The truth about Desmodromics

For those who think Desmodromics means Ducati and Ducati alone, there's an exhibition showing the big picture this summer in (unsurprisingly) Bologna at the Dell'Idice Valley Museum. Although much has been written on the desmodromic system, much of it credited to engineer Fabio Taglioni - the story of its debut at Ducati was in issue 7 of Benzina, including how he probably got his ideas from the Maseratti brothers and time at Mondial. And most folk know of the desmo engines in the pre-war Mercedes Silver Arrows.

The exhibition includes patents and designs by the Dutchman Henk Cloosterman, technical drawings and much other material provided by individuals and - well, just look at the list:- BMW, Ducati, Ferrari, Honda, Fiat, Maserati, Mercedes, Peugeot, Osca, Scarab and Toyota. Motorcycles and mechanical components that have made the history of Ducati will be exhibited along with old documents, photos and historical footage.

The pic above is the earliest use I know of that used desmodromics, the French Delage S desmo of around 1914, built to race in the USA. The French really had a great start at the birth of motoring, sadly decimated by two wars.

The exhibition will runs first weekend of every month until November 2012, with breaks for the usual July and August hols, so sadly you can't combine it with a visit to Mugello for MotoGP. More at: http://www.museodellavalledellidice.it/