Editing Ducati (section)

==Product design==
Ducati is best known for high-performance motorcycles characterized by large-capacity [[four-stroke engine|four-stroke]], 90° [[V-twin engine]]s,<ref>{{cite web |title=History of the Two-Valve Twin |url=http://www.ducati.com/bikes/techcafe.jhtml?detail=article&value=technical&part=technical&artID=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202190056/http://www.ducati.com/bikes/techcafe.jhtml?detail=article&value=technical&part=technical&artID=1 |archive-date=2 December 2009 |access-date=25 January 2008 |publisher=Ducati.com}}</ref> with a [[desmodromic valve]] design.<ref>{{cite web |title=Desmo for Dummies |url=http://www.ducati.com/bikes/techcafe.jhtml?detail=article&value=technical&part=technical&artID=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624001536/http://www.ducati.com/bikes/techcafe.jhtml?detail=article&value=technical&part=technical&artID=2 |archive-date=24 June 2009 |access-date=25 January 2008 |publisher=Ducati.com}}</ref> 

=== Designer ===
The chief designer of most Ducati motorcycles in the 1950s was [[Fabio Taglioni]] (1920–2001). 

His designs ranged from the small single-cylinder machines that were successful in the Italian 'street races' to the large-capacity twins of the 1980s. 

Taglioni used the [[Ferrari#Identity|Cavallino Rampante]] (identified with the [[Ferrari]] brand) on his Ducati motorbikes. He chose this emblem of courage and daring as a sign of respect and admiration for [[Francesco Baracca]], a World War I fighter pilot who died during an air raid in 1918.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fabio Taglioni: a Legend |url=http://www.ducati.com/heritage/protagonisti/fabiotaglioni6.jhtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402064800/http://www.ducati.com/heritage/protagonisti/fabiotaglioni6.jhtml |archive-date=2 April 2009 |access-date=25 January 2008 |publisher=ducati.com}}</ref>

=== Engine ===
Ducati has produced several styles of motorcycle engines, including varying the number of cylinders, type of valve actuation and fuel delivery. 

Ducati introduced the [[Ducati Pantah|Pantah]] in 1979; its engine was updated in the 1990s in the [[Ducati SuperSport]] (SS) series. All modern Ducati engines are derivatives of the Pantah, which uses a toothed belt to actuate the engine's valves. 

Ducati is best known for its 90° [[V-twin engine]], used on nearly all Ducatis since the 1970s. Ducati brands its engine as "L-twin", emphasizing the 90° [[V engine|V angle]], to create [[product differentiation]] from competing V-twin motorcycles. As one cylinder is vertical while the other is horizontal, it looks like the letter "L"

==== Past variations ====
Ducati has also made other engine types, mostly before the 1970s. 

Those engines had one, two, three, or four cylinders; operated by pull rod valves and push rod valves; single, double and triple overhead camshafts; [[two-stroke]] and even at one stage manufactured small diesel engines, many were used to power boats, generators, garden machinery and emergency pumps (for example, for fire fighting). 

The engines were the IS series from {{cvt|7|to|22|hp}} air-cooled and the larger twin DM series water- and air-cooled. The engines have been found in all parts of the globe. Wisconsin Diesel even assembled and "badge engineered" the engines in the USA. They have also produced outboard motors for marine use. 

From the 1960s to the 1990s, the Spanish company [[MotoTrans]] licensed Ducati engines and produced motorcycles that, although they incorporated subtle differences, were clearly Ducati-derived. MotoTrans's most notable machine was the 250 cc ''24 Horas'' (Spanish for "24 hours").

Currently, Ducati makes no other engines except for its motorcycles.

=== Desmodromic valve ===
Ducati is also famous for using the desmodromic valve system championed by engineer and designer Fabio Taglioni, though the firm has also used engines that use valve springs to close their valves. 

Desmodromic valves are closed with a separate, dedicated cam lobe and lifter instead of the conventional valve [[spring (device)|springs]] used in most internal combustion engines in consumer vehicles. 

This allows the cams to have a more radical profile, thus opening and closing the valves more quickly without the risk of valve-float, which causes a loss of power that is likely when using a "passive" closing mechanism under the same conditions.

On current Ducati motors, except for the Desmosedici and 1199 Panigale, the valves are actuated by a standard valve cam shaft which is rotated by a [[timing belt (camshaft)|timing belt]] driven by the motor directly. The teeth on the belt keep the [[camshaft]] drive pulleys indexed. 

==== Past variants ====
On older Ducati motors, prior to 1986, drive was by solid shaft that transferred to the camshaft through bevel-cut gears. This method of valve actuation was used on many of Ducati's older [[single-cylinder]] motorcycles — the shaft tube is visible on the outside of the cylinder.

In the early days, Ducati reserved the desmodromic valve heads for its higher performance bikes and its race bikes. These valves do not suffer from [[valve float]] at high engine speeds, thus a desmodromic engine is capable of far higher revolutions than a similarly configured engine with traditional spring-valve heads.

=== Dry clutches ===
While most other manufacturers use [[wet clutch]]es (with the spinning parts bathed in oil)<ref name="Transmissions">{{cite web |title=What is in an oil |url=http://www.yamaha-motor.ca/our_company/news_item.php?news_id=45 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117211117/http://www.yamaha-motor.ca/our_company/news_item.php?news_id=45 |archive-date=17 November 2007 |access-date=25 January 2008 |publisher=yamaha-motor.ca}}</ref> Ducati previously used multiplate [[dry clutch]]es in many of their motorcycles. 

The dry clutch eliminates the power loss from oil viscosity drag on the engine, even though the engagement may not be as smooth as the oil-bath versions, but the clutch plates can wear more rapidly.  

Ducati has converted to wet clutches across their current product lines.

=== Others ===
Ducati also extensively uses a [[Space frame|trellis frame]], although Ducati's MotoGP project broke with this tradition by introducing a revolutionary carbon fibre frame for the Ducati Desmosedici GP9.