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

Andrea Iannone Could Wear Your Helmet Design At The Indianapolis Grand Prix

Are you a creative type that likes MotoGP racing? Have you ever thought how cool it would be to have one of the world’s best motorcycle racers wear your design on their helmet? Well, here’s you chance.

Max Biaggi to Test Ben Spies’ Ducati Desmosedici GP13 MotoGP Racer

Retired four-time 250cc Grand Prix Champion and two-time World Superbike Champion Max Biaggi will be returning to the track this week to ride a Ducati Desmosedici GP13 at MotoGP test at Italy’s Mugello circuit. Biaggi will be riding in place of Pramac Racing‘s Ben Spies who continues to rehab his shoulder and pectoral muscle injury. With Spies’ on-going injury problems and a star like Biaggi on tap, some might hope this change may be a more permanent arrangement but Pramac is careful to state Biaggi will only be testing the Desmosedici with Ducati test team rider Michele Pirro continuing to race in Spies’ absence.

Lightning Motorcycles To Field Current Lap Record Holder Carlin Dunne At Pikes Peak

Lightning Motorcycles, has announced today that it has just signed Carlin Dunne to compete at this year’s Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb in June. Dunne is the current lap record holder on a motorcycle, and the two-time and defending class champion. This marks a historic moment, as Dunne will switch from the gas-powered Ducati Multistrada he rode to his past victories to the all-electric Lightning superbike.

Turn Your Gen-1 Ducati Monster Into A Flat Tracker

Have a first generation Ducati Monster and want to re-live the magic of “On Any Sunday”? Earle Motors has just the kit for you. Alex Earle was in just this same situation, and when it came time to spruce up his Monster, he decided to go radical.

Meet AMA Superbike Rider Geoff May At D-Store Chicago May 30th

This weekend, the AMA Pro Roadracing circus makes its way to Road America for round two of the series. Before festivities on track get started, however, here’s your chance to meet Dainese-sponsored rider Geoff May as the D-Store Chicago will be hosting a meet and greet on Thursday, May 30, starting at 4pm. The event will include raffle prizes, with proceeds benefitting W.I.N.G.S., an organization providing integrated services to families, in an effort to end domestic violence and homelessness.

Women’s Sportbike Rally Invades Deal’s Gap September 6-8

The annual Women’s Sportbike Rally presented by Draggin’ Jeans is returning for the eighth time to the Smoky Mountains the weekend of September 6-8 for fun, friends, riding and raising funds for the fight against Melanoma. The event headquarters and activities also return to the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort at the foot of the famous “Tail of the Dragon.” In addition to the beautiful riding in the area, there will be plenty of event activities for all attendees and their guests to enjoy. There will be Friday and Saturday evening festivities, the Sportbike Night and the Sportbikegirl Pit Party, which will feature games, raffles, door prizes, entertainment and camaraderie.

Three-Time World Champion Wayne Rainey Honored At Quail Motorcycle Gathering

Saturday, May 4 marked the 5th annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Carmel, California. With such a diverse collection of historical, rare and outrageous motorcycles, the Quail is an event we thoroughly enjoyed attending last year. To commemorate the occasion, this year’s guest of honor was none other than three-time 500cc Grand Prix world champion, and local area resident, Wayne Rainey.

Audi Announces Ducati Q1 2013 Sales Results

Ducati sold 9,817 motorcycles in the first three months of 2013, according to the first quarter report from parent company Audi. The first quarter sales result represents a 5.2% decline from the 10,360 Ducati motorcycles sold in the same quarter of 2012 when the company was owned by Investindustrial. Sales were down in Europe where the economy continues to struggle.

Ziggy Marley To Perform In Southern California For Charity

On Friday, May 10th, motorcycle and music fans alike can gather at Newcombs Ranch Roadhouse at the base of the Angeles National Forest, where Ziggy Marley, Bob’s eldest son, will perform a concert to benefit the Chepstowe Basic School in Port Antonio, Jamaica. But beyond trying to raise funds for impoverished school children, Ziggy is also promoting a six-part documentary series, sponsored in part by Ducati, where he and his brothers Rohan and Robbie ride Ducati Multistradas through Africa. The film, entitled Marley Africa Road Trip, is directed by David Alexanian, who also directed Long Way Round and Long Way Down. View the trailer below.

Ben Spies to Miss Jerez MotoGP Round

Pramac Racing announced Ben Spies will sit out the Jerez round of the 2013 MotoGP World Championship after suffering from chest pains at last weekend’s Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Spies cut short his 2012 season, missing the final two rounds to go under the knife last October to repair  ligaments in his right shoulder. During the off-season Spies signed with the Pramac Ducati satellite team and worked towards coming back for the 2013 season opener at Qatar.