Ducati singles

By 1940, the company was engaged in the manufacture of electronic equipment for the military, making the factory a target for Allied bombing.

[2] During World War II, Aldo Farinelli, a lawyer from Turin, developed with the Italian Society of Auto-Aviator Technical Applications (SIATA) a small engine to be mounted on a bicycle, called the Cucciolo ("little puppy"), by 1945.

Dr. Giuseppe Montano took over as head of Ducati Meccanica SpA and the old Borgo Panigale factory was modernized, with government assistance.

[4] By 1954, Ducati Meccanica SpA was producing 120 bikes a day, but cheap cars were entering the markets, and sales for many motorcycle manufacturers would decline.

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.

[6] With the introduction of the 250 cc Monza and Diana, the engines were revised with improvements to the crankshaft, cylinder head and clutch housings.

Internally the engine had stronger main bearings and big ends, an improved kickstart mechanism and larger capacity sump.

Unlike the racing models, the road versions used a single camshaft and used helper valve springs to improve starting and low speed running.

In spite of being a government appointed director, Montano was a motorcycle enthusiast and under his direction, Ducati's competitive activities grew.

Fabio Taglioni was chief designer and technical director of Ducati from 1954 to 1989, serving longer than many of the managements that were to follow.

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.

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.

Unfortunately a mid-season injury to winning Ducati rider Bruno Spaggiani spoilt their run, allowing Ubbiali to narrowly take the title again.

There was also the Monza Super, a further improved version with high-compression piston, modified camshaft, a slightly larger SS1 Dell'Orto racing carburettor, and a straight-through exhaust.

In 1959 Ducati introduced the 200cc Elite and 200SS, which were derived from the very successful 175cc single cylinder shaft driven ohc machine.

The Scrambler series of singles were made for the US market from 1962 until 1974,[12] at the behest of Ducati's American importer, the Berliner Motor Corporation.

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.

(Footnote: It was common for Italian manufacturers of competition cars or motorcycles to attach to the name their products events they have won.)

Farne's appeared at the April 1966 Modena meeting, riding a prototype 250 cc machine fitted with an experimental Desmodromic head.

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.

In 1971, Ducati released a variant for off-road use called the R/T and another street version, the Mark 3 Special, colloquially named the 'Silver Shotgun'.

In Britain Vic Camp had recognized that Ducati was an enthusiast's motorcycle and concentrated on a relatively narrow performance-oriented line.

The US was buying larger capacity two cylinder motorcycles, and it came to the point where Berliner refused a shipment, citing market saturation, but the grim reality was, they did not have the funds to pay.

This shipment was purchased by a speculator named Bill Hannah and the bikes were sold on the UK market at prices that undercut Vic Camp's official imports.

This meant direct government control over day-to-day factory operations via a government-appointed administrator whose independent powers were limited.