The Ducati Supersport and SS are a series of air-cooled four stroke desmodromic 2-valve 90° L-twin motorcycles made by Ducati since 1988. A limited edition Supersport called the SuperLight was sold in 1992. The name harked back to the round case 1973 Ducati 750 Super Sport, and the 1975 square case 750 and 900 Super Sport. The appellation 'SS' was applied only to the later belt drive (Pantah) based models.
History (1972–1981)
Miglia di Imola, 1972
Modern Ducati, as well as the Super Sport can be traced back to April 1972 when Ducati won the Imola 200 (the European equivalent of the Daytona 200) with a for-production based 750 cc, desmodromic valve 90° V-twin engine developed by Fabio Taglioni. Ducati markets their 90° V-twin as "L-twin" to emphasize its 90° V angle and differentiate their motorcycles from competing V-twins. Imola was a traditionally fast circuit that placed a premium on high-speed handling rather than brute horsepower. The Super Sport prototypes used for the inaugural race were developed using a 750 GT based engine and frame and earned instant fame when legendary racer Paul Smart and Bruno Spaggiari finished first and second, respectively, immediately elevating Ducati from a company known for "quaintly individual" motorcycles and into the superbike market.
Super Sport Prototype
The first official Super Sport prototypes used the 750 Sport and 750 GT models for their basis, but featured bodywork styled along the lines of the Imola bikes. The frame was painted blue while the fiberglass gas tank, covers and top half of the fairing were silver. The gas tank also featured a unique translucent strip to be able to quickly see the fuel level.
1974 Super Sport
1974 marked the first year of mass production of Super Sport. The bike featured 10.5:1 compression ratio, a voluminous 6 gallon gas tank and a claimed weight of . A mere 401 1974 Super Sports were produced and the bike immediately set new standards for production motorcycles and had unique styling, but for all intents and purposes it was a pure production racer with the minimum of concessions to make it street legal. Unfortunately, the complicated bevel gear-driven camshaft made the bike uneconomical to produce, thus the 1974 model is the only round-case 90-degree v-twin with desmodromic valve gear. However the 1974 model bike is considered to be the most significant production bike in Ducati's history, mostly because it offered the highest standards of handling and performance available at that time and essentially saved Ducati from extinction.
1975–1981 Square Case Super Sport
In 1975, two versions of the Super Sport were made available based on the 864 cc "square-case" 90-degree twin cylinder motor; the full 864 cc version coined the 900 and a sleeved down 750. 250 examples of each were produced but the 750 and 900 are virtually identical. The 1975 Super Sport continued to use the right-side gear shift, contradicting the 1974 U.S. regulation that all bikes have the gear shifting on the left side of the engine. Despite this, a handful of right side Super Sports have made it into the United States.
Most of the subsequent changes made to the Super Sport model were to comply with global legislation. Quieter mufflers, relocated shifting and rear brake and new foot pegs. The biggest improvement was the redesign of the kick-starter. On the 1975 model the kick starter would rotate around and shift the transmission into first gear. If the bike was not on the center-stand the rider could potentially have a very unpleasant surprise.
Because the price of the 750 Super Sport was very similar to 900, very few 750s were produced with the majority of them being shipped to Australia, Germany or staying in Italy for racing applications.
By 1978 the bike looked identical, but several significant improvements had made their way into the motor making them more reliable and solving problems with engine cranks breaking. The electronics also improved as well as some minor timing tweaks making the bike run more efficiently. Most notable was a majorly redesigned gear shifter that made the bike a lot easier for owners to live with the bike. Most 1978 900 Super Sports also came with a dual seat and lockable tool box. The solo seat was available as an option. The 1978 model bike is considered to be the finest iteration of the bevel drive square case Super Sports. The 1978 900 and 1979 750s were the last to retain close links with the Imola racers and the last to come with traditional spoke wheels. it was also in 1978 that the Isle of Man TT Formula 1 race was won by a 900 Super Sport, ridden by former World Champion Mike Hailwood in a popular comeback race.