Ducati Pantah

The Ducati Pantah is an Italian motorcycle with a 90 degree V-twin engine, produced between 1980 and 1986. It was the first Ducati with belt-driven camshafts rather than the bevel-gear overhead camshaft designs of its predecessors, and so formed the vanguard of the current Ducati V-twins. Fabio Taglioni developed it after the company 1976 parallel twins proved a marketing failure, and it was first shown at the Milan Bike Show in December 1979. Its trellis frame, with the engine acting as a stressed member, became a Ducati trademark. The line began with the 500SL in 1980 and continued with the 600SL and 600TL, then in 1983 with the 650SL, which had the 61.5 mm stroke needed to homologate the TT1 750 racer and produced 63 hp. The Pantah also raced as the 600 TT2 and the TT1 750, and after Cagiva took over Ducati in 1985 the Cagiva Alazzurra was a revamped Pantah.