Ducati motorcycles
Ducati - at the name, fans of adrenaline and motorcycles ready to rip hats in reverence. For them, this name means the same as Porsche - for motorists. Ducati - brand, famous not mass-produced in the millions of motorcycles and triumphant victories in the World Superbike Championship. The owners of this Italian motorcycle company automatically enrolled in the preferred club "without the red zone".
Ducati motorcycles are markedly different from their own kind, and not just good looks. First of all, the absence of the red section of unwanted speed on the tachometer - desmodromny drive valve Ducati motors removes operational restrictions. Virtually all models of ground under an aggressive sport riding. Power rating of their engines real as nor in any others - shows a poster froze "horses" on the rear wheel, not the ephemeral crank the engine. On the Ducati can take part in any competition superbikes without any additional tuning and Afterburner - just buy a good name and become the best. This is the current fad of - serial motorcycles, initially suitable for participation in the road-racing circuit. But the road to fame Ducati was long and thorny.
In 1926, the brothers Adriano and Marcello Ducati founded in the town of Bologna based manufacturer of radio engineering. The matter was profitable: the country was in need of horns-speakers. Then he pushed the military orders to the radio and optical sights. Business has cracked only in the late 40's when Italy took something more useful than the wall dynamics. Owners of the company were unable to cope with the problems, and that the workers were not on the street, the government nationalized it, and then start to look for a new production Ducati path. Country needed a cheap transport, so we decided to produce motorcycles.
The first of these products were motors engineer Aldo Farinelli. Ducati has experienced a new birth of business abruptly went up the hill, products purchased snapped up well.
Italy, having recovered after the war, gradually transplanted on scooters and small motorcycles. In 1952 she made her debut Cruiser model with a horizontal overhead valve 175 cc engine (1 cylinder, 8 hp..), Electric starter and automatic transmission. Appeared 55-cc 3-speed Cucciolo, then 98 cc Cruiser (this is already full with spinal motorcycle frame, telescopic forks and rear tilting). A little later, he debuted the "charged" to the forces of modification 98 6.5 Sport. Ducati has made the right move - offered cheap and dynamic (Sport bike could accelerate to 95 km/h!) motorcycles.
In 1954, as chief designer at the company took the young engineer Fabio Taglioni, which began the story of the star Ducati. First, he designed a 100-cc Ducati 100 Gran Sport, which is not only a victory for amateur racers, but also defined the technical development of the company for fifteen years. Bike weighs only 80 kg reached a speed of 130 km / h, the engine power increased to 9 HP at 9000 rpm. / min. Ducati Team at Gran Sport immediately took all the prizes in the class 100 cubes.
In the early 60s Taglioni developed the 1300 cc bike for road services in the U.S.. The customer wanted the Italian twin Harley - big and powerful. And got: Taglioni designed 4-cylinder engine (the cylinders are grouped in pairs, set at an angle of 90 degrees), which simply gave out 100 horsepower. The very same bike, named Apollo, could ease accelerate to 210 km/h! The trouble was that in those days there was no road tires that can withstand this load.
Customer swept up - it was too zealous horse nourished - and eventually abandoned the project. Taglioni decided to use their own experience in the late 60's, when the products were frankly Ducati cramping Japanese krupnokubaturniki. 1300 "cubes" - it was too much, so Fabio satisfied with half the motor: a new 750-cc was a cut along the "Quartet" - one cylinder was looking ahead, the second vertically positioned at a right angle. All of this combination was slightly tilted to the exhaust pipe of the lower cylinder did not reduce the ground clearance. The bike was named Ducati 750GT, he made his debut in November 1970 and created a furor. Bike weighs only 185 kg, and being equipped with a 60-horsepower engine, reached a speed of 195 km/h! Lacked one thing - corporate desmo drive. Full machine Ducati Super Sport 750 appeared in 1972. Here is his performance: 73 HP, "top speed" of 215 km/h, acceleration to "hundreds" - 3.7 sec! The world knew who produces the most high-speed motorcycles.
