A mildly curious bike, this 900 Ducati GTS, as it was never fully appreciated by sport-riding Americans, who were lusting after Japanese multis in the late 1970s. With some reason, as it wasn’t really all new (just an improved 860), with no real change in the engine. But as an all-around touring machine it did garner a number of repeatable quotes.
One that I can’t find now said something like this: The 900 GTS is a better choice than a Harley for any touring rider who likes big V-twins. Should we choose to ignore the fact that the Duke was powered by an overhead cam V-twin of 90 degrees (actually an L-twin), while the Harley was a OHV V-twin of 45 degrees. No figures on how many Milwaukee fans switched to Bologna, Italy.
The backstory
Before World War II, the three Ducati brothers had a very successful business building radios — but that got flattened by Allied bombers in 1944. After the war they decided to get in the motorbike business and in 1946 had made a 48cc clip-on 4-stroke engine for bicycles. Their first full-fledged motorbike was the Ducati 60 in 1949, and onwards and upwards. Then in 1954 Ducati hired Fabio Taglioni, a brilliant engineer who saw the advantage of overhead camshafts. In 1955 his OHC 98cc Gran Sport single put out 9 horsepower at 9,000rpm and was clocked at 87mph. The market for racing bikes was notable, and Taglioni developed the Desmodromic valve system.
For those few readers not familiar with the Desmo tech, all it did was improve the closing of valves. Traditionally, valves were closed by springs, which operation relied on the strength of the springs, while Desmos used a complicated (but effective) mechanical closure. Singles grew to 125, 250, 350 and in 1969 came the 450, in both Desmo and valve-spring versions, with a true capacity of 436cc.
Taglioni was always interested in V-twins, and in 1970 began developing a 750 version with valve springs called the GT (Grand Touring). This was followed by the Sport and then the Super Sport with Desmo valves. The engine and chassis were well-received, but there were complaints about the paint and electrical bits. The paint was a factory problem but most of the complaining had to do with outside suppliers, which Ducati had to put up with. Then came April 23, 1972, when Ducati 750s won first and second at the famous Imola race; criticism vanished.
Fast forward — 1975
The 750s were gone and Taglioni came out with the 860 GT — with very little effort as he used two cylinders similar to those of the 450, amounting to 864cc. This bike was “built to go fast and that will do so without a lot of fiddling,” according to Cycle World, July 1975. The engine bore was 86mm and stroke 74.4mm with a single cam in each head operated by bevel gears. A wet-sump oiling system kept the engine and transmission happy, air and fins kept the motor cool. A pair of 32mm Dell’Ortos fed the cylinders with a 9.5:1 compression ratio. Ignition was transistorized. Maximum horsepower was in the high 50s at 7,000rpm. Fuel from the 4.8-gallon tank was consumed at a rate of high-30mpg with enthusiastic throttle use, to mid-40s when touring.
The frame was much like the one from the 750, but reinforced due to greater weight and power. Twin spars went under the tank and another sent down to the front of the engine, which served conveniently as an integral part of the chassis. The rear sub-frame was fully triangulated. Primary drive went through straight-cut gears, to a wet, multi-plate clutch, then a 5-speed transmission with the shift lever on the left side.
The front forks were Ceriani; the two shock absorbers by Marzocchi. Wheels were spoked, an 18-inch front with twin discs for braking. Rear was 18-inch with a drum. Front tire was a 3.50-inch, rear a 4.00. Dry weight was a modest 452 pounds, wheelbase almost 60 inches, overall length close to 88 inches. Seat height, some 31 inches. Please excuse the occasional vagueness in numerology, but I’ve been reading about a dozen different road tests by various American and British writers and they saw slight differences in things like the height of the seat. Various top speeds went from 109 to 119mph.
In a February 1975 issue of a British magazine the author wrote, “I cannot think of another machine quite equaling its all-around road performance regardless of its price.” A month later another Brit editor said, “As either a hairy sportster or a fast touring machine, the 860 rates among the best.” In July, Cycle World praised it highly in a road test, noting the price of $2,549, with the electric start version adding a modest $130. In September, Jody Nicholas for Motorcyclist, loved the bike, but made note of the kickstarter, “If you are sitting on the seat, holding onto the handlebars and trying to kickstart the engine you’ll get a bruised shin — guaranteed!”
900 GTS — 1977
The 900 GTS had the same engine as the bevel-driven 860 but many of the complaints had been cleaned up. Paint was glossier and chrome shinier. It had different side panels with 900 writ large. Marzocchi forks replaced the Cerianis. The kick start problem was solved by using a fold-up foot peg. The “crummy switchgear” was gone, with the new bits being “a 500 percent improvement over the ugly units on the 860.” Though it did lack a side stand. The “new” version had all the good points of the 860, “… and a lot more new ones besides.” All 900s had both electric and kick starting. In July 1978, Cycle magazine had a Desmo 900 Super Sport on the cover, which may have had something to do with Editor Cook Neilson having won the Daytona 500 the year before on a 750 SS. The next year the importer brought in 160 900 SS models, and only 40 900 GTS; they knew what was selling. The slightly hotted-up version of the ’79 SS was called the Darmah, the name of a tiger in Italian stories.
Last year for the GTS — 1979
Finally, the story of two good friends who bought ’79 GTS models (now with a side stand). Said by Cycle to cost $2,849, $300 more than three years before.
Jim Forgan, then living east of Oakland, California, a house builder by trade, went over to nearby TT Motors in Berkeley and wanted to buy a Ducati Darmah, but the shop’s owner, John Gallivan, said he had just sold the last one he had, and probably wouldn’t get any more for some months. But how about this nice GTS? A brief ride and Jim was happy. Even happier when John threw in a pair of Conti mufflers to replace the unattractive Lafranconis. Then his Harley-riding friend and fellow construction type, Ed Johnson, decided he wanted a similar Ducati and TT Motors ordered a leftover GTS (only four VIN numbers higher than Jim’s). Life in the California Motor Vehicle Dept. being what it was, it got registered as a 1980 model, though 1979 was the year it was made. And he got the free Contis as well. Jim and Ed liked riding together, but jobs made them move apart and families were growing. In 1995 Jim sold his GTS, while happily buying other Italian bikes, and the two kept in touch.
In 2021 Jim was visiting Ed and they went in the barn where Ed’s GTS had been sitting under a serape blanket for almost 10 years. “It’s been non-op since 2012,” Ed admitted, “though I have fired it up occasionally.” Jim offered to help him fix things and get it back on the road but Ed didn’t have the energy, or desire, to do all that work. “You do it.” said Ed. “I’ll give it to you.”
Jim trucked it home and figured that after 10 years of sitting, a competent person should check it out. And that competency was found in Bobby Weindorf down in Monterey County, who kept it for about three weeks, mounting new tires, making sure the brakes worked, adding new fuel lines, replacing the fork seals and a lot more — then gave it back to Jim. Anybody with a GTS needing work can email bobby@oldmetalgarage.com. Bevel Heaven in Concord still has lots of spare parts.
He left Jim to do hundreds of hours of spit’n’polish cleaning, removing 10 years of dried-on oil and grease that any good Italian motorcycle will show. A lot of work made less tedious because it was a love affair. You can see he did a good job.
As one test rider wrote, the GTS is “a great motorcycle — a vibrationless, true-handling, quiet, stable, precise mother of a bike.” Jim is happy with his. MC
