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

Jeremy Burgess Out and Silvano Galbusera In as Valentino Rossi’s Crew Chief

Valentino Rossi has parted ways with longtime crew chief Jeremey Burgess, ending a partnership that extended across 14 years and three different manufacturers while capturing seven MotoGP and 500cc Grand Prix World Championships. Burgess will be replaced by Louis CK lookalike Silvano Galbusera, a veteran crew chief and mechanic whose most extensive experience comes from World Superbike and Supersport racing. As crew chief and/or technical director, Galbusera has worked with an impressive roster of riders including Troy Corser, Noriyuki Haga, Cal Crutchlow and Ben Spies.

Audi Announces Ducati Q3 2013 Sales Results

Ducati delivered 36,662 motorcycles worldwide over the first nine months of 2013, according to the third quarter financial report from parent company Audi. An exact year-over-year comparison is not available however, as Audi only took control of Ducati on July 19, 2012, but Audi admits demand had declined mainly due to a weak economy in key European markets such as France, Spain and Ducati’s home market, Italy. We can provide a rough year-over-year comparison for the third quarter ended Sept.

EICMA 2013: 2014 Ducati Monster 1200 First Impressions Video

The venerable Ducati Monster celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, and the line is set to kick off a new era with the launch of the 2014 Monster 1200 and 1200S. Powered by the same superbike-derived engine that powers the Multistrada and Diavel, the new 1200 takes the Monster family to new heights in terms of power delivery. Our resident wheelie wizard and Editor-in-Chief Kevin Duke is already itching to ride the new Monster 1200.

EICMA 2013: Ducati Monster 1200 and 1200 S Take the Stage in Milan

Ducati pulled the wraps off of a new liquid-cooled Monster model. The Ducati Monster 1200 is powered by the 1198cc 11-degree Testastretta dual-spark engine that also powered the company’s last-generation superbike. Ducati will produce two versions, a base model and a higher-spec S model.

Q3 2013 US Motorcycle Sales Results

Motorcycle and scooter sales in the U.S. in 2013 remain consistent with last year’s figures, according to data released by the Motorcycle Industry Council. Several manufacturers blamed poor weather for the poor start this year, and the rebounding sales in the third quarter helped to negate the slow sales from earlier in the year.

Need a Last-Minute Halloween Costume Idea? Be a Motorcycle Model!

It’s October 31st and you’re still stuck for a Halloween costume ideas? Why not be a motorcycle model? Just dress up in some skimpy outfits, put on your heels, and drape yourself all over a sportsbike.

Ducati Signs Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano to WSBK Factory Team

Ducati announced the signing of Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano to race on the 1199 Panigale for the World Superbike Championship. The two riders will race for Ducati’s full factory team, which will operate without Team Alstare, which ran Ducati’s WSBK program this season. Both Davies and Giugliano have signed two-year contracts with Ducati.

Ben Spies Retires from Motorcycle Racing

Ben Spies announced his retirement from motorcycle racing, as injuries cut short a once promising career for the American. Spies retires with a World Superbike title in his first and only season in the series, and three AMA Superbike Championships. “I want to thank everyone from racing organizations, factories, teams and all my fans for helping me and supporting me throughout my career,” says Spies.

1199 TerraCorsa

Looking like something from Mission Impossible II, this 1199 Panigale S has been given the off-road treatment by MotoCorsa, a Ducati dealer based across the pond in Portland.The bike features a Desert Storm paint job, a stock 1199 exhaust and a custom crash guard. MotoCorsa’s General Manager Arun Sharma said that they “dropped the forks as low as we could in the triple and raised the shock’s ride height as much as possible; the idea being to max out the ground clearance.”“There’s all these guys saying ‘that’s so stupid’ or ‘why would you ruin a good bike like that?’ Well, why not just have some fun and be silly?”The bike’s been taken on a 1200 mile adventure and apparently performed faultlessly across all kinds of terrain. MotoCorsa plan to make another video where the bike is taken off-road again, then driven into the garage before being prepared for a track day.

Ducati 1199 Superleggera Boasts 200 HP, Sub 400-Pound Wet Weight

Ducati has sent official specs and pictures for its ultra limited edition, 1199 Superleggera. Based on the already impressive 1199 Panigale R, the Superleggera (Super Light) takes the R model on serious diet while hitting the gym to pack on some muscle. According to Ducati, the 1199 Superleggera is good for over 200 hp, and weighs a remarkable 390 pounds, ready to ride with at least 90% of its fuel tank filled.