I once owned a Benelli Six Cylinder, dedicating six hours of work for every hour spent riding it.

I own five 1972 750 GT Ducatis currently getting my dream engine built with 900 Darmer heads and barrels plain main bearings and uprated oiling system. You seem very dismissive of an unobtainable marque but it wasn’t long ago they were neglected and affordable. This engine is complex and beautiful and it is reputed the factory was making a loss on most of the round case production run. Slow steering but very sure footed with an engine that provides good midrange power very low vibration and glorious noise. When I get too old to kickstart my bike I can just sit and look at it. Wobbels the mad Aussie.

Once they got rid of the bevel drive, I think the magic largely died. Dav Minton did a comprehensive review - I think it was in Motorcycle Illustrated. I was lucky enough to see one which had just been bought 50 miles away and driven to near where I lived, It was as beautiful as they say. It was a very long bike, as the short owner found out to his cost, nearly dropping it after kicking it off, then walking round the front, blipping the throttle as he went!

Never rode a Duke that I liked !!

Back in the day my wife had a silver Quttro 500 and I had a red Sei 750 with 6 into 2 Marving headers. An opera on wheels! Ahh, the good 'ol days!

all of my bucket list except the beemer

Cheers, just found you, the vid was educational and delivered well. Subscribed, from Aberdeen. 🙂

Hi, I could never see the attraction on the early Ducati twins. With the Italian electrics and chrome that peeled off. Saying that I have never ridden one and always suspected they would handle well. The only Italian bike that I owned was an MV 750 S America that I won in MCN, dreadfull handling even in a straight line but a beautiful engine. I own classic Japanese stuff now.

05:53 Rockstar Rod on community service, did Penny pinch him?

I'd always lusted after a 900SS, until a friend did me a favor and let me ride his..... By far the most uncomfortable bike I've ever ridden. Great motor, stellar looks and painful riding position.

I own a 860 GT bevel head. It has rock steady handling , a smooth 5 speed gearbox and the sound of the L twin is incomparable. Its right at the cusp of vintage and modern and I would not have it any other way. Oh, and kick start only. Its a real motorcycle.

Difficult to beat an Italian chick pulling machine 😂 Saying that I tried a Multistrada back in 2013. Beautiful, fast and red. Unfortunately the most unreliable thing ever to grace my garage. The current Mrs B wasn't impressed at the money flushed when I sold it in a fit of rage after it's last incident

I remember back in the early 1980,s getting pulled over whilst riding a 900 ss. The policeman pointed to the exhaust claiming they were too loud and illegal. I duly pointed to the exhaust showing him the manufacturer stamp and that they were legal and I did not care if he did not appreciate the sound!

Lolly's Dad here...I bought my '79 900SS new early that year. I still own and ride it today covering well over 130,000 miles on it. It can be seen on the home page of the DOCG Website right now, she's called Old Beverly.

A very long series of montages…..

The Duke was every schoolboy's dream. Well, that and being stuck on a desert island with Jenny Aguter. I had posters of both on my bedroom wall.

He does more miles on his feet than on his tyres. 6:11 He should gets stabilisers on and have done.

You didn't answer the question of what's behind the hype? Here are some considerations from my perspective. Are the Bevels like Commandoes or Bonnevilles? Is it nostalgia for days gone by, when you needed to be a mechanic to actually own a bike? Or is the provenance a leftover of the elitist magazine reviews back in the day? Could it be the Racing success of Smart or Hailwood? Surely Fogarty and Stoner achieved more for the brand in competition. Maybe it's those bloody Boomers all cashed up and spending the kid's inheritance on something they lusted after back in the day? Don't get me wrong, I've owned several Monsters from 620 to 999 and I appreciate the solid feel they have compared to the Japanese machines I have experienced. I have an associate who owns a couple of Bevels, but I haven't ever ridden one. I can't imagine they're better to ride than a carb'd M900. The 900 Monster I owned was heavy and sort of gutless. The M620 I took on to flip during covid was a far more satisfying ride. As far as specs go, the bikes don't really add up. Now let us consider the Sport Classics. Ducati couldn't sell them when they were new and had a short model run. Now they're sought after because they're the next best thing to a Bevel. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a hater I remember seeing THREE Silver 900 SS side by side at a beachside show back in the 2000's and being impressed. They are a good looking bike. I even named a dog "Desmo" back in the 80's.

