Ducati 750 F1 Laguna Seca – Finally the ‘real’ Ducatis?

Ducati 750 F1 Laguna Seca

With Ian Falloon

For many Ducati enthusiasts, the real Ducatis finally came to an end with the Cagiva being taken over in 1985. Before this Ducatis had the Ing stamp. Taglioni is sure of them and the best in general are unadulterated sports motorcycles built not on a price point, but within a particular philosophical framework. It doesn’t really matter to build them or whether they sell well or not. The 750 F1 represents the end of this era.

F1 continues a line of racing reproduction motorcycles that made Ducati legendary. These include the 250 Mach 1, 750 Super Sport “Green Frame”, 900 Super Sport and 900 Mike Hailwood Replica.

While the 750 F1 is impressive, more so are the three limited edition series; Montjuich, Laguna Seca and Santamonica. Each is named after a racetrack where the 750 F1 has won races and are more performance cars than the standard model.

Continuing the tradition is a significant price increase over the standard machine. In 1987, the Laguna Seca cost nearly $15,000, a 50% increase over regular F1. You must really want one and there are only seven on sale in Australia.

The origins of the 750 F1 lie in the stunning 600 cc TT2 racer. The TT2 is ostensibly a 600 Pantah engine housed in a compact trellis frame with a cantilever rear end. It epitomizes Taglioni’s philosophy of success through minimalism and usability, rather than outright horsepower.

The racing version weighed 130 kg and produced around 76 hp at 10,750 rpm and Massimo Broccoli won the Junior Italy TT F2 championship in 1981. That same year, British veteran driver Tony Rutter won the TT2 world championship on a heavily modified Pantah and in 1982 Ducati supplied him with a TT2 factory.

Rutter rewarded them with consecutive TT2 world championships for the next three years, Ducati’s series of four consecutive world championships from 1981 to 1984 being the most significant to that point.

When World Endurance regulations changed in 1984, limiting engine displacement to 750 cc, Taglioni and his racing division expanded the TT2 to 748 cc, creating a racing car. TT1 endurance is an easy job.

While the TT1 isn’t nearly as successful as the TT2, they are still great machines. The accelerated rear suspension is typical of this TT1 factory, and most feature 16-inch wheels front and rear.

Since 1982, there have been plans to produce a street version of the TT2, but that usually takes a while after that. Ducati was struggling to survive during this period and was about to be acquired by Cagiva. The 750 F1 was released in 1985, followed by an improved version for 1986.

Also in 1986, the first limited edition 750 F1 was offered, the Montjuich. The 24-hour Barcelona Endurance Race held at Montjuich Park has long been a successful Ducati event, and in July 1983, Benjamin Grau, Enrique de Juan and Luis Reyes won aboard a 750 TT1 prototype. Therefore, the first limited edition F1 was named Montjuich.

Ducati then prepared a special 750 F1 for Marco Lucchinelli in the Battle of the Twins race in the US in 1986. Lucchinelli won the Battle of the Twins race at Daytona in March and later the following year. went on to win the Battle of the Twins race at Laguna Seca in California.

Winning the race at Laguna Seca led Ducati to name the 1987 limited edition 750 F1 Laguna Seca and give each one a signature Marco Lucchinelli decal on the fuel tank. Arguably the 750 F1’s most important victory was Lucchinelli’s victory over Joey Dunlop’s factory Honda RVF750 at the Santamonica circuit in Misano during the 1986 F1 World Championship. This led to the third series for 1988, Santamonica.

All three series are similar in basic specification. The 750 cc engine shares the 88 mm and 61.5 mm diameters of the factory racers, and is more refined than the F1. With a longer duration and a more elevated camshaft, along with a Dell’Orto PMH 40 ND/NS carburetor with an open bell mouth, power hits 95 hp at 10,000 rpm. Even the dream Luigi couldn’t believe such a fanciful character, but at least it was a way to justify the hefty price tag.

In the tradition of copying Ducati’s best racetracks, they are closely related to racing bikes. Verlicchi aluminum cantilever arm, 40mm Forcelle Italia front fork, with Marzocchi pneumatic rear shock absorber.

With the Laguna Seca, there is some evidence of cost-cutting under the new Cagiva regime (Cagiva bought Ducati in 1985). Instead of the expensive Marvic/Akront magnesium/aluminum composite wheels from Montjuich and Santamonica, the Laguna Seca took its wheels straight out of the 750 Paso. These aluminum Oscam wheels have wider rims, measuring 3.75×16 inches at the front and 5.00×16 inches at the rear, and allows for the fitting of wider and lower Pirelli radial tires.

While the Montjuich and Santamonica have fully-floating cast-iron rotating discs, the Laguna Seca front discs are non-floating 280 mm, bolting directly to the wheel without the center of the disc. However, Laguna Seca retained the finest quality brake calipers available in 1987, Brembo “Gold series” four-piston calipers for racing. Rolling on a 1,400 mm wheelbase and weighing 155 kg, the Laguna Seca is tiny.

The number of limited edition F1s produced is extremely limited. After only 200 Montjuich were built, Laguna Seca produced a total of 296. Of those, 146 are the double seat version (Biposto) like this example, 50 of which are in the US with quieter silencers.

Over 30 years, the limited edition 750 F1 has been almost forgotten. These are Ducati’s ultimate wind-cooled twins. Noisy and uncivilized, they had no place in a new order dictated by government and regulations and other models of sanitation soon replaced them.

The Laguna Seca may be flawed, but it has a distinctive character that embodies the Ducati spirit. One trip is enough to convince you that you can be Marco Lucchinelli leading the field through the knots in Laguna Seca.

1987 Ducati 750 F1 Laguna Seca Specifications

• Engine – Four stroke, 90 degrees L-twin
• Capacity – 748 cc
• Bore x Travel – 88 x 61.5 mm
• Compression ratio – 10.0: 1
• Valve system – SOHC, 2 desmodromic valves per cylinder, belt drive
• Touch – 2 x 36 mm Dell’Orto PMH 40 ND / NS
• Ignition – Electronic Kokusan
• Start – Electric
• Maximum power – 95 hp at 10,000 rpm
• Maximum torque – 70.6 Nm at 7,000 rpm
• Clutch – Wet, multi-plate
• Transmission – Five speeds
• Main drive ratio – 1,972:1 (36/71)
• Gear ratio – first 2,500 / second 1,714 / third 1.333 / fourth 1,074 / fifth 0.966:1
• Final drive ratio – 2,866:1 (15/43)
• Final Drive – Chain
• Front suspension – Forcella Italia 40 mm . fork
• Rear suspension – Round chrome-moly steel swingarm with adjustable cantilever monoshock (for front load), Marzocchi PVS 4
• Front brake – 2 x 280 mm disc, 4-piston Brembo P3432D “Gold Series” brake calipers
• Rear brake – Single 270 mm . disc
• Front rim – 3.75 x 16, alloy, 3 spokes
• Rear rim – 5.00 x 16, alloy, 3 spokes
• Tires – 130/60 V16 (F), 160/60 (R)
• Length – 2110 mm
• Width – 690 mm
• Height – 1130 mm
• Wheelbase – 1400 mm
• Seat height – 750 mm
• Dry weight – 155 kg
• Fuel capacity – 18 L

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