Description
By: Ian Falloon .
Publication's Highlights
- Full description of the model's development
- • Analysis of the 750 Desmo round case engine
- • A look at the 750 SS prototypes
- • Racing history that led to the creation of the myth
- • Tips on riding and maintaining a 750 SS
- • Register of known engine and frame numbers
- Guide to authenticity
- Complete appendices of technical specifications and full parts list
The Book of the Ducati 750 Super Sport - Description
Although manufactured for only one year – 1974 – the Ducati 750 Super Sport was immediately touted as a future classic. It was a pioneer motorcycle – expensive and rare, and produced by Ducati's race department to celebrate victory in the 1972 Imola 200 Formula 750 race.
Much of the mystique centred on the 750 SS is a result of this rarity and uniqueness. The 750 round-case Ducati engine was only produced for four years, and was discontinued primarily because it was extremely expensive to manufacture. Only one variant of the 750 was fitted with desmodromic valve gear – the Super Sport. It was also the only Ducati ever hand-assembled in the race shop with special engine components.
Although built in small numbers (401), this motorcycle is hailed as the ancestor of Ducati's current World Championship Desmosedici. As a result, the 750 SS has become extremely valuable and desirable, fetching prices beyond the most expensive contemporary Ducati; for Ducatisti, the 750 SS is the Holy Grail.
About The Author
One of the world's foremost motorcycle historians, Ian Falloon is the author of twenty books on motorcycles, ten of which are on Ducati, including the best-selling Ducati Story, and Ducati Twins Restoration Guide. As an owner of several Ducati 750s since 1973, he has a particular enthusiasm for this model, still owning the 750 Super Sport he bought back in the seventies. Ian Falloon trained as a symphony orchestra oboist before a serious motorcycle accident forced a change in profession. Now a freelance contributor to a number of motorcycle magazines around the world, he was born in New Zealand but currently lives in Australia with his wife, Miriam, and sons, Ben and Tim.
