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

Rockerbox Motofest Moves To Road America

Wisconsin’s premier motorcycle show, The Rockerbox Motofest, featuring an eclectic mix of Euro, Japanese and American vintage café racers, choppers, sport bikes, racing machines, super motos, scooters, and sidecars is making an official move for the future. Instead of its usual Milwaukee home, the event is making the trek 60 miles north to America’s national park of speed as part of  Road America’s American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) Vintage Motorcycle Classic, June 6-8. The Rockerbox Motofest includes a ride-in bike show and competition showcasing the greatest in classic style, fresh customization, plus all that is unusual and incredible.

MotoGP Teams Complete First Sepang Pre-Season Test

Preparations for the 2014 MotoGP Championship are well underway, with the first pre-season test at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit complete. As the first test of the year, we shouldn’t take too much stock into the results, but they do provide a basis for later comparison. Reigning World Champion Marc Marquez was the fastest rider on all three days of the Sepang test.

Mystic Mac's 2014 MotoGP predictions

There is no real off season in Moto GP.  Although we complain about being starved of racing, for those at the sharp end, in little more than two months they have new bikes to assemble, team staff to put in place and sponsors to nail down that will pay for it all.  This time frame is also tight for riders, as it seems more every year go straight under the surgeon’s knife after the last round and spend the short winter recuperating for the season ahead. The 2014 Moto GP championship looks like a cracker as apart from the ten full factory riders we now have at least eight non factory riders with properly competitive machinery.  We also have five Brits on the grid, two with podium potential.  Whatever happens though (providing you have BT Sport) you can just sit back and enjoy watching the incredible Marc Marquez do things that shouldn’t be possible. Speaking of whom, I didn’t believe a Rossi replacement would come this soon.  And when I say replacement, I mean a rider that is the full package.  Although in some ways quite different to Vale, he’s an equally phenomenal talent plus a very likeable character that appeals to the masses and although respectful to his rivals off track, deadly competitive in the heat of battle.  Being young and good looking he’s obviously a dream for sponsors and the sport in general.  Marquez has evolved in his own way but thankfully into a perfect replacement for our sport when the VR steps down.

2013 US Motorcycle Sales Data

The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) reported a modest 1.4% growth in U.S. motorcycle and scooter sales in 2013, with consumers purchasing 465,783 vehicles. The sales data represents numbers from the MIC’s member brands which include BMW, Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, the Piaggio Group (which includes Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Vespa), Victory, Suzuki, Triumph and Yamaha.

Hit Girl Edition Ducati 1199 Panigale Giveaway in Japan

Ducati Japan has produced a one-off purple 1199 Panigale to promote the movie “Kick Ass 2″. The sequel to the 2010′s “Kick Ass” opened in North America last August, but in Japan it opens Feb. 22.

Ducati 1199 Superleggera Video Trailer

If you’ve a minute thirty to waste and want to check out an action video of Ducati’s exclusive 1199 Superlaeggera click the video play button below. Chock full of subtitled Italian explanations regarding the motorcycle’s ultra-trick, lightweight design and construction, the video is the stuff of dreams, which is exactly what this bike is to most people. Ducati 1199 Superleggera Boasts 200 HP, Sub 400-Pound Wet Weight   

2014 WSBK Provisional Entry List – 27 Riders and 9 Manufacturers

The International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) released a provisional entry list for the 2014 World Superbike Championship. The provisional list includes 27 riders riding motorcycles from nine different manufacturers. Of these riders, 12 are riding in the new EVO sub-category which limits engine upgrades and electronics to Superstock class rules.

Ducati 1098R with RS parts

This is one properly sorted Ducati. It's a 1098R dripping with factory RS parts. It's located in France and owned by a friend of mine.

2014 MotoGP Ducati Ticket Package At COTA

Ducati island, a yearly landmark during the MotoGP race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA, is moving to Austin’s Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for 2014. To celebrate its new location Ducati is offering an exclusive MotoGP ticket package. For the second round of the 2014 MotoGP season, April 11-13, Ducati will descend upon COTA’s “Grand Plaza” which is centrally located within the facility, in close proximity to the racetrack ticket office and main fan entrance.

Highlights From The Troy Bayliss Classic – Video

For the second year running, three-time World Superbike champion, Troy Bayliss’, self-titled slick track motorcycle race was full of action. However, unlike last year, Bayliss took home the crown in front of a capacity crowd of over 6000 people at the Taree Motorcycle Club. Bayliss didn’t win the title easily, as American, and 2009 AMA Grand National champion, Sammy Halbert, set the fastest time during Superpole and challenged the Australian for the first half of the 21-lap race.