ore isn 't always better.
And in the case of motorcycle ~n gi n eeri ng, less is
som etimes more.
No on e proved that better in 1989
than Squadra Corse Ducati. In the
hands of Frenchman Raymond
Roch e, the wo rks eigh t-valve Ducati
twin posted win aft er win in World
Superbike co m peti tio n, and was
typi call y faster th an any of its fourcy li n de r oppo sition , eve n in a
stra igh t line.
Simi larly, Dal e Quarterley showed
that a Du cati could be a factor as
he posted second- and third-place
fini shes in AMA Su per bi ke
Nationals o n hi s Eraldo Ferracituned machinery.
The benefits of Ducati's racing
development can now be reaped by
American en th usiasts with the longawaited introduction of th e streetlegal 851 Superbike, a machine that
is without a doubt th e most capable
Ducati ever built.
M
Test:
Ducati 8S.
Superbi~e
Characteristic
ower
Old world cralts.......h1p
The heart and soul of the 851 is
its motor, whose roots lie in the 500cc
Ducati Pantah designed by Ducati's
legendary designer, Ingenere Fabio
Taglioni, a.k .a . "Dr. T ." A prototype
of the Pantah debuted at the 1977
Milan, Italy, Motorcycle Show, but
it wasn 't until 1981 that a production
version appeared. In its original
configuration, the air-cooled, twovalve per-cylinder, SOHC V-twin
boasted bore and stroke dimensions
of 74 x 58mm for a displacement of
499cc. Since then, the Pantah powerplant has been bored and stroked
and bored and stro ked again and
again to give a variety of displacements, and has a ppeared in air-, oil. and liquid-cooled form. In its various guises it has powered production motorcycles as diverse as the 500
a nd ' 600cc Du cati Pantahs, 650cc
Cagiva Alazzurra and Elefant, 750cc
Ducati F-I a nd Paso , a nd most
recently th e 851cc Superbike and
904cc " 906" Paso.
The Massimo Bordi-designed 851
engi ne is highl y-oversquare with a
92mm bore and 64mm stro ke, and
a relatively high compression ratio
of II :I. The 851 differs from pr evious
Pantahs in th at it h a s DOHC
cylinder heads with four valv es
apiece, is liquid-cool ed and, perh aps
most importantl y, fuel-inj ected .
The Weber/Marelli fuel injection/
engine managem ent system comprises a pair of 50mm inj ectors with
an electro nic brain residing in the
bik e's tail sectio n. The com puter
The brlUlaat red DacatlllS1
Saper~ke a t rest aear Uoyd
Harbor , New York, _d at
apeed Ia HarrIJaaa State Park.
