The Bike That Made Ducati a Legend

When you think about Ducati today and all the different Ducatis that make Ducati Ducati, it's difficult to imagine a world without Ducati just Ducati-ing all over the place. Okay, I'm not going to do that the entire video. Seriously though, there has never been a more dominant force in the sport bike market in terms of racing and prestige and production capability than modern Ducati. From the complete and utter dominance in MotoGP, winning 19 of 20 races last year, and this year, it's probably going to be the same. To the fact that the world superbike rules have changed to try to make Ducati less dominant, but it hasn't done much. To the production sport bike world. Ducati might not outsell its leader and superbike rivals, but they do stand as the most desirable and most capable, and of course, that is directly tied to their dominance in racing. Ducati is the modern Ferrari of motorcycle manufacturers. Now when I talk about the Ducati that made Ducati Ducati, I'm guessing you think of the 916 and mainly its iconic and influential design, and on some level, you'd be right. But actually, there's another bike that I think is more significant in terms of putting Ducati on the map and specifically in building their identity as the premier performance-based motorcycle manufacturer in the world. And on top of that, I already made a video about the 916 that you can just go watch. It's difficult to really comprehend just how far behind Ducati was in terms of sport bike development in the 1960s. As Japan's high-revving four-strokes and manic two-strokes were moving up the ladder to compete against the dominant multi-cylinder MV Agustas and the storied British twins, Ducati truly was the quirky outsider. They had their cute little singles, and the new desmodromic valve system adapted from Mercedes. It was interesting. But the idea that this little Italian mark could really compete against the ever-evolving big race bikes and production sport bikes, that was almost laughable. Ducati's history before the 1970s was complicated and turbulent. Founded in 1926, Ducati was originally a manufacturer of radio components. After World War II, the company pivoted to motorized bicycles, launching the Susullio engine, which helped establish its reputation for lightweight and efficient machines. Through the 1950s and 60s, Ducati produced a series of small-displacement single-cylinder bikes, many with advanced engineering, including this desmodromic valve system, pioneered by chief engineer Fabio Taioni. And despite success in the small-displacement classes for racing, Ducati struggled with scale and identity. By the late 1960s, the company, nationalized under the Italian government's IRI, or Instituto per la Reconstruzione Industrielle, they were a minor player in the motorcycle market, especially globally. A market that was increasingly dominated by Japanese manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki, Ducati was seen as lacking a proper big bike to compete on the world stage. At this point, if you were in America and you bought a Ducati, you were looked at as a bit of a weirdo. In that era, Ducatis were seen as odd, niche machines. Desmodromic valves, bevel drive. Most American riders were still buying Harleys and Triumphs, by the late 60s, affordable and bomb-proof Japanese bikes like the Honda CB series. So riding a Ducati at this time made you a bit of a motorcycle hipster before that was even a thing. Now the turning point began in 1970 when Ducati's long-time chief engineer, Fabio Taioni, decided to move beyond the single-cylinder format that had defined the company for two decades. Drawing on his experience in both road and track applications, Taioni began developing a new engine layout, a 90-degree V-twin. His decision wasn't made in a vacuum. The preceding years had seen Ducati experiment with twin-cylinder racing machines, most notably a 500cc V-twin developed in 1969 for Grand Prix competition. That engine, air-cooled and featuring bevel drive overhead cams, was Ducati's first foray into the realm of multi-cylinder machines, though it saw only limited success in the Grand Prix world, hampered more by budget and factory support than inherent design flaws, it established an essential proof of concept. Taioni had designed the 500cc V-twin from the ground up as a racer, and he was confident in this engine's basic architecture. The 90-degree layout provided balance, allowing for smoother operation at high revs. The engine was compact and could be positioned to optimize weight distribution. After experimenting with this format on the track, Ducati made the strategic decision to scale the engine up to 750cc to produce a road bike capable of competing with the growing ranks of powerful motorcycles emerging from Honda, Norton, Triumph, and BMW. The result was the 750 GT, released in 71. This was the company's first production V-twin, and it marked a seismic shift in Ducati's engineering identity. It was built as a sport-touring machine, not a race bike. The engine was detuned from the 500cc prototype, and featured a simpler valve train, conventional springs instead of desmodromic actuation. The bike was civilized, stylish, and handled beautifully, thanks to its low center of gravity and narrow profile. But Ducati's racing instincts had never gone dormant. Within the company, there was a growing belief that this new platform could be turned into a legitimate race-winning machine. That opportunity came in 1972 with the