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

Ducati Hypermotard with Zero Emissions

Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali was amazed by an electric bike that he saw at one of his company's Thai dealerships the other day. It turned out that the dealer sells within the walls of his center not only Ducati motorcycles, but also Zero emissions electric bikes. However, the latter didn't sell very well, and he decided to attract buyers by building a test-drive e-bike with Ducati Hypermotard looks and some Zero FX parts and reasoning that it would be easier to send a customer to the track in a Ducati, and only then transfer to Zero.

A subspecies of the Ducati Scrambler

While the motorcycle world is eagerly waiting for the new 2015 Ducati Scrambler to go on sale, Japanese Speedtractor customizers are reinventing their scrambler from a Bolognese brand donor. The motorcycle is based on the 1988 Ducati 750 Sport. The previous owner bought it in the mid-1990s to ride on the track, but after the first Sunday race, he parked the bike in the garage for several years for some reason.

Ducati Reveals Testastretta DVT Engine + Video

Ducati has introduced a new version of its 1198cc engine featuring a variable timing system. As the name implies, the Testastretta Desmodromic Variable Timing (DVT) engine combines the company’s signature desmo valves with a variable timing system that adjusts both intake and exhaust camshafts. According to Ducati, this represents the first ever application of both technologies for a motorcycle engine.

Ducati Scrambler To Make American Debut At AIMExpo

If you’ve been waiting for your chance to see all of the Ducati Scrambler variants (Icon, Urban Enduro, Full Throttle and Classic) in person, your chance is coming soon. Ducati has announced the Scramblers will be making their U.S. debut at the American International Motorcycle Expo (AIME), October 16-19.

Ducati DVT – Desmodromic Valves Meet Variable Valve Timing?

Ducati sent out invitations to motorcycle media about an unveiling on Oct. 15 for something cryptically called “DVT“. No other details were provided, though the likely assumption is Ducati’s version of a variable valve timing system.

Volkswagen Reveals Ducati Panigale-Powered XL Sport

The Volkswagen Group-Ducati relationship has finally birth its first child, with the German manufacturer revealing the XL Sport concept car powered by the 1199 Superleggera‘s V-Twin engine at the Paris Motor Show. Though only a concept model, the XL Sport received the special honor of being the 200 millionth vehicle produced by the Volkswagen. #456475582 / gettyimages.com Based on the earlier limited-production VW XL1 car, the XL Sport swaps out its diesel plug-in hybrid powertrain for Ducati’s 1199cc engine which claims 197 hp and 98.8 ft-lb.

First Official Pictures of the 2015 Ducati Scrambler

Ducati has gone to great lengths to promote the launch of its upcoming Scrambler model. We’ve already seen several images of the new model, either from pre-production testing and various teasers including an odd claymation video series. Everyone pretty much already knows what it’ll look like, so Ducati decided to release official photos on its Scrambler Ducati Tumblr page including a full head-on shot and an animated gif of the bike in action.

Dainese Announces 2014 North American Made To Measure Tour Dates

In the market for a custom-fitted Dainese suit? This is your chance to get your measurements taken. Don’t miss out.

Pirelli To Remain Tire Supplier For All World Superbike Classes Through 2018

Pirelli’s relationship with the World Superbike Championship started in 2004 and will carry on through 2018, as the Italian company will continue to supply tires for every class of the championship. What follows is the official Pirelli press release. Pirelli has been confirmed as the Official Tire Supplier for all classes of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship having won the tender organized by Dorna, promoter and organizer of the World Championship, in agreement with the FIM, the International Motorcycling Federation.

Matchless Making A Comeback With Model X, To Be Shown At EICMA

Legendary English marque, Matchless, is attempting to emulate another famous brand, Indian, by forming a comeback. After being purchased by the Malenotti family in 2012, the brand is now going through a revival. If you’re at all in tune with the fashion world, then the Matchless name might be familiar, as many A-list celebrities wear the Matchless-labeled clothing managed by Michele Malenotti.