Single Cylinder Ducati Motorcycles

The Ducati singles were single cylinder motorcycles, made by Ducati from 1950 to 1974. Chief Engineer Fabio Taglioni developed a desmodromic valve system in these years, a system that opens and closes the valves using the camshaft, without the need for valve springs. This valve system has become a trademark feature of Ducati motorcycles.

In 1926, the brothers Adriano and Marcello Ducati founded Societa Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati, a company in Bologna producing tubes, condensers and other radio components. On June 1, 1935, the cornerstone of a factory in Borgo Panigale was laid. By 1940, the company was engaged in the manufacture of electronic equipment for the military, making the factory a target for Allied bombing. The Ducati factory at Borgo Panigale was hit badly more than once, but maintained production.
Categories Of Single Cylinder Ducati Motorcycles
Cucciolo
During World War II, Ducati developed a small engine mounted on a bicycle, called the Cucciolo ("little puppy") and in 1950 began producing its own complete 98-pound motorcycle with the same name.
OHV pushrod singles
From the mid-1950s through mid-1960s Ducati produced non-Taglioni-designed OHV singles with conventional pushrod valve operation, such as the 125 Bronco.
Ducati 65 TS and Cruiser
The market was moving though, towards bigger motorcycles and Ducati's IRI management felt diversification was the only answer. Ducati made an impression at the early 1952 Milan Show, introducing the Ducati 65 TS cycle and the Cruiser, the world's first four-stroke scooter. Despite being described as the most interesting new machine at the 1952 show, the Cruiser was not a great success. A couple of thousand were made over a two-year period before being withdrawn from production.
OHC 98 cc Gran Sport
Ducati's single overhead-cam 98 cc Gran Sport, designed by Taglioni, became the blueprint for all future Ducati singles. It had an air-cooled cylinder inclined forward 10 degrees from vertical, gear primary drive, wet-sump lubrication, battery ignition and camshaft drive by vertical shaft and bevel gears. This bike came to dominate its class in Italian racing. In 1956 there was a DOHC 125 cc version of the Gran Sport.
125 Desmo Ducati
The 125 Desmo Ducati won its first race at the 1956 Swedish G.P. at Hedemora, lapping all the other cycles, but then its rider, Gianni Degli Antoni, died during the practice for the next race, the Italian G.P. of Monza. That death dealt a severe blow to the Ducati racing program and it was not until 1958 that their team was able to mount a serious challenge to Italy’s MV Agusta, and their top rider, former 125 cc world champion, Carlo Ubbiali.
Diana
The first production Ducati 250 debuted at the Milan Fair in April 1961. It was called the Diana but for some unknown reason was renamed as Daytona in the UK. The 250 was so popular that in 1963 Ducati introduced the Diana Mark 3 Super Sport.
Scrambler
The Scrambler series of singles were made for the US market from 1962 until 1974, at the behest of Ducati's American importer, the Berliner Motor Corporation.
Apollo
The Berliner Brothers, held the US Ducati franchise in the late 1950s, and because of the brothers' forceful personalities, this began to affect what was produced. Though this ultimately ended up having disastrous consequences for all concerned, in the short run it secured for Ducati a much larger slice of the U.S. market than they would otherwise have had. In 1963 the Berliner brothers suggested that Ducati build a Harley beater, leading to the Apollo V4, which made it to a tyre shredding prototype stage, but was never manufactured. Two machines were built, one of which can now be seen in the Ducati museum in Bologna.
Diana Mark 3 Super Sport
This machine first appeared in 1962 in Europe where it was named the 'Mach 1'. It was derived from the production 250s but was considerably tuned and had 5 gears instead of the 4 of its predecessors. Several European magazines tested it and were able to exceed 100 mph, making it by far the fastest production 250 on the market. It was later introduced to the American market where, under the name of Diana Mark 3 Super Sport, it proved again to be the fastest 250 street bike in the world that year. In a carefully monitored Cycle World track test, the Mark 3 did a standing 1/4 mile in 16.5 seconds with a final speed of 79.5 mph. Its top speed was 104 mph. Even a TD-1 Yamaha racer, tested by Cycle World that same year, was unable to match the Ducati's top speed and no other comparably sized registrable production bike that year could compete with its performance.
Two-strokes
Ducati was manufacturing a 50 cc two stroke, with power outputs from 0.92 hp at 4,600 rpm to 4.2 at 8,600 rpm. Some attempts were made to race these 50 cc Ducati two-strokes in Europe, but the 3 speed gearbox and lack of power compared to makes such as Itom meant that there was no success. They also failed to sell in America, their target market, as the US demand just did not exist. Fairly large quantities were sold in Europe and for some years it was the sales of two-strokes that kept the company afloat.
1965 Ducati 350 Sebring
In 1965, the first new concept bike arrived. The 350 Sebring was the largest Ducati of the day. Typically, Ducati built a racing 350 first. The 350 class was not common in the United States, so when Ducati team rider Franco Farne went to America to race at Sebring race, he had to race in an event catering to 251-700 cc machines. Despite the larger capacity opposition, he finished 11th overall and, more importantly, won his own class outright. In honour of Farne's victory the new model became the 350 Sebring.
Production desmo
In 1967, after eight years of development, Ducati introduced its first production Desmodromic engine, a machine that drew as much from the race track as it did from the drawing board, epitomising the engineering concept that “form follows function”. In January, 1968, Ducati announced plans to build and market the 450 cc Mark 3D. The D was for Desmodromic.
Early in 1969 the long-awaited Desmo production machine began appearing. The Desmo design in the new engine, had all four closing and opening lobes mounted on the same shaft, similar to the arrangement used in the late fifties W196 Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 cars. The bike was available in Europe in 250 and 350 versions as well as the 450. In 1971, Ducati released a variant for off-road use called the R/T and another street version called the Silver Shotgun.