Thread: Car's and shit...

Originally Posted by dex71

They use their 803cc engine from one of their other bikes. It is desmodronic (or whatever....I think it has to do with a cam that operates the valves...not sure). As for the swingarm......A full retro would demand coil-over shocks. The empty space does look a bit odd.

They have a few different models, each with it's own color scheme. The one in the pic is the Urban Enduro (also probably the one I would end up with).

I'm not much of a bike guy, but when I saw it, I damn near drove directly to the dealership. Really fun looking bike to ride.

Desmodronic valves don't have a spring.

In most valve systems, the force that opens the valve is provided by the cam (sometimes transmitted through a tappet, lifter, and/or rocker) and the force that closes the valve is provided by the valve spring.

In a desmodronic valve, there are two cams per valve - one that opens the valve, and one that closes the valve (via a lever (or whatever the Italians call it)).

It's an old innovation that solved some of the problems of valve spring designs. As far as I know, modern tech and CAD have solved those problems in other ways.

But back-when, desmodronic valves became Ducati's thing and they're sticking with it. I like the idea of it, and admire a company that embraces something quirky.

Either way, it's a cool bike. I didn't realize Ducati was dressing them up so many different ways. Also didn't know it was air-cooled.

Last thing I noticed: are the passenger's pegs mounted on the swingarm? Am I seeing that correctly?

Seems dicey :)


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Originally Posted by AetheLove

Desmodronic valves don't have a spring.

In most valve systems, the force that opens the valve is provided by the cam (sometimes transmitted through a tappet, lifter, and/or rocker) and the force that closes the valve is provided by the valve spring.

In a desmodronic valve, there are two cams per valve - one that opens the valve, and one that closes the valve (via a lever (or whatever the Italians call it)).

It's an old innovation that solved some of the problems of valve spring designs. As far as I know, modern tech and CAD have solved those problems in other ways.

But back-when, desmodronic valves became Ducati's thing and they're sticking with it. I like the idea of it, and admire a company that embraces something quirky.

Either way, it's a cool bike. I didn't realize Ducati was dressing them up so many different ways. Also didn't know it was air-cooled.

Last thing I noticed: are the passenger's pegs mounted on the swingarm? Am I seeing that correctly?

Seems dicey


Æ

Soon to join dinosaurs



Seems I read that someone had built an elctro-mechanical engine but can't locate that article.

Originally Posted by AetheLove

Desmodronic valves don't have a spring.

In most valve systems, the force that opens the valve is provided by the cam (sometimes transmitted through a tappet, lifter, and/or rocker) and the force that closes the valve is provided by the valve spring.

In a desmodronic valve, there are two cams per valve - one that opens the valve, and one that closes the valve (via a lever (or whatever the Italians call it)).

It's an old innovation that solved some of the problems of valve spring designs. As far as I know, modern tech and CAD have solved those problems in other ways.

But back-when, desmodronic valves became Ducati's thing and they're sticking with it. I like the idea of it, and admire a company that embraces something quirky.

Either way, it's a cool bike. I didn't realize Ducati was dressing them up so many different ways. Also didn't know it was air-cooled.

Last thing I noticed: are the passenger's pegs mounted on the swingarm? Am I seeing that correctly?

Seems dicey


Æ

Thanks for the explanation.
I Google-foo'ed a bigger pic, and no....the passenger pegs aren't mounted to the swingarm. They are on their own arm which runs parallel to the swingarm, and are bolted to the frame. It would be interesting, though if they were. I wonder if more passengers would be launched off the back, or if broken ankles would be the norm.

The one I saw just instantly dropped my jaw, and looked like an absolute blast to rip around town on.

Originally Posted by deputyfestus

Soon to join dinosaurs

Holy crap. Technology rules.

Imagine independant cylanders and RPMs that are almost limitless. If they have 60K on a vehicle with no camshaft or timing chain, we aren't that far out.

And compressed air......wow. Imagine being able to force-feed as much air as one wants. Like having a blower without all of the mechanical losses/inefficiancies.

Bad ass.

Yep, not sure you need it for street though.

Originally Posted by deputyfestus

Yep, not sure you need it for street though.

Having a big V8 be able to shut-down 6 cylandars at will (like out on the highway) or being able to instantly add a bunch of power (say pulling a big pontoon boat out of a lake) are both real-world needs. Gas milage alone would be enough to see this kind of tech hitting all of the big automakers. Being able to independantly control each cylander could be quite the game changer.

The thing is with variable timing, at the touch of a finger you could simply choose low end torque or top end horsepower.

My car dynamically switches to V4 mode until you need more power and then it goes from 125hp to 475hp.

(I'm going to tune that shit RIGHT out of there... who wants a V4 vette??)

I like my American V-8"s

My 2016 Super Cobra Jet, man cave garage, nice rear shot and my Cobra next to the yep a Little Bird.