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

Provisional 2012 World Superbike Championship Entry List Released

The International Motorcycling Federation has released a preliminary entry list for the 2012 World Superbike Championship. The preliminary list includes 24 entries representing six manufacturers: Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki. Noticeably absent is Yamaha which announced last summer it would pull out of WSBK racing.

Italy Recognizes Cultural Importance of Ducati Museum

Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities has granted official recognition to the Ducati Museum in Bologna, Italy, for it’s cultural significance. The Museo Ducati‘s archives have been deemed to be of such cultural importance, they deserve to be part of Italy’s national archive. First opened in June 1998, the museum houses documents form Ducati‘s technical archive as well as a vast collection of engines and motorcycles.

Las Vegas Premier Motorcycle Auction Nets $4.1 Million

Buyers spent $4.1 million on rare motorcycles at the inaugural Las Vegas Premier Motorcycle Auction by Auctions America. The auction, held Jan. 12-14 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, featured 490 motorcycles and other memorabilia.

Saltarelli Classic Ducati Collection Up for Auction

One of the world’s largest private collections of Ducati motorcycles is going on the auction block. Former Ducati factory test rider, racer and dealer Carlo Saltarelli is selling his collection of classic motorcycles at RM Auction‘s biennial auction in Monaco on May 11-12 during the Grand Prix of Monaco Historique. Saltarelli’s collection includes 100 motorcycles including a 1970 ex-Works Ducati 450 Desmo Corsa which was featured in the Ducati museum in Bologna, Italy.

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden Frolicking in the Snow [Video]

Last week, we wrote about Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden and Ducati’s annual Wrooom ski and press event in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy. While Ducati, Rossi and Hayden are under intense pressure to perform better in 2012 than they did in the 2011 MotoGP season, the Wrooom event provided the riders and the team a chance to unwind before getting back to work. Ducati has released a video featuring its two factory riders enjoying the slopes at the ski result in the Italian Alps.Watch the video after the jump of Rossi and Hayden riding a Ducati-adorned Ski-Doo and snowboarding.

Wrooom 2012: Fun and Games for Rossi and Ducati Before Going Back to Work on MotoGP Project

The pressure is on Ducati and Valentino Rossi this off-season to revamp the Desmosedici for the 2012 MotoGP Championship after a lackluster 2011. But that doesn’t mean Vale et al can’t have a bit of fun at the annual Wrooom press event held jointly between Ducati‘s MotoGP team and Ferrari‘s F1 squad. Rossi took part in a pair of four-wheeled races on the frozen lake at Madonna di Campiglio where Wrooom took place.

Preliminary 2012 MotoGP Entry List Released

The International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) has released a preliminary entry list for the 2012 MotoGP World Championship. The provisional list includes 21 riders in the premiere class, including nine classified as Claiming Rule Team entries. Defending MotoGP Champion Casey Stoner will wear the #1 plate for the 2012 season, the first with both CRT entries and the new 1000cc engine displacement cap.

Happy 50th Hizzy

On the 11th January 1962, Steve Hislop was born in Hawick, Scotland. Today would have been his 50th birthday, but he was tragically killed in a helicopter accident in 2003. Hizzy was a genius on a motorbike and when he was happy with everything around him, he was amongst the best in the world.

Traction control? Yawn...

My long-term Fireblade went back to Honda last week and, seeing as it’s sunny and mild outside now, I’m already missing it. It is one of the best 1000cc sports bikes out there, I don’t care what anyone else says, the way it makes its power is just perfect for fast road use. With the Power Commander 5 fitted and the fuelling sorted my 2011 Blade performed as well if not better than the 2012 version.

Ducati Diavel gets more Öhlins treatment

Here's a look at some tasty black Öhlins forks for the Ducati Diavel. This is what Öhlins have to say about them: We've developed a set of performance forks for the awesome Ducati Diavel to give increased handling capabilities to this already unique ‘muscle bike’.The FGRT 301 ‘Road and Track’ forks have been especially designed with black outer tubes and gold fork sliders to retain the mean and moody look of this 160bhp monster machine, something that reflects the front suspension on the Ducati MotoGP machines.Featuring 48mm forks containing Öhlins NIX 30mm cartridge technology, the new forks offer improved road manners and high performance capabilities for when the pace increases. With adjustment of compression and rebound split between the two fork legs, the new forks offer unrivalled control and feel whatever the conditions.The forks follow the successful introduction of the Ohlins rear shock for the Diavel and it is expected many customers will combine the two suspension systems for the ultimate in comfort and handling for their machine.Öhlins has a fantastic relationship with Ducati with models such as the Multistrada 1200S and the eagerly awaited 1199S Panigale utilising electronically adjusting Öhlins suspension systems.The Öhlins FGRT 301 Road and Track forks are available now and are priced at £2597.90 + VAT.