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
Mon, 26 May 2014
Tom Sykes and Loris Baz captured a pair of one-two finishes for Kawasaki at England’s Donington Park. The first race saw the reigning World Superbike champion fight his way up from 11th place for the win while Race 2 offered a three-way battle between the two Kawasaki riders and Aprilia‘s Sylvain Guintoli. Race One
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Normally a strong starter, Sykes had a nearly disastrous beginning in Race One, while up front, Suzuki‘s Alex Lowes battled with Guintoli and Baz.
Wed, 07 May 2014
Ducati has issued a recall on 2083 1199 Panigale and Panigale S models regarding an electronics issue. The recall involves a handlebar switch wiring problem that can result in failures for a variety of components, including the turn indicators, horn, headlights, and instrument panel. The recall affects both U.S.
Tue, 06 May 2014
Ducati dealerships were rated the best in the U.S. motorcycle industry at how well they deal with potential new customers. The Italian manufacturer earned the highest score out of 17 major brands in the 2014 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, the firs time Ducati topped the annual Index since 2009.
Tue, 06 May 2014
Guy Martin, well known and very popular Isle of Man TT racer and TV personality, has announced he will be competing at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on Sunday, June 29. Despite being a rookie, Martin is no stranger to “real” road racing. In fact, he’s set quite a lofty goal for himself: to break the motorcycle course record, which currently sits at 9:52.819 by Carlin Dunne aboard a modified Ducati Multistrada in 2012.
Mon, 28 Apr 2014
The ex-George Brough, Brough Superior SS100, which was projected to sell in the neighborhood of $235k – $300k, actually brought in nearly half a million dollars Sunday. Registered in 1939, the motorcycle was campaigned by George Brough himself in the London-Edinburgh Trial that same year.The grand final tally for the Bonhams Stafford Sale of Pioneer, Vintage, and Collectors’ Motorcycles & Memorabilia totaled $3,419,981. “We are delighted with the results achieved for this long and well-established sale.
Mon, 28 Apr 2014
Heavy rains and a fortuitous red flag were the difference in the World Superbike Championship‘s visit to The Cathedral of motorcycle racing, the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands. Aprilia‘s Sylvain Guintoli captured his second win of the season in Race 1, which was halted early by a red flag with five laps to go just as it looked like reigning WSBK champion Tom Sykes was gearing up for a final challenge. The second race was also shortened, not by a red flag but because of a rain, turning the 21-lap race into a 10-lap sprint.
Fri, 25 Apr 2014
World Ducati Week 2014 will once again be held at the Misano World Circuit in Italy from July 18th to 20th. This year, Ducati is offering something really special for Ducatisti: if you’re traveling to WDW from somewhere outside Europe, Ducati will offer you a free ticket! During the three-day event, there will be plenty of on-circuit attractions to entertain participants looking for excitement and an adrenaline kick.
Tue, 15 Apr 2014
Ducati officially presented the D|Air-compatible version of the Mulitstrada 1200, which claims to be the industry’s first motorcycle wirelessly connected to a wearable airbag. Available only for Europe, the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring D|Air combines onboard sensors and Dainese‘s D|Air Street motorcycle jacket airbags into one integrated safety system. A joint project between Ducati and Dainese, the Multistrada 1200 S Touring D|Air uses two triple-axis accelerometers mounted to the fork bottoms and another two mounted under the seat with a D|Air electronic control unit.
Mon, 14 Apr 2014
Reigning World Superbike Champion Tom Sykes put on a clinic this weekend, leading every lap in both races to claim a pair of wins at Spain’s Motorland Aragon circuit. Sykes’ Kawasaki teammate Loris Baz was right there with him, recording a pair of second-place podiums to give Team Green a pair of one-two finishes. Sykes and Baz were also one-two in the Superpole qualifying on this nearly flawless weekend for the Kawasaki factory team.
Thu, 10 Apr 2014
Colin Edwards has announced he will retire at the conclusion of the 2014 MotoGP season. The announcement came during the pre-event press conference ahead of this weekend’s Austin MotoGP race — Edwards’ home round. The two-time World Superbike champion cited a lack of progress from winter testing as one reason for the decision.