I race an early-80's Ducati TT2 with the US Classic Racing Association. For a lot of folks involved in vintage racing, a TT2 pushes the definition of what constitutes "vintage." Dr. Taglioni, the great Ducati designer, set out to design a race bike that would dominate Formula 2 racing, and he totally succeeded with a bike that was among the first to sport a monoshock rear, and, of course, used the then-new Pantah "rubber-band-head" Ducati motor. Instead of the iconic Ducati bevel-geared camshafts, the Pantah uses toothed belts. . . kind of like a Chevy Vega, sniffed a mechanic when I stopped by his shop with my brandy-new Alazzurra back in '86. I didn't care, I loved that bike, the motor, I loved the Dell'Orto PHF36 squirt-gun carburetors, and the BUB exhaust I put on. That bike never let me down, was amazing to ride, and I sold it with real regret.
Side note- about BUB exhausts: These days, BUB is just another aftermarket pipe bender turning out plumbing for cruisers. Back in the day, BUB was one wild-eyed dude working out of his garage building great performance systems for cool bikes like the Allie. A few months ago, I watched a NOS 2:1 system for the early straight-ahead Pantah motor (both carbs behind the cylinders) sell on eBay for about five times its original 1980's purchase price. It wasn't always easy to get a BUB system, as this dude was usually either at Bonneville with his streamliner, or working on his streamliner, or testing his streamliner, which was an astonishingly disreputable looking thing. . . and its nickname was Big Ugly Bastard, or usually just the initials.
Back to the TT2. For the real history, and more information than you could possibly ever want, go look at Rudi's TT site http://www.ducati-tt.de/index_en.htm . The little racebike was a complete success, dominant in F2 beyond belief. It was nearly impossible to beat. . . it's been described as a TZ250 with a Pantah shoehorned in, the lightness and agility of the two-stroke with the grunt of that lovely little desmo. Everybody wanted one, but Ducati, in their infinite wisdom, made a total of about 50 in the few years it was produced. Copies immediately appeared, by Verlicchi and Harris among others, as well as Werner Maltry, a Swiss framebuilder who was working in Italy building factory race bikes for (I believe) Motobi. Some of them have obvious differences from the original, some can only be differentiated by the true experts (Lou Saif being the man to ask).
Then, of course, Ducati finally quit floppin' around and expired. Cagiva took over. What to do with a couple of warehouses full of Pantah motors? Why, give them away as party favors! They designed a frame, used off-the-shelf suspension components from Marzocchi, truly eccentric electricals from around the globe (coils from Spain?!), more off-the-shelf Italian components from Oscam, Brembo, etc, and bodywork from who knows where, and hey presto, the Alazzurra and the Elefant, it's off-road sister, were born. $3599, out the door in 1985. Suddenly, racers- and race fans- could afford to build a TT2. Prominent and not-so-prominent framebuilders were already offering kits, and most of the Allie's parts (including the forks and wheels) would bolt right up. On quite a number of them, the VIN number magically appeared on the new frame. . . to be continued. . . actually, I'd continued well past this point already, but some of the electrons seem to have snuck away while I wasn't looking!
Side note- about BUB exhausts: These days, BUB is just another aftermarket pipe bender turning out plumbing for cruisers. Back in the day, BUB was one wild-eyed dude working out of his garage building great performance systems for cool bikes like the Allie. A few months ago, I watched a NOS 2:1 system for the early straight-ahead Pantah motor (both carbs behind the cylinders) sell on eBay for about five times its original 1980's purchase price. It wasn't always easy to get a BUB system, as this dude was usually either at Bonneville with his streamliner, or working on his streamliner, or testing his streamliner, which was an astonishingly disreputable looking thing. . . and its nickname was Big Ugly Bastard, or usually just the initials.
Back to the TT2. For the real history, and more information than you could possibly ever want, go look at Rudi's TT site http://www.ducati-tt.de/index_en.htm . The little racebike was a complete success, dominant in F2 beyond belief. It was nearly impossible to beat. . . it's been described as a TZ250 with a Pantah shoehorned in, the lightness and agility of the two-stroke with the grunt of that lovely little desmo. Everybody wanted one, but Ducati, in their infinite wisdom, made a total of about 50 in the few years it was produced. Copies immediately appeared, by Verlicchi and Harris among others, as well as Werner Maltry, a Swiss framebuilder who was working in Italy building factory race bikes for (I believe) Motobi. Some of them have obvious differences from the original, some can only be differentiated by the true experts (Lou Saif being the man to ask).
Then, of course, Ducati finally quit floppin' around and expired. Cagiva took over. What to do with a couple of warehouses full of Pantah motors? Why, give them away as party favors! They designed a frame, used off-the-shelf suspension components from Marzocchi, truly eccentric electricals from around the globe (coils from Spain?!), more off-the-shelf Italian components from Oscam, Brembo, etc, and bodywork from who knows where, and hey presto, the Alazzurra and the Elefant, it's off-road sister, were born. $3599, out the door in 1985. Suddenly, racers- and race fans- could afford to build a TT2. Prominent and not-so-prominent framebuilders were already offering kits, and most of the Allie's parts (including the forks and wheels) would bolt right up. On quite a number of them, the VIN number magically appeared on the new frame. . . to be continued. . . actually, I'd continued well past this point already, but some of the electrons seem to have snuck away while I wasn't looking!
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