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

Ex-Ducati CEO Michael Lock Lands at Lamborghini

Former Ducati North America Chief Executive Officer Michael Lock has landed a job at another exotic Italian vehicle manufacturer: Lamborghini. During his seven-year tenure with Ducati North America, Lock reorganized the company’s marketing, distribution and service operations, helping Ducati increase its share of the North American market to record highs. Lock is also believed to have been a driving force behind the development of the Ducati Diavel.

Ducati Recalls Monster 1100 EVO for Cracked Spokes

Ducati is recalling the 2011-2012 Monster 1100 EVO because of potential cracks developing on the rear wheel spokes. The affected units have rear wheels labeled “DU6-RR“. Rims with the code “DU6N-RR” are not included in the recall campaign.

Rossi and Hayden Find Improvement but Disappointed with Results

The good news for Valentino Rossi is he managed to narrow the gap in lap times between his Ducati Desmosedici and Casey Stoner‘s Honda RC213V. The bad news is other riders improved more than he did. Rossi completed 57 laps and set a time of 2:01.550 on the third and final day of the second MotoGP test at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit.

2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale S Receives FIM Superstock Homologation

It was only a matter of time but finally the news is official: the 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale S has been added to the list of homologated motorcycles for the Superstock 1000 Cup The Panigale was noticeably absent from the initial homologation list the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) released a couple of weeks ago. Now, with a month until the 2012 Superstock 1000 Cup starts at Italy’s Imola circuit, the 1199 has been cleared to complete. The delay was merely a formality however, and teams such as Effenbert-Liberty Racing have already begun testing the Ducati 1199 Panigale S in racing trim.

Rain Puts a Damper on Ducati MotoGP Test

Wet conditions limited Ducati factory riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden to just 18 laps each on the second of three days of MotoGP testing in Malaysia. Though there is a lot of work to be done for Ducati to be competitive, the heavy rainfall plus Hayden’s still-recovering shoulder limited track time for both riders. They used what time they did have to work on the Ducati Desmosedici GP12‘s electronics including new traction control software.

Hayden and Rossi Back on Track Following Surgeries

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden returned to the track to test their Ducati Desmosedici GP12 racebikes mere weeks after both undergoing surgery. Rossi had a rod removed from his right leg, a remnant from the 2010 crash that broke his tibia. Hayden meanwhile is still recovering from surgery to repair a shoulder injured in a training crash.

Stoner Tops Day One of Sepang Test – Video

It’s been about a month since Casey Stoner last tested the Honda RC213V racebike at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit but the defending World Champion remains the man to beat, setting the fastest lap at the first day of MotoGP’s February Sepang test. Heavy rain limited teams’ testing and Stoner only completed 16 laps but still managed to set a time of 2:01.761. Stoner was the only rider to lap under 2:02, though his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa came close with a time of 2:02.005 while completing 36 laps.

WSBK: 2012 Phillip Island Results – Video

Max Biaggi won the opening race to the 2012 World Superbike Championship while defending champion Carlos Checa came back from a high-speed crash in the first race to win the second at Australia’s Phillip Island circuit. Reigning champion Checa of Althea Ducati had a stunning high-side crash while leading on the sixth lap of Race One. The WSBK paddock was already in shock with the death of 17-year-old Oscar McIntyre in the Superstock 600 race the day before but thankfully Checa was not seriously injured.

848 build blog : 42 days to go

With just 42 days until the British Superbike season starts and the 2012 848 Challenge riders head to Brands for the first of eight rounds, I thought you'd like to see the lastminute.com preparations and hard graft going into my bike to get it ready for the season ahead. Instead of ending the season in one piece, I highsided in Race 1, buggering the bike and busting my shoulder. The bike and I have been feeling very sorry for ourselves ever since.

The Hound: XJR1200 Cafe Racer

Not sure if I've ever seen an XJR given the Cafe Racer treatment? Well, until now that is. Created by Italian motorcycle builders, Emporio Elaborazioni, 'The Hound' is based on an XJR1200.