Fabio Taglioni (10 September 1920 – 18 July 2001) was an Italian engineer. Born in

Lugo di Romagna Lugo ( rgn, Lùgh) is a town and '' comune'' in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, in the province of Ravenna. History A settlement in where is now the city is mentioned for the first time in 782 AD, but the names Lucus appears only ...

, he was chief designer and technical director of

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. () is the motorcycle-manufacturing division of Italian company Ducati, headquartered in Bologna, Italy. The company is directly owned by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini, whose German parent company is Au ...

from 1954 until 1989. His

desmodromic :''In general mechanical terms, the word ''desmodromic'' is used to refer to mechanisms that have different controls for their actuation in different directions.'' A desmodromic valve is a reciprocating engine poppet valve that is positively clo ...

90° V-twin engine design is still used in all current

motorcycle engines. Among the many race victories of his early desmo twin, the 1978 legendary return of

Mike Hailwood Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British professional motorcycle racer and racing driver. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest racers of all time. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle ...

at the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

is perhaps the most memorable. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Taglioni designed engines for Ceccato motorcycles and Mondial before joining Ducati in 1954. He began by designing Ducati's OHC

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either direct ...

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, and in 1963 designed the prototype V4

Ducati Apollo The 1964 Ducati Berliner 1260 Apollo was a prototype V4 engine motorcycle producing and capable of over . It was never put into production, but did influence other production Ducatis that followed. Both Ducati and their United States distributor ...

. This led to the 1972

Ducati 750 Imola Desmo The Ducati 750 Imola Desmo is a racing motorcycle built by Ducati that won the 1972 Imola 200 race in the hands of Paul Smart. This win helped define Ducati's approach to racing. Design On March 20, 1970, Fabio Taglioni (September 10, 1920 – J ...

, and the 1970s and 1980s production

Ducati L-twin motorcycles The L-twin is a naturally aspirated two-cylinder petrol engine by Ducati. It uses a 90-degree layout and 180-degree firing order as is mounted with one cylinder horizontal. The next new Ducati engine to appear after the Ducati Apollo was the 90� ...

. He died in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

in 2001.

Notes

External links

Fabio Taglioni: Motorcycle Engine Designer
1920 births 2001 deaths People from the Province of Ravenna Ducati designers Italian industrial designers {{Motorcycle-stub