The Ducati pictured here is probably one of the most desirable bikes in the world for me. It's long and low stance coupled with it's intoxicating sound, period race track performance and knee buckling beauty position it very high on the must have list of my imaginary garage. The Ducati 900SS is the poster child for all superbikes past and present.
The 900SS is motivated by the 80 horsepower, 864cc, 90 degree L twin borrowed from the 860GT. It is capable of scoring a top speed of 125 mph and the 1/4 mile expires in 12.6 seconds via it's five speed gearbox. Incidentally, the shifter actuated the gearbox from the right side for the first 250 copies of the first year run of the 900SS in 1975. This happens to be one of those vary rare bikes.
Before the 900SS and the identical 750SS, Ducati were casting their engine cases in an egg shaped fashion commonly referred to as the "Round Case" engines. This was a complex, therefore expensive operation, so Fabio Taglioni designed the "Square Case" to reduce operational costs. This angular design cue coupled with the contrasting rounded bodywork somehow worked nicely together and the bike sold very well.
The Desmo denomination refers to Ducati's Desmodromic valve actuation system. Instead of the customary push rods found on four stroke engines, the Desmo system uses a pair of bevelled gears to activate the cam which features twin lobes to open and close a single valve, regardless how high the RPM range. The Desmo valve train system has been synonymous with Ducati to this day.
The conventional valve springs are replaced by a cam-lever combination influenced by the bevel gears driven off the crank in order to positively close the valve. At high RPM, the common valve springs had a tendency to fail due to metal fatigue, not to mention "valve floating" issues. Mercedes Benz used desmo valves in their ferocious, all conquering W196 and 300 SLR race cars.
An old friend, Denis, wrangled his 900SS from legendary bike collector Pete Gesner who procured the bike from famed Canadian Ducati tuner Keith Harte. It carries engine number 178 of 250 built during the first production model year. Denis has several other bikes but still exercizes the old SS on occasion, and believe me, it's quite an occasion to see it thundering down the road in all of it's 70's Italian styling and the beautiful music coming from the striking Conti pipes. Pretty 'effin cool if you ask me.
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