announcement of the inaugural Emola 200, a new 200-mile endurance race held at the Autodromo Enzo Adeno Ferrari. By the early 1970s, the Daytona 200 in America had grown into one of the world's premier motorcycle races. In response, the Italian Motorcycle Federation created the Emola 200 Miglia. In 1972, this was a 200-mile race. It was marketed as Europe's answer to Daytona, an international battleground for factory-backed superbikes. Ducati's entry into the race was bold. They would compete with a small team and with a bike that was still very much in development, the 750 Emola Desmo, featuring a desmodromic version of the V-Twin. Now, just a bit about desmodromic valves. In a conventional four-stroke engine, each valve or valves for the intake and exhaust is opened by a camshaft and then closed by a spring. Pretty simple. At lower and mid-range RPMs, this works fine. But at very high engine speeds, like those reached during racing, the springs can struggle to close the valves quickly and precisely. And at this time, valve spring failure was common. There's also valve float. This is where the valve doesn't follow the cam profile closely, which causes a loss of power, and also in extreme cases, catastrophic engine failure, which was very common at this time. Engineers can stiffen the springs, but that adds friction, robs power, and puts more strain on the valve train. A desmodromic valve system solves this problem in a unique way. It mechanically opens and closes the valves, with no springs involved. Now, that isn't to say that there isn't extra complexity with it, but it does solve that problem. Each valve is operated by two separate cam lobes and two rocker arms, one to open and one to close it. This means the valve's motion is entirely controlled by the camshaft, with no reliance on springs to return it to its seat. As a result, the valve action stays precise, even at very high RPMs, and the engine can run with more aggressive cam profiles without fear of float. Tyone's own designed desmo valves were fantastic for their 125cc racing bikes, and in those classes, this innovation directly led to their winning, so it made sense for them to bring it over to this race bike. The race bike that would make history at this new Omula race was hand-built in limited numbers. Key elements included not only this desmodromic valve actuation, but also a slightly modified steel frame taken from the production 750GT. Dell Orto carburetors tuned to squeeze every ounce of power from the air-cooled V-Twin, Ceriani front forks, and twin-shock Marzocchi suspension, a rather spartan but aerodynamic fairing, hand-hammered in aluminum by the artisans at NCR, which was a Ducati-affiliated race shop. Power output was around 80hp at 8500rpm, which was competitive but not dominant on paper, but Ducati's secret weapon was handling, stability, the lightweight nature of this overall package, and good old-fashioned twin torque. Ducati entered the race with two top-level riders, Paul Smart, a British racer who was reluctant to travel to Italy until his wife Maggie Smart, sister of Barry Sheen, convinced him, and Bruno Spajari, a veteran Italian rider and national hero. On April 23rd, 1972, Ducati stunned the racing world. Smart and Spajari finished first and second ahead of more powerful bikes from established brands like MV Agusta, Triumph, and Honda. Agostini on his MV Agusta started in first, but Smart's consistency and the bike's superior balance proved unbeatable over the long distance. It was Ducati's most important victory to date, sort of the equivalent of Ford's win at Le Mans in 1966. For the first time, Ducati had defeated the giants on their home turf with a bike they built almost entirely in-house in a really short period of time. Now, a win is a win, it is great, but it doesn't necessarily mean much. I mean, Honda just won a race in MotoGP a few weeks back. We all know Honda has no chance going forward though. I'm kidding, I'm kidding, chill. But this race meant more than just headlines for Ducati. It symbolized something deeper that was happening in Bologna as they looked to take their newfound success to the street. Now, the way in which race bikes and production sport bikes overlap has always been nuanced and varying. Companies like Honda built their reputation adapting and carrying over the very best characteristics from their race bikes to their production motorcycles, even motorcycles that aren't necessarily performance-oriented. Then you have other manufacturers like MV Agusta. For most of their history, they've been known essentially as a racing team who happens to sell motorcycles. At this point, this Formula 750 racing class was created essentially because of the popularity of larger production sport bikes, motorcycles like the CB750. But the other manufacturers, companies like Kawasaki and Suzuki and Triumph and BSA and Norton and pretty much everybody but Ducati, they were using purpose-built race bikes with entirely different frames, for example, than their production bikes. But Ducati had just whooped everyone with a slightly modified production touring motorcycle. I mean, the frame was basically the same. In light of their new success and fame, and because this race bike shared so much with their production 750, there was only one option, and that was to build a production replica of the 750 race bike. Well, there was also homologation rules. To say Ducati's engineering chief Fabio Taioni was a brilliant designer is really an understatement. He'd created