Ducati 750 Super Sport Desmo
Ducati turned its 1972 Imola-winning idea into a barely tamed road racer: bevel-driven cams, desmodromic valves, 40 mm carburetors and three disc brakes, all wrapped in silver-and-blue-green bodywork.
1973 Italy Ducati 750 Super Sport Desmo · Calreyn88 · CC BY-SA 4.0
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More than a set of wheels.
Paul Smart and Bruno Spaggiari's one-two finish at the 1972 Imola 200 proved Fabio Taglioni's big desmodromic V-twin on the world stage. Ducati promised a roadgoing replica, showed the 750 Super Sport Desmo in Milan in November 1973 and produced the main round-case batch in 1974 for homologation. Compared with the regular 750 Sport, the SS was uncompromising: no electric starter, almost no intake silencing, sparse road equipment and chassis details modeled on the racers. It established the Super Sport name and made Desmo a defining Ducati road-bike technology.
Look a little closer.
Its desmodromic valve gear uses the cam mechanism to close the valves instead of relying only on springs.
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Desmodromic: solving valve control mechanically
Most four-strokes open a valve with a cam and let a spring close it. At racing speeds a spring can struggle to follow the cam exactly. Taglioni's Desmo system used one rocker to open and another to close each valve. It demanded careful adjustment, but it gave Ducati precise valve motion and a distinctive engineering identity.
Source: 750 Super Sport Desmo ↗A homologation special with almost no disguise
Homologation rules asked racers to be based on motorcycles customers could buy. Ducati responded with a road machine unusually close to its competition inspiration: huge carburetors, minimal silencers, no electric start and little comfort equipment. The translucent stripe in the fiberglass tank was even a racing-style fuel-level sight rather than a conventional gauge.
Source: 750 Super Sport Desmo ↗Where these facts come from
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed October 2, 2026.