Many Valves, Much Horsepower

MANY VALVES, MUCH HORSEPOWER

IF YOU’RE ONE OF THOSE WHO believe that More Is Better, and if you own a Ducati 900SS, ex-Canadian Ducati/ Laverda/Bimota importer Francesco Romanelli (Romanelli Engineering, 1977 Notre-Dame Ave., Lachine, Quebec H8F 2G1, Canada; 514/637-0388), has news for you.

Romanelli is busy developing new heads for the 900SS

that contain not the stock two valves, and not four valves, as found on Ducati 888s, but six valves each.

The air-cooled heads-cast in Bologna to Romanelli’s specs-each contain four 23.5mm intake valves, two 32mm exhausts and two 10mm sparkplugs, arranged in a sort of double combustion chamber. Each head is fed by two 34mm injector bodies,

sourced from an 851 Tri-Colore racer, and bolted directly to the top of each head to deliver what appears to be the ultimate in straight intake paths. While one exhaust tract exits in the normal Ducati direction, the other is fed out through what ordinarily would be each head’s intake port. Standard valve actuation is used-with all those valves, there’s no room in Romanelli’s heads for

desmodromic valve actuation.

Romanelli says he’s still in the early phases of development and he further says he has no plans to offer his heads for sale. Development will certainly turn up more than the 102 rear-wheel horses the six-valve engine now makes. And it also might turn up someone who wants to take the project over and bring the heads to market.

David Booth