Shock Horror!!! Ducati not using desmo in new engine

I smell BS.... sounds to me like the bean counters got involved.... economy trumping technology....
 
Valve train technology has moved on in leaps and bounds since Desmo technology was born.

Whilst it’s still kinda cool, unless your intended motor is gonna do a gazillion rpm, it really just isn’t necessary any more.

If it was, it would be way more widespread.

So I’m with Swoosh: no big deal.
 
Had a springer Duc loved wish I still had it. Had a ST4 didn't love it glad it's gone. No doubt the reason desmos were kept for street bikes is for marketing.
 

After a bit of teasing
, we finally get to know the details of Ducati’s newest engine, the V4 Granturismo. This is the four-cylinder motor that will power the new and upcoming Ducati Multistrada V4 motorcycle.

The engine is based off the Desmosedici Stradale motor that is found in the Panigale V4 and Streetfighter V4 motorcycles, but with some obvious and core changes to suit it for touring and ADV riding uses.

Perhaps the headline feature of the V4 Granturismo engine is its long service intervals (60,000 km, quoted by Ducati), which is due in large part to the touring-focused motor using a spring-valve system, rather than the typical desmodromic system that Ducati is so famous for utilizing.

To help tackle the seismic move for the Italian brand, they say that the lessons learned from perfecting the desmodromic valvetrain allowed Ducati to make a spring-valve system that could go for such a long duration without adjustment (about 50% farther than the circumference of the Earth).

Still, this simple change is perhaps the biggest news to come so far about the upcoming Multistrada V4, as the desmodromic valvetrain has long been a sacred cow for the Italian brand.
 
Anyone familiar with relic valve spring model Ducati's will know it was not all plain sailing with the valve spring to camshaft relationship on some of them.
A contemporary valve spring engine was long overdue so hope that option is expanded.

Still glad I kept the 1973 750 GT I bought in the 1990's all the same.
 
I have a 3V Ducati, doing valves and belts every 3 yrs is not really a hardship unless you paying someone to do it .... would hope the new 1260 valve train is hyd. , although sounds like shims and buckets , which I have yet to try , hope the process would be less time consuming than the Desmo ... for any died in the wool Ducatisti , the dropping of the Desmo valve train is a Big Deal !
 
If you believe that high revs, short stroke, big ports, race cams, high comp. , megaphone exhausts - all go to make a good motor - TRY IT !
 
The quoted 60000 km (36000 miles ?) service interval is hard to believe but that seems to be the focus of this ONE engine to suit touring and ADV models.
That would make them RTW candidates.
Maybe they will add NON desmodromic to some of the other smaller capacity models.

#
Ducati 750 GT basket case, $16000 to $19000 down this way.
Even this bucket of bolts (with quite a few brit bike parts) with broken heads got bid to nearly US$8000 reserve not met.

 
Anyone familiar with relic valve spring model Ducati's will know it was not all plain sailing with the valve spring to camshaft relationship on some of them.
A contemporary valve spring engine was long overdue so hope that option is expanded.

Still glad I kept the 1973 750 GT I bought in the 1990's all the same.
Valve guides were very short, making their lifespan the same, very short.
 
There are better quality parts these days.
I stopped at a Cafe the other month on the Africa Twin, a 73 750 GT there had a shade under 200000 kms on the clock so with a little work they get there.

Bevel drive Ducati's are very expensive bikes these days but all still very usable (like Commando's) but probaby cheaper than buying them back in the day.
When i got my 900SD ($8000) a small house was around $42000 which to some degree makes them cheaper now.

I still have my first year 2007 Hypermotard 1100S, that is as new as I will ever go with Ducati's.
 
Even before we talk about better materials, there’s more basic physics at play...

Heads these days are mainly 4 valves, so smaller, and with tiny stems. High revs and short strokes also needs less cam lift.

When the Desmo concept was invented, valves were like dinner plates on huge stems and cam lift was huge.
 
Even before we talk about better materials, there’s more basic physics at play...

Heads these days are mainly 4 valves, so smaller, and with tiny stems. High revs and short strokes also needs less cam lift.

When the Desmo concept was invented, valves were like dinner plates on huge stems and cam lift was huge.
It depends on what you want. If it is turbine smoothness and great top end power, you probably don't need a Ducati or a Commando. A friend of mine took Kevin Magee through his crash and burn stage in the 1970s, with his 4 valve air-cooled Ducati. It was very successful. But I think it ran on methanol.
 
Maybe it was a 2+2=4 valves.

Maybe it was a Bob Brown TT2.
I remember phoning him one day, introducing myself and asking if he could advise me on jetting for my Malossi 40 kit (Which I still have but were replaced with 41 FCR's in the 1990's)

He told me he had some race notes somewhere and call back in a few hours which I did and freely gave me jetting numbers which were spot on.
I doubt you would get that these days.

 
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I’m a big fan of the air cooled Dukes , while mine does have a radiator and I do like it , if I had been better heeled at the time prolly would be riding GT1000 , st some point a few yrs back most new bikes had huge hp numbers and most came equipped with all sorts of rider aids to control power available .... I do like ABS , anymore black boxes on a bike worries me , as I’m not really from the button friendly generation , tech’s must have tool now is the laptop , not in my wheelhouse .... the traditional Desmo Duke was just plain cool with no red marks on tach .....
 
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