GT

Ducati 750 GT

Year 1974

Engine V2, 746 ccm, 51 PS

185 KG

At the end of the 1960s, Ducati was still partly state-owned, and engine production related exclusively to single cylinders. The modern competition, consisting of Moto Guzzi V7, Honda CB 750, Norton Commando and Triumph Trident overtook the Ducatis and threatened to plunge the factory into unsuccessfulness.

Something completely new, far more powerful and resistant was needed, but the financial strength of the factory at that time also left much to be desired. Once again, however, Ducati’s ingenious engine inventor Fabio Taglioni came up with a sensational design: With a sure stroke of the brush, he set to work, halving the V4 engine and thus creating the V2 engine in 90° design, initially with 750 cubic capacity.

The round engine with a bore of 80 millimeters and a stroke of 74.4 millimeters, which is still so beloved and highly revered today, drove one overhead camshaft per cylinder via a upright shaft and produced 51 hp. Its five gears were separated by a cable clutch from the power train to the chain rotating on the right.

The arrangement with one cylinder lying in the direction of travel and one vertical cylinder ensured perfect cooling of the rear cylinder. The small frontal area of the V2 engine with the crankshaft at right angles to the direction of travel also allowed for low air resistance.

A Ceriani fork with 38 mm standpipes, powerful by the standards of the time, guided the front wheel, and with the flat steering head angle of 61 degrees and high-quality bronze bushings for the swingarm bearings, it was possible to achieve unprecedented driving stability at the time. A 19-inch wheel rotated at the front and an 18-inch wheel at the rear, both mounted on valuable Borrani rims.

The wheelbase was a comparatively compact 1500 millimeters and the neatly dimensioned single-disc brakes at the front were naturally superior to the drum brakes that were still widely used at the time. Although the 750 GT looks like a comfort-oriented motorcycle at first glance, it can still reach a top speed of 200 km/h (in racing position).

„The 750 GT was not presented as an all-out sporting model, but a performance roadster“

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