All is good, but in the motorcycle press began to circulate rumors about the loss of the company. Indeed, motoproizvodstvo have not been profitable, focused on the production of industrial motors. In 1983, an agreement was made between the owner of Ducati - the Italian Government, and thriving concern Cagiva. It was planned that it will produce Ducati engines, and the brand itself will cease to exist. Saved Ducati owners Cagiva - Kastaloni brothers who bought moto company and decided to release under the Cagiva brand only in the style of enduro motorcycles for traveling with 2-cylinder engines Ducati, leaving behind a legendary law firm in road models. In 1985 he conducted the first global update lineup - without the participation of Taglioni, who had gone by the time retirement. 350 - and 750-cc engine Pantah were installed in a new chassis with a space frame and rear suspension with a central monoshock. Single modifications Ducati 350F3 and 750F1 different sports planting and fairing racing type and version of the Ducati 350/750 Paso was a sport-touring motorcycle with an unusual integral kapotirovkoy. In 1989, the design was reworked sportswear Ducati Super Sport and there was a modification to the 900 cc engine. Tales of the series (with the motors 600, 750 and 900 cc., fairing racing type or fairing) are still among the most popular in the model range.
Ducati felt very confident in the Superbike championship. In 1988, the rules of the competition are expected participation of machines that are based on production. So the company turned to the fullest. There followed a series win - Ducati racers became world champions three times in a row, from 1990 to 1992. A 1993rd marked the debut of the magnificent Ducati 916. The car has received an update from the console chassis of the rear wheel suspension and front inverted "telescope". The racing version of 916-th Englishman Carl Fogarty became world champion in 1994 and 1995. Not to mention another bike, which was the basis for the engine with 2-valve cylinder heads. It was created in 1992 by designer Miguel Galutstsi and immediately earned the nickname Monster, which became the official name of the model. Style "naked power" perfectly combined with the dynamics of two-cylinder V-type engine. Now these are equipped with all the Ducati. On a series of Monster and Super Sport - a descendant of Pantah with 2-valve cylinder heads and air-oil cooled. It comes in three variants - 583 (53 hp), 748 (64 hp) and 904 cc. (73 hp). Motorcycles Ducati 748 (96 hp) and a Ducati 916 (114 hp) have a more perfect scheme desmodromnuyu Desmoquatro with 4-valve cylinder heads, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected. Note again, Ducati indicates the power is not on the motor shaft and the rear wheel! The Company continues to hold the title of the manufacturer of the fastest motorcycles in the world. So, Ducati 916 accelerates to 260 km / h and makes a "hundred" in just 3 seconds - this is still a record.
Another Trouble in motomire Ducati arranged in 2000 when the engine unveiled a new generation - Testatretta ("narrow head"). The basic scheme Desmoquatro preserved, but each piece of the motor has been finalized. All details of the crankcase and cylinders were subjected to computer analysis to total - all for the sake of reducing weight and increasing durability. Changed the dimension of the engine, which allowed him to apply valves with plates of larger diameter, to reduce the angle between the valves from 40 to 25 degrees and get the most favorable shape of the combustion chamber. The new scheme desmodromnogo mechanism not only helped reduce the size of the cylinder heads, but also facilitate the adjustment and maintenance. Ducati 996R, received this motor showed 135 hp at about 10,200. / min., while the predecessor Ducati 996SPS with the "old" engine developed only 123 hp.
Today Ducati - a successful company. Bikes are sold out even before the descent of the assembly line. Not so long ago, having decided to expand production, the brothers Castiglioni sold some shares a rich American Ducati enthusiast, ensuring their listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The company is now wholly owned by American Financial Corporation Texas Pacific Group. But the spirit remains the Italian Ducati - hot and vibrant. Lineup became increasingly evolve, including expanding - it was a place "tourists." Coming off the assembly line more unusual replicas of racing motorcycles. In addition, in 2001 showed that Ducati intends to infiltrate the sector off-road motorcycles.