Ducati's Dynamic Duo

DUCATI'S DYNAMIC DUO

A DUCATI WITH FACTORY-installed saddlebags may sound like a health food restaurant selling chicken-fried steak, but the company will sell such a bike, says Ducati’s Massimo Bordi.

A prototype, using a 900cc air-cooled desmo V-Twin has been built, but no final decisions have been made about a powerplant.

The bike will be on sale next year, along with a smaller version of the 916. A 750cc engine will be installed in a 916 chassis, the result to be called the 750 Strada, according to Bordi.

“The bike will feature a more compact engine than the 916, but the frame and bodywork will remain nearly identical,” he says.

Ducati is rushing the Strada into production so it can compete in European and British supersport 600 championships. Both series are open to 750cc Twins.

Introducing more new products and demand for current machines means that the Supermono streetbike

(see Cycle World, September, 1993) will be delayed one year. That Single is now scheduled to be released 1996 model.

Adam Smallman