Ducati ‘Mototrans’ 250 24 Horas | 24 Hour Barcelona Winner

Ducati Mototrans 250 24 hours

With Phil Aynsley

The Spanish company Mototrans was founded in 1958 with the merger of Maquitrans and Cliper, who imported Ducati Cucciolo and 98 cc motorcycles respectively.

Mototrans was licensed to manufacture Ducati motorcycles and started with the 125 Sport in 1959.

The company continued to be an important part of Ducati’s development in the 1960s with numerous race victories as well as building a series of models sold by Ducati, as Ducatis.

In fact, the bikes participating in Mototrans have won the Barcelona 24 Hour race 10 times – the most of any manufacturer!

The result of one of these victories, with a single 283 cc prototype in 1964, the company decided to capitalize on public support by introducing their flagship sports movement, the 250 24 Horas (Hours) in Barcelona. Show next year.

This bike differs from contemporary Ducati singles in a number of ways, the most basic being the change to 69 x 66 mm diameter and travel compared to Ducati’s traditional 74 x 57.8 mm.

The engine was also based on the earlier ‘narrow case’ design instead of the ‘wide case’ later used by Ducati.

Other features are a 10:1 compression ratio, a higher camshaft and a 27 mm Spanish-made Amal carburetor. For the first time the company uses a five-speed gearbox.

Three series were produced before production ended around 1973. This is a late-production Series 3 bike.