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

The review you've all been waiting for

Although UDReplicas Dark Knight motorcycle suit has been available for a while now, a recent 'on-bike' review was posted online for the first time last week.  This capeless crusader thinks that Batman would ride a Ducati 749 Dark (I guess when the Bat Pod is being serviced). Just don't plan on breaking down, the utility belt doesn't have enough room for a mobile.

Bernhard Gobmeier Replaces Filippo Preziosi as Head of Ducati Corse

Ducati has named Bernhard Gobmeier the new general manager of Ducati Corse, handing the former BMW Superbike racing director the reins to the company’s racing program. Gobmeier replaces Filippo Preziosi (pictured above) who will be reassigned to the post of director of research and development for Ducati, shifting his focus from racing to developing new products. The personnel change carries two storylines.

EICMA 2012: New Ducati Hyperstrada a Cross between Hypermotard and Multistrada

Over the last several months, Ducati fans have been pouring over a number of spy photos and debating whether the new model pictured was a Hypermotard or a Multistrada. The answer, it turns out, is a bit of both, with Ducati revealing the new Hyperstrada at the 2012 EICMA Show alongside a new liquid-cooled Hypermotard. Like the new Hypermotard, the 2013 Ducati Hyperstrada is equipped with an 821cc version of the liquid-cooled Testastretta 11-degree engine.

EICMA 2012: 2013 Ducati Hypermotard Gets New 821cc Liquid-Cooled Engine

Ducati is streamlining its Hypermotard lineup for 2013, replacing its air-cooled  796 and 1100 models with a new 821cc liquid-cooled Hypermotard. Announced at the 2012 EICMA Show in Milan, Italy, the line now includes the Hypermotard, the Hypermotard SP and the more touring-oriented Hyperstrada which you can read about in a separate post. Bowing to ever tightening environmentally-friendly restrictions, the new generation of Hypermotards come equipped with a new 821cc version of Ducati’s Testastretta V-Twin engine.

EICMA 2012: Ducati Unveils Track-Oriented 1199 Panigale R for WSBK Homologation

Ducati has unveiled a new R version of its 1199 Panigale, providing an upgraded version of the sportbike for World Superbike homologation. Unveiled at the 2012 EICMA Show, the 2013 Ducati 1199 Panigale R is based on the S model but with lighter components, ABS standard, a higher-revving engine, an adjustable swingarm pivot and full race kit. The Panigale R’s 1198cc engine receives new titanium con-rods Ducati claims shaves 1.38 pounds off the overall weight.

EICMA 2012: Ducati Diavel Strada Revealed

Ducati is introducing a new touring-oriented version of its already genre-twisting Diavel sports cruiser. Unveiled at the 2012 EICMA Show in Milan, Italy, the new Ducati Diavel Strada joins the base Diavel, the Diavel Dark and the Diavel Carbon in Ducati‘s 2013 lineup. The Ducati Diavel Strada adds a larger seat, touring windscreen, heated grips, revised rear lighting assembly, higher-output generator and two auxiliary power outlets for additional accessories.

Ducati Confirms Checa For 2013, Althea Out

As the Ducati Factory World Superbike team finalizes its plans for the introduction of the 1199 Panigale into the series, two things are certain: 2011 champion Carlos Checa will be the team’s lead rider, and Team Althea Racing, who have worked with Ducati since 2010, will not be the team’s sponsor. The first bit of news shouldn’t be a surprise, as Checa has been helping the Bologna factory develop the Panigale since mid-year. Checa won the 2011 championship with a masterful display of domination on the 1198, a model many believed to be dated and an underdog before the season began. Details of Checa’s new contract with Ducati have yet to be released other than his role in continuing to develop the 1199 and being the team’s lead rider next year.

Will the road-going RCV look like this?

Honda announced in a dry-as-you-like press release that a new bike was coming.  Not another motorcycle-cum-medical aid like the DN-01 or Integra, this is going to be a proper bike. A bike in a similar vein to previous bikes in the RC series, the RC30, RC45 and RC51, aimed squarely at winning races. So what's it going to look like?

You don't try and pinch Rossi's bike

When Valentino Rossi suffered a low-speed crash in practice at Sepang, he was in no mood to throw the towel in. Unfortunately for the 9-time world champ, he couldn't just get back on his Ducati, he had to fight off the marshals from pushing his bike to the recovery zone. 'Excuse me, do you know who I am?'

Ducati Reports 24% Growth in North America in Q3 2012

Ducati North America reported its ninth consecutive quarter of growth with a 24% increase in retail sales for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2012. Specific numbers were not released, though we may hear more details when Ducati‘s worldwide quarterly results are released.