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

Tyre warmers for the daily commute

Ducati's Streetfighter is a serious bit of kit. It's actually perfect for my daily commute, if not, slightly extravagant. It's narrow, nimble and precise.

2009 Carole Nash International Motorcycle & Scooter Show [video]

NEC Birmingham 2009 – The bikes, the babes, the kit and the people. Raptors & Rockets present the 2009 Carole Nash international motorcycle & scooter show from Birmingham, UK. Check out the video highlight list and Tor Sagen’s video walk through from the 2009 NEC show.

2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO and EVO SP: First Ride

UPDATE:  Read the full review on Motorcycle.com We were invited by Ducati to the Mores Raceway on the island of Sardinia in Italy to take a look at the new Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO and EVO SP. As we were told by insiders at the 796 launch the Hypers are now one big happy family consisting of three members. The EVO and EVO SP are both seven kilos (15.4 pounds) lighter and five horses more powerful than the 2009 Hypermotard 1100.

Live from the Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO launch

I'm out in Sardinia for the launch of Ducati's Hypermotard 1100 EVO. I can't wait. I'm knackered from the transfers, been up since 5am and haven't helped myself by necking an espresso at every opportunity.

Life Size Motorcycle Cake – Go Daddy! [video]

Bob Parsons, GoDaddy.com CEO & Founder married Renee LaBelle on Saturday, October 24th at Keswick Hall, VA. Bob loves motorcycles and rides every day (he did a 5,200 mile trip before his bachelors party). He likes to go BIG (like his Super Bowl commercials), he likes to be edgy, so why not commission a life-size Ducati Groom’s Cake?!

Edible Ducati Streetfighter

CEO Bob Parsons, owner and founder of GoDaddy.com threw an all out bash at his wedding this weekend. By far the coolest part was the fully edible, full size replica Ducati Streetfighter, designed by celebrity cake maker, Duff Goldman. Complete with working lights and smoking exhaust, this 400lb cake took 8 men to lift into place and is by far the coolest wedding cake we've ever seen.

Ducati Welcomes Sex Pistols Guitarist Steve Jones into the Family

Ducati North America announced today that avid motorcyclist, Sex Pistols guitarist, and host of LA radio’s beloved “Jonesey’s Jukebox” Steve Jones, has taken delivery of a new customized Hypermotard S at Ducati headquarters. Known for his genre defining music and straight talk, Jones recently expanded his bike collection to include the rambunctious Ducati Hypermotard S due to its aggressive styling and exceptional fun factor. Steve had been eying the model since first riding one at Ducati North America headquarters earlier this Spring.

Are these the coolest aftermarket Ducati Streetfighter pipes?

Visordown brings you the first images of the new Streetfighter exhaust by Chain Reaction Moto. CRM consists of a man in a shed and and a very understanding woman who have a reputation in the US for really well designed and functional exhausts. Taking on the Streetfighter was no small challenge, but we reckon he's done a fantastic job with the underseat style.

Best Helmet Designs from the 2009 MotoGP Season

Unlike with most athletes, motorcycle racers’ faces remain hidden during competition. Except for promotional events or pre- and post-race interviews, the faces of our racing heroes are shielded under protective helmets with tinted visors. You don’t see the same human emotion in their faces like you can when soccer players score a goal or baseball players hit a home run.

2010 Ducati Hypermotard 796 First Ride [video]

UPDATE: FULL REVIEW HERE! So much for predictions. Weather during the month of October in Bologna,Italy, can typically be cold and wet.