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

WSBK: 2012 Moscow Results

The historic race first-ever World Superbike Championship round in Russia provided plenty of drama with several top riders crashing out of both races and a new leader emerge in the chase for the 2012 WSBK Championship. Superpole qualifying made for four different manufacturers lining up in the first row of the grid, with Carlos Checa taking pole position for Althea Ducati ahead of Kawasaki‘s Tom Sykes, Aprilia‘s Eugene Laverty and BMW rider Leon Haslam. A slightly damp and unfamiliar track likely contributed to a number of crashes and collisions.

This looks more like Rossi

At Brno today Valentino Rossi had a positive session in free practice, finishing closer and within half a second of the fastest time set by Dani Pedrosa. With a best of 1:57.315 and only .457 off Pedrosa's 1:56.858 lap. But it's not just the time that is encouraging, it's the first time in a long while that Rossi has looked more like his old self on the Desmosedici. "I’m happy because we went pretty well today, and in particular, the gap to the front makes us fairly optimistic," Rossi said after free practice.

Up Pikes Peak in under 10 minutes

Join Grey Tracy as he romps up the Pikes Peak hill climb in under 10 minutes on a Ducati Multistrada. Tracy finished second to Carlin Dunne, but still managed an impressive time of 9:58 as he tackled the daunting 14,000ft climb. He's quick and as a YouTube commentor pointed out: "Every time you were on the white line I cringed for a second" To which Tracy replied, "Me too!"

Ducati 1199 Panigale Subjected to Five More Recalls

Ducati has issued five recall campaigns for 1199 Panigale for a number of issues. These five new recalls follow an earlier recall in June for a “non-compliant” swingarm mounting screw. One of the new recalls, campaign ID #12V401000, is also related to the swingarm connection.

Shane Turpin on the 848 at Cadwell

AMA rider and World Superbike wildcard, Shane 'Tornado' Turpin will be riding the 848 Challenge VIP bike this weekend at Cadwell Park. Turpin is an experienced AMA rider and raced as a wildcard at this year’s World Superbike event at Miller Motorsports Park on board a Boulder Motor Sports prepared 1198RS. Asked about the opportunity, Turpin said, “I’m really excited to have this opportunity to race in Europe in the 848 Challenge race and am honored that Ducati UK, JHP Performance, Boulder Motor Sports and my personal sponsors have given me this great opportunity.

Official: Dovizioso and Ducati Ink Deal

Ducati announced today that it has reached an agreement with MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso that will see the 26-year-old Italian racing with Ducati in the 2013-14 seasons. Dovi, as he’s commonly referred to by fans, recently finished in third place at the Indianapolis GP on August 19. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider currently sits in fourth place in overall standings.

Audi and Ducati Announce “Come Together” Contest at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Ducati and its new owner Audi announced a new contest ahead of the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The two brands used the rescheduled competition as one of their first collaborative promotional opportunities since Audi acquired Ducati earlier this year. The 90th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb also provided the opportunity to present two models, the 2013 version of the Ducati Multistrada 1200S Pikes Peak Edition and the Audi RS 5.

Official: Rossi Leaving Ducati for Yamaha Return

In a pair of carefully-timed press releases, Ducati announced it will part ways with MotoGP star Valentino Rossi at the end of the season and Yamaha announced it has signed Rossi to a two-year contract. The arrangement had been in the works for some time now and the two manufacturers had reportedly wanted to wait until Aug. 15 to make their announcements.

The quietest Panigale in the world

For 1199 Panigale to be eligble in Japan, Ducati have had to make it quieter by adding a longer exhaust and a different clutch cover to pass noise tests. The exhaust adds 4kg to the overall 164kg weight, it also requires a unique Japan-only engine mapping. Further dampening the sound is a plastic clutch cover that extends up to cover the rear cylinder.

Niall Mac on a Panigale at last!

I’ve had to be patient but I finally got my leg over a Ducati Panigale at Donington Park this week. Focused Events handed me a zero miles bike to play on but with the rain hammering down, I opted to fit some wets for my first run out. With no instruction manual I still found the dash easy to navigate so I was soon in wet riding mode and ready to roll.