Ducati parallel twins

The Ducati parallel twins were a short-lived family of 350 cc and 500 cc parallel twin motorcycles with a single overhead camshaft, built by Ducati from 1975 to 1981. They were a departure for a company known for its overhead-camshaft singles and bevel-driven V-twins. Ducati was in financial trouble and state owned in the early 1970s, and its management wanted a cheaper machine to build and sell in numbers, modelled on the parallel twins the Japanese makers were selling widely. The engine was developed from an earlier 500 cc twin design shown to American dealers in 1965 and reworked for easy manufacture, with a chain-driven camshaft and a 180 degree crankshaft. The range was the touring-oriented GTL, the sportier Sports Desmo with desmodromic valve gear and styling by Leopoldo Tartarini of Italjet, and the GTV that combined the Sports Desmo frame with the GTL engine. Sales were poor and the engines proved unreliable, which earned the twins the nickname of paralysed twins. Spain's MotoTrans also built the 500 under licence until 1983.