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

Church of MO: 2002 Ducati 998 First Ride

Post-916 and pre-999, Ducati hit a sweet spot in the form of the 998. Still taking the form of Massimo Tamburini’s 1994 masterwork, but powered by the greatly evolved Testastretta V-twin that powered Troy Bayliss to the 2001 World Superbike championship, the 999 was the best of old and new, the apogee of the 916 curve. Well, now it’s just old.

2022 Ducati Streetfighter V4 SP First Ride Review - Video

See and hear Ducati's most track-focused Streetfighter yet, complete with a dry clutch! When a manufacturer stumbles upon a winning formula, it tends to milk it for all it’s worth. A perfect example can be found under the Ducati umbrella.

2022 Ducati Streetfighter V4 SP Review – First Ride

The Streetfighter's going all-in. Credit: Photos by Alex Photo This is going to be awkward. You see, you’re about to read a piece about Ducati’s most focused Streetfighter V4 yet.

MO Touring: 2021 Ducati Multistrada V4S

Chasing dragons, eating barbecue, and reconnecting with my Southern roots Although I was born and raised in Virginia and North Carolina, I’ve done relatively little riding in the two states. When I got my first motorcycle license, I literally packed my belongings on my bike and set out for California the next day for a three-month, 11,000-mile tour. So, when I received the invitation to my 40th high school reunion (OK, 41st.

Church of MO: 2002 Buell XB9R Vs. Ducati 900SS

Well lookit that: I was already a Buell apologist 20 years ago. The low-handlebarred XB9R was Buell’s first with the sweet Verlicchi fuel-in-frame design, but it was the XB9S that came out the following year that we still covet. Meanwhile, taste may finally be catching up to the new Ducati 900SS Pierre Terblanche designed in 1998.

2023 Ducati Panigale V4 SP2 First Look

Fast Facts Lightweight carbon wheels STM-EVO SBK dry clutch Matte Black Winter Test livery MSRP $39,500 Ducati's "Ultimate Racetrack Machine" As we had previously reported last month, Ducati is introducing a new Panigale V4 SP2, a numbered series production model it bills as “The Ultimate Racetrack Machine.” Internationally, the SP2 is a 2022 model, but for North America, it will arrive in dealerships in the fourth quarter as a 2023 model. A follow up to 2021’s SP model, the SP2 takes all the updates the Panigale V4 and V4 S received for 2022, and adds a number of upgrades to make it worthy of the “Sport Production” label and $39,500 price tag. These upgrades include carbon wheels, Brembo Stylema R calipers, MCS radial master cylinder, STM-EVO SBK dry clutch, lightened 520 chain, billet Rizoma footpegs and a matt black Winter Test livery.

Limited Edition 2022 Ducati XDiavel Nera First Look

$29,795 for an XDiavel with an artisanal leather seat Ducati revealed a new limited edition XDiavel produced in conjunction with Italian furniture and interior design house Poltrona Frau. The 2022 Ducati XDiavel Nera will be available in a numbered run of 500 units, priced at US$29,795. That’s a hefty $4,200 premium over the XDiavel S.

More 2022 Ducati Models to Be Announced Including Panigale V4 SP2 and V4 R

Could the V20E Project be Ducati's first electric streetbike? Last fall, Ducati revealed nine new models over a series of online “World Première” events. That’s an impressive slate of new models, but it looks like Ducati isn’t done yet, announcing three more presentations to come, on Feb.

2022 Ducati Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak Video

Race through the clouds This V4 Pikes Peak version is the sporting Multistrada, says Ducati, getting back to the pavement performance of the original Pikes Peak via a beautiful set of 17-inch forged Marchesini wheels – the rear one spinning on a one-sided swingarm. The Marchesinis, Ducati says, remove fully 8.8 pounds of spinning, unsprung mass compared to the other Multis’ 19-/17-in. wheelsets.

Most Anticipated First Rides Of 2022

A look forward to the year (and rides) to come You’ve read our weeks long tribute to 2021 in the form of the MO Best Of awards. You’ve had your chance to debate the validity of our selection of the Harley-Davidson Pan America as the Motorcycle of the Year. Now that 2021 is almost completely in our rear view mirrors, it’s time to shift our gaze to the future.