Ducati have a tradition for building high performance sports bikes, though in recent years the range has become far more comprehensive with naked and adventure style machines featuring in the line-up. In the 1950’s and 60’s Ducati offered a range of sporting roadsters powered by single cylinder engines, many featuring the legendary Desodromic valve gear designed by Fabio Taglioni. In the 1970’s the company began to offer larger capacity machines including the classic 750 Sport and 860GT. These machines were not only high performance road machines but provided the basis for successful racing bike too. The introduction of what Ducati termed their ‘L-Twin’ engine designed by Taglioni came about in the late 1970’s and early 80’s and was employed in the Pantah roadster range and the Supersport series of machines. The early 1990’s saw the launch of the iconic Ducati 916, a bike which won 4 Superbike World Championships and which featured the advanced water cooled 4-valve Desmoquattro engine and which placed Ducati firmly in the sights of superbike buyers. In recent years the Ducati range has expanded still further with the naked Monster range, the dual sport Multistrada, the Diavel power cruiser as well as whole host of sports and superbikes including the 1098/1198 and most recently the exquisite Panigale.
