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

2014 Lito Sora Electric Motorcycle Entering Production

Canadian company Lito Green Motion announced the start of production for its SORA electric motorcycle. Described as a cafe racer with a bobber twist, the Lito SORA claims a top speed of 118 mph and a range of 124 miles in the city and more than 52 miles at highway speeds. Visually, the Lito SORA stands out from other electric motorcycles.

Results From Day 2 Of World Superbike Testing At Phillip Island

World Superbike testing at Phillip Island came to a close today, and when the dust settled, reigning champion Tom Sykes stamped his authority, setting the fastest time of the test at 1:30.239, just five thousandths shy of the outright lap record held by Carlos Checa. The time was set during the morning session of testing, though nobody was able to best Sykes for the remainder of the day. Eugene Laverty, who was fastest on day one, showed his pace was no fluke as he stayed near the top of the time sheets, ultimately finishing second behind Sykes, with a best time of 1:30.513.

Go Inside the Ducati Museum with Google Maps

The Ducati Museum in Bologna is a popular attraction for motorcycle enthusiasts vacationing in Italy, but if you can’t make the trip, Google has an alternative. The Internet giant has added a virtual tour of the Ducati Museum to its popular Google Maps application, allowing anyone to “visit” the 9150 square-foot facility. To access the virtual tour, search for “Ducati Museum” or “Museo Ducati”, or by going to http://goo.gl/maps/jAHeL and zooming in to Street View mode.

Results From Day 1 Of World Superbike Testing At Phillip Island

Eugene Laverty, aboard his Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000, led the field today as the first day of World Superbike testing got underway at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia, site of the first race of the 2014 season. Under sunny skies and perfect weather conditions, Laverty adapted quickly to his new ride after spending last season aboard the Aprilia RSV4 Factory. The Suzuki offered incredible feedback and allowed him to push right out of the gates, ultimately setting a fastest lap time of 1:30.513.

Rockerbox Motofest Moves To Road America

Wisconsin’s premier motorcycle show, The Rockerbox Motofest, featuring an eclectic mix of Euro, Japanese and American vintage café racers, choppers, sport bikes, racing machines, super motos, scooters, and sidecars is making an official move for the future. Instead of its usual Milwaukee home, the event is making the trek 60 miles north to America’s national park of speed as part of  Road America’s American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) Vintage Motorcycle Classic, June 6-8. The Rockerbox Motofest includes a ride-in bike show and competition showcasing the greatest in classic style, fresh customization, plus all that is unusual and incredible.

MotoGP Teams Complete First Sepang Pre-Season Test

Preparations for the 2014 MotoGP Championship are well underway, with the first pre-season test at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit complete. As the first test of the year, we shouldn’t take too much stock into the results, but they do provide a basis for later comparison. Reigning World Champion Marc Marquez was the fastest rider on all three days of the Sepang test.

Mystic Mac's 2014 MotoGP predictions

There is no real off season in Moto GP.  Although we complain about being starved of racing, for those at the sharp end, in little more than two months they have new bikes to assemble, team staff to put in place and sponsors to nail down that will pay for it all.  This time frame is also tight for riders, as it seems more every year go straight under the surgeon’s knife after the last round and spend the short winter recuperating for the season ahead. The 2014 Moto GP championship looks like a cracker as apart from the ten full factory riders we now have at least eight non factory riders with properly competitive machinery.  We also have five Brits on the grid, two with podium potential.  Whatever happens though (providing you have BT Sport) you can just sit back and enjoy watching the incredible Marc Marquez do things that shouldn’t be possible. Speaking of whom, I didn’t believe a Rossi replacement would come this soon.  And when I say replacement, I mean a rider that is the full package.  Although in some ways quite different to Vale, he’s an equally phenomenal talent plus a very likeable character that appeals to the masses and although respectful to his rivals off track, deadly competitive in the heat of battle.  Being young and good looking he’s obviously a dream for sponsors and the sport in general.  Marquez has evolved in his own way but thankfully into a perfect replacement for our sport when the VR steps down.

2013 US Motorcycle Sales Data

The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) reported a modest 1.4% growth in U.S. motorcycle and scooter sales in 2013, with consumers purchasing 465,783 vehicles. The sales data represents numbers from the MIC’s member brands which include BMW, Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, the Piaggio Group (which includes Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Vespa), Victory, Suzuki, Triumph and Yamaha.

Hit Girl Edition Ducati 1199 Panigale Giveaway in Japan

Ducati Japan has produced a one-off purple 1199 Panigale to promote the movie “Kick Ass 2″. The sequel to the 2010′s “Kick Ass” opened in North America last August, but in Japan it opens Feb. 22.

Ducati 1199 Superleggera Video Trailer

If you’ve a minute thirty to waste and want to check out an action video of Ducati’s exclusive 1199 Superlaeggera click the video play button below. Chock full of subtitled Italian explanations regarding the motorcycle’s ultra-trick, lightweight design and construction, the video is the stuff of dreams, which is exactly what this bike is to most people. Ducati 1199 Superleggera Boasts 200 HP, Sub 400-Pound Wet Weight