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

2023 Ducati Streetfighter V2: 5 Things You Need To Know

Don’t sleep on the baby Streetfighter – here are 5 important details about it When Ducati first introduced its original Streetfighter with the 1098 engine in 2009… I hated it. Other than being nice to look at, the riding characteristics were horrible. Oddly enough, when the 848 version was introduced, somehow it was a little more enjoyable to ride.

EXCLUSIVE: 2024 Ducati Multistrada V4 RS Review – First Ride

A Panigale wrapped in Multistrada clothing – and we're one of only three in the world to ride it. Photo/Video: Alex Photo The arc of the aging sportbike rider goes a little something like this: In their youth, going fast and taking chances is the name of the game. Sportbikes are the status symbol that fulfills this desire and is the closest thing to a two-wheeled land missile they can get their hands on.

Ducati DesertX: 5 Things You Need to Know

Your Partner-in-Crime The more I ride the Ducati DesertX, the more I like it. There are so many excellent choices in the middleweight adventure bike segment these days that any ADV-curious motorcyclist should be able to find themselves a compatible match. The DesertX is like that one friend you know is always down for some sort of mischief – more partner-in-crime than just a partner.

2023 Ducati Multistrada V4 Rally Review – First Ride

Ready to trot the globe Adventure bikes were made to unlock possibilities, to transport you from your garage to places unknown. As the category has evolved it has become more segmented to better suit the needs of the intrepid pilots looking to explore the furthest reaches of their abilities – whatever that may mean to said pilot. The new Ducati Multistrada V4 Rally was built to be the best long-haul ADV steed the Italian firm has ever built.

2023 Ducati Scrambler Icon Review – First Ride

Reinventing an Icon The Iberian Peninsula has had its struggles through the past some hundreds of years. From folks mastering the silk trade, to those who wanted the money made from it, any region that’s been populated for so long is bound to have a history of its people standing up against encroaching armies wanting to take what’s not theirs. The kind folks who invited me to such a place have a history of perseverance in the face of adversity, too.

2023 Ducati Streetfighter V4S - Video Review

Reading is overrated. Videos by Alex Photo. Edited by Ray Gauger.

2023 Ducati Streetfighter V4S Review - First Ride

A tale of evolution. Credit: Photos by Alex Photo Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but we’re big fans of the Ducati Streetfighter V4 around here. The do-it-all naked bike is fast as hell when you want to get crazy, but as docile as a puppy when you don’t.

Friday Forum Foraging: 2001 Ducati ST4

Like we said, forums are an excellent place to search for a new-to-you used motorcycle. Or car. Or whatever.

Old Dog, New Tricks: Tackling The LA-Barstow To Vegas Dual-Sport Ride

Joining the 39th running of the famed event on a Ducati DesertX and a Kawasaki KLX300 Credit: Photos by Cait Maher, Evans Brasfield, Grumpy, and Ryan Adams Let’s be honest, dual-sport motorcycles aren’t really designed for touring, despite my best efforts ( here and here). The bikes are merely street-legal dirt bikes without much accommodation for creature comfort. So, spending 220-ish miles flat in the saddle from Las Vegas, NV to Palmdale, CA, mostly on Interstate 15, is a platform for cataloging discomforts, and after riding approximately 360 miles, mostly off road over the two previous days, my aches-and-pains were legion.

The Final Front Tire: Which is Better for Your ADV Bike? 19 or 17-inch?

Ducati Multistrada V4S vs. Ducati Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak It all began when our old friend Ken Vreeke returned from a six-day ride in Spain, name-dropping and in love with the BMW S1000XR he’d ridden there. Actually, he rented a GS1250, but also got some time on the XR: Problem is with the ADV bikes, Vreeke complains, even with good tires you run off the edges long before you get any real lean angle.