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

Audi Paid 747 Million Euros for Ducati

Audi has confirmed it paid 747 million euros (US$919.1 million) for Ducati, a much lower price than initially reported at the time of the sale. The official purchase price was announced in Audi’s interim financial report for the first half of 2012. The 747 million euro price tag for Ducati is close to the 750 million euro figure reportedly tabled by Audi in late March.

A tall boy's request

This letter was sent into Visordown HQ. We thought we'd put it out to you: the knowledge-packed masses. So all you tall riders, lend this guy a (big) hand.

Watch the Entire World Ducati Week 2012 Diavel Drag Race – Video

Last month, we wrote about the Diavel Drag Race at World Ducati Week 2012 starring Ducati’s current MotoGP and World Superbike racers and the one and only Troy Bayliss. If you missed it, the retired three-time WSBK Champion Bayliss defeated nine-time Grand Prix Champion Valentino Rossi in the drag race competition on Ducati Diavel Carbons. Our initial post featured a video of highlights from the drag race competition shot by Italian website Motociclismo.it but it was filmed by a single camera from an awkward vantage point.

Nicky Hayden Signs Contract Extension with Ducati

Ducati has signed Nicky Hayden to a one-year contract extension, retaining the Kentucky native for the 2013 MotoGP season. Hayden, who turns 31 on July 31, has raced for Ducati‘s factory team since 2009. During this period, Hayden has been somewhat overshadowed by his teammates, first by Casey Stoner and now Valentino Rossi.

Rossi & Ducati: 2011 vs 2012

It was meant to be an Italian dream reminiscent of the era when Giacomo Agostini dominated Grand Prix with MV Agusta, but ever since Valentino Rossi joined Ducati he has dwindled into a mid-pack runner. There have been glimmers of hope, a Ducati-best for Rossi in the rain at Le Mans and a good showing in the last round at Mugello. Clearly his best dry weather performance, finishing 11 seconds behind the race winner and within eye-shot of the podium.

Eric Bostrom to Race TTXGP for Brammo at Laguna Seca

Eric Bostrom has signed on to ride the Brammo Empulse RR in the electric motorcycle race at Laguna Seca July 28-29. The race is the final stop on the TTXGP‘s North American series and a joint event with the FIM’s ePower series. The AMA racing veteran will join Steve Atlas to represent Team Icon Brammo at Laguna Seca.

WSBK: 2012 Brno Results

Marco Melandri bit a chunk off of Max Biaggi‘s World Superbike championship points lead by taking a pair of wins at Brno. The double was the first in Melandri’s career and the first for BMW. Biaggi, who arrived in the Czech Republic with four wins and nine podium finishes in ten previous races at Brno, was held off the podium this year, shrinking his lead in the championship to 21 points from 48.

Toni Elias to Substitute for Injured Hector Barbera at Laguna Seca

Former Moto2 World Champion Toni Elias is back in the premiere MotoGP class, albeit on a temporary basis. The Pramac Racing satellite Ducati team has signed Elias to race at the U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in place of Hector Barbera who is sidelined with a broken leg.

Guintoli and Crew Quits Liberty Racing Team Ahead of Home WSBK Race

World Superbike rider Sylvain Guintoli has left the Effenbert Liberty ahead of the team’s home round in Brno, Czech Republic. Guintoli and members of his pit crew walked off the job, reportedly in a dispute over overdue pay cheques. Liberty Racing initially released a statement calling the crew’s departure as a “defection” born from a “misunderstanding between the mechanics and the administrative management of the team”.

Audi Finalizes Purchase of Ducati, Annoints Board of Directors

Ducati is now officially property of Audi AG, with the German automaker finalizing its acquisition of the Italian motorcycle brand. The purchase was completed through Lamborghini S.p.A., another Audi property and part of the overall Volkswagen family. Rupert Stadler, chief executive officer of Audi AG, has been named president of Ducati‘s new board of directors.