Norton P86 750 Challenge - Norton's Last Gasp

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When we think of the death of the British motorcycle industry in the 1970s, we generally recall the final generation of cantankerous, leaky, vibrating, old fashioned crock-pots being foisted onto an increasingly apathetic market. These were conservative and under-engineered machines that harkened back to an earlier era of motorcycle design (and lax quality control). With the advent of oil tight, reliable, well built, and fine-riding Japanese motorcycles (with – gasp – electric starters), the writing was on the wall for most of the British marques. Some made a last-ditch attempt to stave off failure by hurriedly cobbling together something that might be competitive against the Japanese onslaught.

Ducati 916 SP/SPS - Ultimate Desmoquattro Superbikes - Part II

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One of the most famous pictures of a 1997 916 SPS, sold as a life-size poster by the Bullivant Gallery

 Part II of our profile of the Ducati 916 Sport Production series, the ultimate evolution of the Desmoquattro engine platform. 
Click here for Part I.

Ducati was no stranger to homologation specials, having built many versions of the 851 and 888 in various states of tune. Generally the formula was this: each year take some bikes off the production line and prepare them by hand to a higher degree of specification overall. Lightweight parts and carbon fibre bodywork would cut the weight, higher spec suspension and brakes would suspend it, and a massaged motor with hotter internals would fling it down the road. Maybe throw on some new Corsa spec parts to make them legal for the new season. Slap some lights on and get it homologated for street use in Europe (the US EPA was too strict in terms of noise and emissions) and bam, you’ve allowed your race team to upgrade some components for the new season. The 916 SP continued the tradition. It wasn’t as extreme as some of the previous specials (the 888 SPS was one of the most bonkers, vicious machines ever allowed onto a public road) but it was markedly improved over the standard Strada and was considerably more rare.

Ducati 916 SP/SPS - Ultimate Desmoquattro Superbikes, Part I

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Seems that lately I’ve been on a Ducati kick. So far we’ve covered bevel heads and belt heads, so lets continue with the next generation of Ducati performance – the Desmoquattro. In this two part article I will cover the development and execution of the 916 Sport Production models, the ultimate Desmoquattro Superbikes. 
Seems I cover the 916 a lot on this site. Funny that.  

It’s 1985 and Ducati, with fresh capital and encouragement from new parent company Cagiva, is making a major gamble on the engine design of a talented young Italian engineer by the name of Massimo Bordi. Bordi’s engineering thesis was for a four-valve per cylinder desmodromic cylinder head, based on the principles of desmo valvetrains that had become a signature of the Ducati brand. Famed engineer Fabio Taglioni had developed the original Ducati desmo system, and then refined it with his belt-driven overhead cam Pantah design, but it was clear by the mid 80s that further development would be needed to keep Ducati twins on the podium.

NCR Millona - The Ultimate Ducati Pantah

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Last week I profiled one of the ultimate bevel-head Ducatis, the Vee Two Alchemy SV-1. This week, it’s time for the Pantah’s revenge.

In the modern age of higher and higher horsepower outputs and electro-trickery keeping us out of the ditch and on the good side of the EPA, there are certain riders who pine for a simpler formula for performance. These folks are a special kind of luddite, purists who wants a raw and uncompromised sport machine. It isn’t that they desire a return to a prior (maybe inferior) era – it’s that they want their thrills in pure, undistilled format. They want minimal weight and a broad spread of power in a perfectly tuned chassis.