Review: The Ducati Story by Ian Falloon
As a late comer to the Ducati party, I have embraced Ducati with the all the fervor of a reformed smoker trying to persuade a teen not to start. Ducati has a rich industrial and racing history and I was anxious to indulge my passion in a way that would be interesting and educational. ‘The Ducati Story’ by Ian Falloon proved to be just the ticket.
In 1922, Adriano Cavalieri Ducati was a teenage physics student messing around with radios, a subject strongly linked to his home town of Bologna, Italy since the inventor of the radio, one Guglielmo Marconi, was one of it’s most famous sons. From humble beginnings manufacturing radio components the company began producing a simple 48cc engine for installation in bicycle frames as the company gathered itself up after a wartime interruption that almost saw the factory totally destroyed in a bombing raid. Thus the diminutive Cucciolo (Italian for ‘puppy’) was the first Ducati engine and by the 50′s the company was making entire motorcycles.
Ian Falloon is a well known Ducatista having authored over 20 books including 8 on Ducati and contributing as a freelance motorcycle journalist all over the world. His Ducati Story chronicles the firms beginnings through the advent of it’s signature desmodromic valve technology, the development of the engine now irrevocably associated with the company, the L-Twin, and onwards to racing glory. Along the way we hear the stories of Paul Smart and his unexpected Imola triumph that catapulted the company from an obscure maker of small single machines to a leading contender in the manufacture of large capacity sports-bikes. The Ducati story couldn’t be more dramatic if it were made up. For example we learn of the famous Mike Hailwood’s exploits during his almost unbelievable Isle of Mann TT victory in 1971 after 11 years in retirement and the resultant Mike Hailwood replica bike it inspired.
Falloon organizes the book mostly chronologically starting with the early single cylinder bikes but devotes most of the 247 pages to the later, more iconic twin cylinder machines. Chapters discuss the Pantah and the successful TT2 racers and they spawned along with some of the politics involved in the company’s history such as the Cagiva takeover and the later American involvement in the ownership structure. The story is very much one of passion sometimes not partnered with sound management judgement as Ducati has had many financial crises in its time.
A favorite part of the book for me was the story of the development of the four valve, desmoquattro engine, that led the way to the 851 and ultimately the sales and racing success of the 916 range of machines. In 1985 Ducati was hopelessly pitting it’s expensive, exotic and beautiful 750F1 air-cooled twin against much cheaper and higher performance Japanese machinery like the Suzuki GSX-R750. There was really no comparison.
Just 3 years later, the company newly injected with Cagiva money was reveling in its win in the first ever round of the inaugural World Superbike series when Marco Lucchinelli took the Ducati factory racing 851 to a win at Donington Park in the UK. This transformation from an exotic anachronism to a niche, branded performance firm secured the company’s future. Carl Fogarty and his 4 World Superbike Championship victories followed in rapid succession during the 90′s.
The important and critical development of the Monster is detailed, the stylish naked bike setting a trend that continues to this day for sporting road performance in a more stylish and comfortable package. In addition some of the more obscure and less well known machines are described such as the Ducati 2-strokes (yes, that isn’t a typo!) the parallel twin engine, the ill-fated Apollo V4 and the Indiana custom.
The final part of the book covers the development of the controversial 999 series, it’s racing success and the entry of the company into the new (at the time) 4-stroke regime of 990cc MotoGP bikes with the Desmosedici racer.
It is fitting that the story ends in 2006 with the announcement of the highest performance Ducati of all time the Ducati Desmosedici RR road bike which is essentially a road going version of the 2006 MotoGP racer. Ducati has always been about racing and passion, two things that are strongly intertwined. The famous Ducati engineer Fabio Taglioni, inventor of the original 750 bevel drive twin and the Pantah engines summed it up best in his forward to the book.
“Nearly all the riders of the racing Ducatis were excellent, and enthusiastic, because these motorcycles fulfilled their ambitions. They gave everything, and I tried to contribute by giving them the best equipment possible.”
In the end Ducati is all about passion something the book captures well. I thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Ducati Story’ by Ian Falloon and commend it to all Ducati fans as an essential overview of the company and it’s motorcycles. It is available on Amazon by clicking the link below.
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