You certainly are doing it right, liked and subscribed.👍

Beautiful bikes..

“A lot of misty-eyed nostalgia”. Indeed. And a lot of homicidal owners who couldn’t wait to get rid of unreliable early Ducatis and get a powerful Japanese bike instead. Voltage regulator failures one after the other…. Laverda got it right and used NipponDenso electrics.

OMG, I was born in the UK but have lived in Italy for 50 years and am amused as heck by your pronunciation of Italian .😂

I had a 450 single back in the late seventies it was an absolute nightmare, i always got the impression it was so the Italian's could get us back for winning the war, that was if i could kick it into life which wasn't very often.

"Poodling around looking for chicks." I miss the past.

Less is more in design. These 70s Ducatis looks fast even standing still. The Honda 750 four was a much better everyday bike and tourer. Loved the black Honda 750 I bought new in 1974.

The Silver 900ss was £2499 in 79. Nearly got one, ended up with a Jota instead.

While we're talking DUCATI..as a 75 year old,coffin dodger,..who still rides..can I ask,does anyone remember,the 204 cc Ducati Elite,Sooo,pretty,jelly mould tank,stunning looking engine,clip ons,fantastic machine,..design perfection.But..electrics were shit,and it rusted like a mk.1ford.escort...If only Honda had bought the patent,.copied it,100%...I would have bought two..It was the prettiest little motorcycle ever,.some of the 250 cc.would clear the ton,..If only one of these Retro companies would have a shot at building one,..small nimble,quick,beautiful,.BUT,ITALIAN..HIGHLY STRUNG..didn't like the cold and damp...the original was so sweet,you would want to hang it on your bedroom wall,..(try that with a Harley) ...If you've never seen one,look it up,.IF You've never ridden one..Unfortunately you'll never get the opportunity.

Ducatis were quite common in England during the 1970s. I had a Darma 900. It was a bit quicker Than a Commando and had a nice 5 speed box. Better handling than a Laverda Jota as it was lower and lighter. Not as good handling as a Norton 650SS as it was a bit too long. Electrical switchgear OK for the period but there was a large switchblock above the front cylinder which collected water when it rained so you had to be ready to spray that dry with WD40. I did all my own maintenance. Access to the engine was OK as I only had a half fairing. However once you get in the Engine everything is shimmed, it is hand built. You have to shim the Desmo valves to zero every 5000 miles, that's hard work.

Fun fact at the same time the Italian government had them make a 125cc two stroke ,look up the ducati six day.

I love my 937+ Monster but the Designers absolutely SHOULD have made WAY more effort to beautify the engine covers!

Nearly bought one once as a mate bought one around the same time & had lots of grunt & handled beautifully but I went home with a Norton Commando, a decision I never regretted. While the Norton could be a pain & was more Loctite than bike by the time I sold it, the Ducati needed to be treated like a race-bike, with constant fiddling & fettling & had an almost maniacal aversion to rain. I bought a Pantah a few years later but it too almost always played up in wet weather & demanded a maintenance schedule that would have made Mike Hailwood blush. You can keep your '70s Italian bikes unless they have a Moto Guzzi badge on the tank.

Back when I rode a SV650, a friend asked my help to get his 750SS going after it had sat in the garage for years. We checked it over, got it running and I took it out for a ride. Since I'd just jumped off my SV, the similarity and contrast was very clear. The engines didn't feel much different in terms of sound, vibes, character and torque. The handling of the two bikes was like chalk and cheese. The Ducati was much slower to turn and took a lot more counter-steer to get it to turn quickly. It also felt extremely stable and planted and inspired total confidence.

Arguably one of the best features is the sound of those Contis!! A soul stirring roar no other bike can match. How about including just a little more pls??

