Author Description

For more than a decade from 1954 onwards Fabio Taglioni designed all of the successful machines that have made the Ducati marque a motorcycling legend. Singles, twins and even four-cylinder engines - all came via the genius of Doctor Desmo. Taglioni earned that complimentary nickname because in the late 1950s he pioneered the motorcycle usage of the then revolutionary ‘desmodromic’ system of technology that controlled an engine’s induction and exhaust processes. It did away with the conventional springs that returned the inlet and exhaust valves to the closed position during the engine’s operation and performed this function mechanically. This permitted higher rpm and thus increased the power output. It proved its worth by winning Grand Prix races in 1959 and Taglioni included it in his road and racing engines from that point on. The descriptive term ‘desmo’ was created and has been synonymous with Ducati ever since. This book further explains the complexity of the desmodromic system and has in-depth coverage of all of the famous Taglioni designs that used it. These include the Ducati 750SS V-twin with which Paul Smart and Bruno Spaggiari scored their memorable 1-2 victory in the 1972 Imola 200 Formula 750 race – a win that rescued the company at a time when it was overshadowed by new bikes from Japan. The Ducati success story was cemented by the 900SS V-twin that Mike Hailwood rode to his now-legendary comeback win in the 1978 Isle of Man TT, eleven years after he had last ridden on the fearsome Mountain Circuit. There are also fully-illustrated chapters on two four-cylinder prototypes that have now acquired near-mythical status because they never made it into production and only one of each now exists. They are the first-ever 125cc GP racer and the monster 1260cc Apollo V4 that was the fastest, most powerful road-going motorcycle in the world in 1964. Too much too soon, in fact, as there was no tyre technology existing at the time th