History of Ducati

For the Ducati's admirer I brought you the history and founder of this superb bike. Of course we should know if we want to have a bike like this someday.

Ducati Motor Holding is an Italian builder that has its base of operations in Bologna. It is a company well-known for its twin-cylinders bikes like the V-twin 90º or the L-twin and its desmodromic distribution. Its notoriety has also grown with victories in different bike competitions. 

Origin and History of the Company

Its origin takes its roots in the tenth century when the Ducati family founded the “Societa Radio Brevetti Ducati”in Bologna, with the objective of manufacturing compounds for better radio transmission. We are talking about the year 1926, and this issue was booming at the time. But they quickly diversified their production, also making calculators, photo machines, and, of course, radios. 

But with World War Two, Ducati took a hit and in 1943 was invaded by troops from the German army. On top of that, a year later, in 1944, the factory was bombed and completely destroyed.

The Ducati brothers had to put a lot of effort into getting the factory back on its feet, but this time they focused their production on making auxiliary engines to be adapted to bicycle frames. They had purchased the SIATA license and the first bike they manufactured was called the "Cucciolo."

Even though the "Cucciolo" engines were widely accepted during the period and were already experiencing great success, the Ducati brothers declared the company bankrupt and abandoned it in 1949. Until 1983, the company was purchased by the Castiglioni brothers, owners of Cagiva, and the company became the property of the State.

In 1996, it was the American company TGP who took over Ducati when the owners of Cagiva experienced financial problems. And not until 2006 did the company return to being an entirely Italian company when 100% of Ducati capital was purchased by the Italian Investment Fund.