Forza Ducati!

  • Thread starter JohnBM01
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JohnBM01

JohnBM01

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This thread is for fans of Ducati. I'm starting to admit that I like Ducatis for their lovely looks and sweet sounds. They are like the Ferraris of motorcycles with even a few of them costing much more than most other motorcycles. I'm even trying to educate myself on the desmosedici things some Ducatis are associated with.

I'm going to go back to making some general threads just to keep this forum busy. So feel free to show some Ducati love in this thread.
 
You're preaching to the converted here 👍

DSCF0064996.jpg

This one's mine

091107 006S2R.jpg

And this is the Duchess's ride
 
Desmodronic valves are pretty spiffy.

You have two rockers for each valve, and two cam lobes. One rocker pushes open the valve, and the other pulls it closed. You get two main advantages with the system: no valve float at high RPM, and no power loss from having to compress valve springs.

Once you reach a certain RPM the spring cannot close the valve fast enough for the engine's cycles to time properly. The cam lobe has left the rocker arm behind, and the valve "floats" until the spring catches up. The piston could even collide with the valve, bad news.

If you've ever held a valve spring in your hand and tried to squeeze it, you know how stiff they are. The energy to compress those springs nearly a hundred times per second has to come from somewhere. It's horsepower stolen from the engine.

By mechanically closing the valve rather than relying on a spring, you remove valve float completely, and you regain the power that would go into spring compression.

Here's a diagram of the system, found on wikipedia. Copyright holder permits use of the image for any purpose as long as they are acknowledged, and their web address is on the picture.
Bluming_desmo_8x6.jpg
 
I like sport bikes painted up like proper racing bikes. I usually like the Ducati 999R replica bike from the 999R's successes in World Superbike (especially like the bike in "Tourist Trophy"). But that 996 is lovely. Same goes for that naked bike "the Duchess" rides. Lovely bikes. Also, thanks for the discussion on desmosedici, wfooshee. Always the omniscient and omnipotent wealth of knowledge you are.
 
The desmo valve gear tends to rattle quite a bit. Add this to the dry clutch rattle and you have some real Ducati music going on at idle. So just to emphasize it we fit a vented clutch cover (fitted after I took the photo).
Just helps with the individualism I guess.
 
love them
and as soon as i can i'll buy one

just for the record, casey stoner was the fastest at this weekend motogp testing
 
I think Ducatis are excellent, but they are not the best. In honest truth, I prefer Aprilia's bikes. I still think the 999R is the best Ducati ever.
 
When I bought my Ninja I had a budget of about 3000 USD. A couple months later I saw a Monster come up for.....$3000. I wanted to shoot myself.
 
Took this photo on Sunday evening of my mate's Duke 748R (1 of 1000) and a $25k bike!
duc_748r.jpg


He's got one of these too (916 Senna), but it's not in the country right now so no piccy I'm afraid...
SennaDuc1.jpg
 

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