Gee, I'm glad you said you knew very little about Ducati in the intro to your presentation, because it does show. Oh dear!! Where to start?? OK, let's start with the original V twins which you just skip over like they never existed. First there were the "Round Case" models, starting with the GT and then the Sport, which were both non desmo (coil spring valves) but you do show later a 750 GT stating it is an SS (oh dear). Then you show the first Desmo L twin stating it is an SS, and whilst it is generally referred to as such it is actually the Imola Replica, an homologation bike for the 1972 Imola 200, it is very rare and hence the high prices being asked. Being a Brit I would have thought you would have got that seeing as the race was won by Paul Smart on a Ducati with Bruno Spaggiari coming second, also on a Ducati, (dear oh dear). So we get to the later "square case" engines, whilst it is true that the designer you nominate DID indeed design the the 860 and the square case engine which was used by all models including the 750 (no longer round case) and 900SS he did not design the SS as such, however he did design the VW Golf (dear oh dear oh dear). The 860 was not desmo, having the same coil spring arrangement as the earlier round case 750s except for the very last, 900 GTS, which was simply an 860 with desmo valve gear. There were many owners of Ducati between the Italian govt and VW/Audi, and no "bevel drive" L twin was ever built during the period (ongoing) of Audi ownership. The electrics were sh*t, the instruments (esp the speedo) wildly optimistic and the 860 engine (used in the 900SS as well, but with desmo valve gear) was a tad fragile. How do I know all this? My first bike was a rather mistreated 1968 250 MkIII back in 1975, I have always had at least one Ducati in the garage and my current Ducati are 1974 750 Sport, 1974 450 Desmo, 1989 400SS Junior, 2003 1000DS Multistrada, 2012 848 Evo and 2015 803 Scrambler, plus one of the Spanish copies (1977 350 Vento) and 3 Ducati engined BIMOTA (1986 DB1, 1995 DB2SR and 2013 Tesi 3D Evo). Generally speaking I like your videos, but this one? Not so much

Can you review the Paul Smart

Loved my much modified bevel twin, went to a good owner👍

Quite a good video, except your comments about Guigario designing the bikes. He merely styled the 860GT which was not very pretty. Forget about the DeLorean, he was having a bad day. He did style the iconic VW Golf and Polo, various cars for Fiat, Lancia , Lotus and others and was generally highly regarded. The real driving force behind Ducati's success to this day was the engineer Taglioni. Steering the company but never in charge, he developed the OHV singles, modified them to use the desmodromic camshaft , and his masterpiece was the V twin. I have the good fortune to have one. A great experience to ride but rather complicated to maintain if you are used to a British or Japanese bike.

I lusted after one of these in my yoof, and still do I’m 73.

Clearly not my era.

Wonderful!

Thankyou professor Phil for another amusing motorcycle history presentation. Always wanted a Ducati but was scared off by the $ervice co$ts of the de$modronic valve$. The purchase price of a Ducati is just the down payment for ownership here in the colonies.

900SS. Electrics needed "special care" here in the rainy Pennines. Desmo valve gear was great when properly set up, otherwise a bit of a pain. Veglia speedo was "vaguely a speedo". Overall the bike wasn't easy to live with but an absolute dream when everything was right, and that motor was like being towed by a _very_ fast steam train. 😊

Very enjoyable, as always. Towards the end of my motorcycling period I managed to acquire an ST2. The lower end of the Ducati range but, at least, I was able to experience the handling and the engine - albeit in its softer tuned form.

Like the Italian woman - beautiful, high maintenance, hard to live with and occasionally just all out insane, I avoid them as best I can. Ima so sarry for the -isms & alla that, Bambino....

Another masterpiece, 1/3 Phil! Never got to ride the vintage Ducks. But took a few spins on my buddies '94 900 SP with Staintunes. The sound is intoxicating 🙂 cheers, Neal

I rode a Mike Hailwood Replica 900SS in the mid 1980's. It had the better Denso instruments but I do prefer the standard 900SS, both for its appearance and lighter weight. An ex police motorcyclist I know has a silver and blue one. They feel very long legged to ride, a bit slow to steer but very stable. Have you seen that Australian bloke who produces modernised versions of the 900SS ? I think they make about 120 crank BHP but keep the originals' looks.

Nice try Phil the 900ss and 750ss were boy racers dream bikes i am surprised that you did not mention the 900 Mike Hailwood Replica which is a 900ss in a sharp suit though. I only being interested in roadsters fancied the 900SD Darmarh a 900ss in civies. i once came acoss a biker broke down by the side of the road in the 80's the bike Ducati 900 MHR the problem electrical, this being in the days before breakdown recover, i of course was on my trusty Triumph Bonneville t120.

Ah a young teen at the time i fondly remember those Courbon and Hughes ads. Lovely bikes😂

The 750 Super sport is my dream bike. All I need is to win the lottery. I'm so glad you mentioned the " wonderful" Italian electrics. I remember them well from my Benelli 250 2c.

What a cracking machine !