entirely unique and brilliant motorcycles, particularly this 90-degree or L-twin setup. It uniquely solved quite a few problems for the company. They needed larger displacement bikes that were cost-effective for them to produce, functional and sporty. This now evolving 750 platform was exactly that. The 90-degree bevel drive overhead cam configuration meant that the bike lacked the typical twin vibration without the need for any sort of counterbalancer. On top of this, it was powerful, torquey, and usable. And because it was a twin mounted longitudinally, that meant the bike could be incredibly thin. The formula for Ducati as Ducati was forming at this time. For the 1974 750 SS or Supersport, the replica version of the Desmo 750 race bike, Ducati made what was as close to a race bike for the street as had ever been made. FIM required at least 200 production homologated versions of the 750cc race bikes. Though it took Ducati longer than they expected, two years after the iconic 72 win at Imola, the 750 SS's began rolling out. To call this thing a street bike is a stretch. It didn't have turn signals. It didn't have electric start. It was essentially as loud as a race bike. The carbs didn't even have air filters. This was kind of like a modern BSA Gold Star Clubman, which was a motorcycle that wouldn't even idle. Some of the 750 SS's that were shipped out to wealthy customers lacked really any sort of quality, but the one area where they shined and the one area that matters is the engine. Never before had such a motorcycle prowled public streets and backroads. The powerful, unique sounding race bike engine and incredible lightweight frame with powerful disc brakes on the front and rear, this bike gave riders an experience unlike anything before. The 750 SS was the first production Ducati twin with desmodromic valves, the first in a long, long, never-ending line. The influence of the 1974 Ducati 750 Supersport echoed far beyond its limited production run. Though only a few hundred were built, the 750 SS became the spiritual blueprint for Ducati's identity moving forward. It embodied the elements that would define the company's most iconic sport bikes for decades to come. The desmodromic valve system, the 90-degree L-twin engine, a focus on lightweight chassis design, and a deep connection to racing performance. More than just a machine, it established a philosophy, one that placed purpose and performance over mass appeal. Following the 750 SS, Ducati continued refining its V-twin platform, eventually transitioning from bevel-drive camshafts to belt-driven systems with the launch of the Panta series in 1980. While the Panta marked a step towards modernity, it did retain the core DNA of that 750 SS. The desmodromic valve actuation remained, now mated to a compact, more easily manufactured engine design that would become the basis for all Ducati twins moving forward. This lineage would mature with the introduction of the Ducati 851 in the late 80s, a liquid-cooled, four-valve Desmo twin that brought Ducati back to the forefront of racing. The 851 and its successors, including the 888 and the legendary 916, oh, and don't forget the 999, well, these bikes would go on to dominate world superbike and really cement Ducati's image as the master of twin-cylinder performance. These motorcycles didn't just perform, they represented an alternative vision of what a superbike could be. They rejected the four-cylinder formula of Japan in favor of torque-rich, soul-stirring engines with unmistakable sound and feel. From the 750 SS forward, every great Ducati sportbike, whether it's the 900 SS, the 851, the 916, the Panigale V2, the Panigale V4, all of it traces its spiritual lineage back to that narrow, uncompromising race machine from 72 and 74. It proved that Ducati could not only build race-winning motorcycles, but also production bikes that really made you feel like you were on a race bike. The 750 SS didn't just influence Ducati's future, it was its foundation. This moment in time for Ducati, where it found success in big bike racing and brought that formula to the street, would really mark the beginning of its never-ending pursuit. You could almost call it a question. What if the line between race bike and street bike, between race bike development and street bike development, what if that line was blurred? In 1974, Ducati answered that question with the 750 SS, a machine that wasn't just inspired by the racetrack, but practically escaped the racetrack. Built in tiny numbers, this motorcycle was uncompromising and exotic. It wasn't just a halo bike, it was a statement from Ducati. Ducati wasn't content to separate what happened on Sunday from what was sold on Monday. The two would feed each other. And that philosophy, engineered with intent in Bologna, tested at Emola and distilled into production, would echo through everything that came afterwards. Ducati would never again build a sport bike that wasn't derived directly from their success on the track. And the idea of that line being blurred, for Ducati it's not just a marketing pitch, it's the company's entire identity. And so even when Ducati makes decisions that don't necessarily align with their fanboys, usually it's because they're staying true to that philosophy. And that goes all the way back to this 750 platform. And in my opinion, the motorcycle that really made Ducati Ducati. All right, hope you guys enjoyed this video. Make sure to subscribe if you did, and we'll see you in the next one. Ride safe.