A Duc Cruiser?

[DeadJet]

Found this today and thought it was pretty cool. They only made two of these behemoths, but can you imagine if they had gone through with it on a larger scale?

[trenttheuncatchable]

These guys convert Ducatis into choppers: Home

[pplassm]

Some interesting bikes there:

Robert C

[Kenneth_Moore]

Originally Posted by DeadJet

Found this today and thought it was pretty cool. They only made two of these behemoths, but can you imagine if they had gone through with it on a larger scale?

Motorcycle history is fascinating. Like cars, their history reflect on the wider society that produced and used them. That's one reason I like Matt's articles so much (when he gets around to writing them!!).

There are parts of the story that don't make sense to me. They said the bike failed in great part because there weren't tires that could take the weight and power. Yet the bike is said to weigh 500 pounds; that doesn't seem much more than a contemporary HD. It also said the bike made 100 hp...that's a lot for '63, but it seems like there had to have been others putting out comparable power.

[pplassm]

They were mandated by the rules to use existing 16 inch tires. The bike was targeted at police department contracts.

[seruzawa]

Originally Posted by Kenneth_Moore

Motorcycle history is fascinating. Like cars, their history reflect on the wider society that produced and used them. That's one reason I like Matt's articles so much (when he gets around to writing them!!).

There are parts of the story that don't make sense to me. They said the bike failed in great part because there weren't tires that could take the weight and power. Yet the bike is said to weigh 500 pounds; that doesn't seem much more than a contemporary HD. It also said the bike made 100 hp...that's a lot for '63, but it seems like there had to have been others putting out comparable power.

No, there wasn't a bike you could get that made over maybe 50hp. A 750 Norton or a Sportster was it. Those might see 50 on a good day.

[DeadJet]

Originally Posted by trenttheuncatchable

These guys convert Ducatis into choppers: Home

Hey thanks for that, Trent, that's cool.

Kenneth_Moore
Quote:

Motorcycle history is fascinating. Like cars, their history reflect on the wider society that produced and used them. That's one reason I like Matt's articles so much (when he gets around to writing them!!).

Yeah I'm a huge fan of American History in general, and just researching anything that I hold near and dear to me. Ducati was really inventive/crazy back in the day, as evidenced by their experimental go cart

[Kenneth_Moore]

Originally Posted by DeadJet

Yeah I'm a huge fan of American History in general, and just researching anything that I hold near and dear to me. Ducati was really inventive/crazy back in the day, as evidenced by their experimental go cart

Me too! It was my favorite subject in school and college.

From the 1946 Ducati cart article:

this engine was a 90° L-twin cylinder and the frame was designed with trellis tubes – both just like the Ducatis of today.