triumph Thunderbird LT Suzuki V-Strom 1000 Can-Am Spyder Royal Enfield Continental GT Zero KTM Super Duke R – KTM confirmed the retail price to be $16,999 BMW R NineT Ducati Monster S 1200 Honda Valkyrie Kawasaki Z1000 Husqvarna A cool item of interest included a reproduction TZ750-powered flat tracker King Kenny Roberts made famous.

AMA to Combine Daytona Sportbike and Supersport Classes in 2015

AMA Pro Racing announced plans to combine its Daytona Sportbike and Supersport classes into a single category by the 2015 season. The two classes currently share many similarities including engine displacement regulations, minimum weight limits and eligible machines. The Supersport class has more restrictions on modifications and are limited to a maximum top speed of 165 mph while Daytona Sportbike machines are allowed to reach speeds up to 170 mph.

Prince William The Duke Of Ducs And Other Motorcycles

The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, visited Britain’s largest motorcycle show, Motorcycle Live, at the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham. The visit saw the Duke astride numerous motorcycle models including UK icons Norton and Triumph as well as a Ducati 1199 Superleggera (one of the few men able to afford the $70,000 rarity). During his visit Prince William enjoyed a display of off-road riding – one of nine opportunities for visitors to ride at Motorcycle Live, eight of which are inside the halls of the NEC. He also met Dean Linehan, exhibitions director of MCI Exhibitions, the company that organizes the annual motorcycle exhibition.

Price William The Duke Of Ducs And Other Motorcycles

The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, visited Britain’s largest motorcycle show, Motorcycle Live, at the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham. The visit saw the Duke astride numerous motorcycle models including UK icons Norton and Triumph as well as a Ducati 1199 Superleggera (one of the few men able to afford the $70,000 rarity). During his visit Prince William enjoyed a display of off-road riding – one of nine opportunities for visitors to ride at Motorcycle Live, eight of which are inside the halls of the NEC. He also met Dean Linehan, exhibitions director of MCI Exhibitions, the company that organizes the annual motorcycle exhibition.

Ducati’s Small But Significant Role In WWII

Ducati is obviously known for its beautiful motorcycles and storied racing history. Of course, many Ducatisti across the globe have created their own memories aboard Borgo Panigale‘s most cherished product. However, this story about Ducati’s involvement in the second world war is an emotional tale about the lengths taken to save the lives of a few Italian soliders.

Bonhams Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction Featuring Silverman Ducatis

Silverman Museum Racing will add a number of rare and historic Ducati motorcycles to the upcoming Bonhams motorcycle auction at Bally’s Hotel and Casino, January 9, 2014. This is in addition to the impressive collection of Harley-Davidsons from the Pierce collection headlining the auction. Comprised of Italian thoroughbreds, the Silverman collection is one of the most renowned in the world and is based largely around competition models. For instance, featured is a 1973 750SS Imola Short Stroke.

WSBK Racing Game Announced for Mobile Devices

Italian software developer Digital Tales is producing the first fully-licensed World Superbike Championship video game for mobile devices. The WSBK mobile game for tablet and smartphone devices was introduced at the 2013 EICMA show, with racers such as Pata Honda‘s Michel Fabrizio and two-time defending Superstock 1000 Champion Sylvain Barrier demonstrating the game for EICMA visitors. Digital Tales previously produced a MotoGP game in 2010 and the Ducati Challenge game for iOS devices.

2014 Ducati Monster 1200S Named Most Beautiful Bike of EICMA

Visitors to the 2013 EICMA show in Milan voted the new Ducati Monster 1200S the “Most Beautiful Bike of Show”. The new Monster powered by Ducati‘s liquid-cooled 11-degree Testastretta engine received the most votes out of more than 10,000 ballots to win the honor. Second place went to the Turismo Veloce 800 from MV Agusta, which captured the honor at last year’s show with the Rivale 800.