The Italian motorcycle mfg. (Ducati) is unique-they are the only manufacturer that use a “desmodromic” valve actuation system. That is, the valves are opened and closed by a speail mechanical linkage, instead of being opened by a camshaft (and closed by a valve spring).
Outside of this feature, are they very different from other bikes?
Does the desmodromic system provide any big performance advantage, or is it just hype?
It’s been a while but if I remember the valve system was to prevent valve float.
Back when I was riding, Ducati offered better handling and exoticness compared to the Japanese bikes at the time.
They are the shit.
Unless you don’t think so, then they are overpriced compared to the Japanese offerings.
A friend had one. It was a beautiful machine but had more mechanical noise than any motorcycle I’ve ever heard. Seems like the clutch made quite a racket too. The exhaust sound was beautiful music though.
Hunter S. Thompson seemed to think so.
"If you rode the Black Shadow at top speed for any length of time, you would almost certainly die. That is why there are not many life members of the Vincent Black Shadow Society. The Vincent was like a bullet that went straight; the Ducati is like the magic bullet in Dallas that went sideways and hit JFK and the Governor of Texas at the same time.
It was impossible. But so was my terrifying sideways leap across the railroad tracks on the 900sp. The bike did it easily with the grace of a fleeing tomcat…"
That was the original idea, but technology has advanced to the point where this is no longer necessary. For example, Yamaha’s latest version of the R6 (which has a 600cc inline four-cylinder engine) redlines at nearly 18,000 RPM and does not use a desmodromic valve train.
That said, Ducati bikes do sound pretty damn cool. (video: ducati on a test stand)
I haven’t ridden in years and I haven’t kept up with the latest.
18,000rpm? :eek:
I never owned a Ducati, but I did own a couple other Italian bikes (Benellis). What the Japanes can accomplish with 4 moving parts, the Germans can do with 6, and the Italians can do with 187.
Ayup. Sounds a bit like a Formula 1 car engine.
The key difference is that even a WoW-playing, liberal, socialist, Obama-loving, BP-hating, lonely SDMB dufus can get laid by a real girl considered attractive outside of the realm of the SDMB when riding a Ducati. I might go as far to say this is possible even while talking about LOTR.
That is what is different about a Ducati.
Capish?
Vincent ‘Vinnie’ Antonelli: Are you trying to say capisce?
Barney: Yeah.
Vincent ‘Vinnie’ Antonelli: Well don’t do it, cause it hurts my ears when you do it.
I have no faith in the crowd that thinks capiacola is gabagool.
I’m 47. I’ve been riding motorcyles since I was 15. I’d ridden most every type of bike there is, in every road condition from CA to GA. As a BMW and Ural rider, I’m not mainstream, and observe with some pity those who plop down 6 grand for the latest 600cc ricer and smack into the nearest solid object. I can’t stand squid. Pushing the envelope in any vehicle only edges you closer to death, and who needs that on a beautiful fall day in the mountains?
Then at age 35 or so, a friend convinced me to ride his Ducati Monster 900. I was hooked.
The tremendous torque, acceleration, sound - I loved it all. Within a week I had one, and I’ve gotten a couple other Ducatis since then.
Yes, there are bikes with higher horsepower that rev faster, but tuned and mapped properly, I can spank anything with wheels up to 100mph or so. After that, you’re typically running out of room, so I’m cool with that. Some bike’s gearing will take them to 200mph. Not interested.
Just last weekend, I kid you not, some young little hotties in their Mustang pulled up next to me and said “Wow - is that a Ducati?” I just smiled and nodded. No one does that to any Japanese ricer or Goldwing.
They’re fast, stylish, a bit rare, and get me more attention than a fat, balding, married guy needs.
What more could you ask for?
I saw a 999 Superbike in the parking lot the other day. I was overcome with a serious case of motorcycle lust. Enough so that I momentarily forgot that my back and knees would not allow me to ride the thing for long. But, golly, I would would sure like to try it, once.
But, never forget their motto: “Ducati, turning riders into mechanics since 1946.”
That Ducati torque is mainly a function of the engine layout of a V-twin.
You’ll get the same effect, and rather more on a Suzuki SV1000, and for rather less money too.The Suzuki TL1000 also has huge low down grunt.
Ducatis have a dry clutch, which means they rattle at idle and low revs, they sound pretty horrible. hey used to have a terrible reliability reputation, and although this has een largely sorted, they need to be babied and they are expensive to run - they chew through chains and sprockets, back tyres get a hard time too.
They are a bit more exclusive, but not particularly so, unless you decide to kit it out, but if its Joe Public you are trying to impress, they probably won’t be capable of understanding just how cool that carbon fibre heel plate really is.
You want race bike cool, then ou need to be looking at homologation specials, such as the R7, or the RC30, RC45 - now those are cool and whats more - you will impress bikers and for the most part, they are just as impractical as any Ducati.
The latest cool sportsbikes are likley to be the Aprilia homologation WSB machine or perhaps the BMW WSB machine
Are they V’s? Thought they were L-Twins (90 degree bank). Still, point is relevant in that it’s a twin design.
And most are typical overhead cam designs.
Ducati: Want