Ducati Diana

My favorite Duck doesn't quack. It goes thump, thump, thump, vrooooom! I have always been a sucker for small, skinny, sporty, street motorcycles. It's all about the feel of the machine. I don't like riding in winter because I want to ride without gloves. When I stop I want to see the imprint of the handgrip on the palm of my hand. I want to feel as if the motorcycle turns just because I blink. I want to feel as if I am riding it, not as if it is riding me. This explains it all when you see the big picture. The Honda 450 has always felt too piggish to me: it feels top-heavy. Do not misunderstand. I came very close back in 1970 to buying a new CL-450. It was certainly one of my favorite choices, as was the Kawasaki Mach III, which I also did not buy. I chose a Honda CL-350 for my cross-country trip, and my only regret is that I sold it after I bought a '71 Mach III eight years later. I should have kept them both. Now my only street bike is a 550 Nighthawk, which happens not only to be the largest and heaviest motorcycle I have ever owned, but it is the biggest one that I even desire. Now don't bring up that Sportster issue you may have read about in Plastic Ozone Daydream. Yes, I have always wanted a Sportster. It's lean; it's mean; it only weighs 457 pounds; and yes, it's the real thing, baby; but, I just cannot see myself squandering that kind of cash on a two-wheeler that is about as technically sophisticated as a John Deer tractor! The 550 Nighthawk is the most attractive, most comfortable, and best compromise of a large-but-skinny motorcycle for me personally. I don't do European bikes mostly because I don't do wrenches. I am a dreamer and a writer. I am a lousy mechanic.

The subject at hand is one of the most legendary tiddlers of all time. It comes from the Ferrari of motorcycles, Ducati, the generally most famous and successful of many Italian motorcycle brands. Don't tell me about Europe. We're talkin' about the US of A here. I don't know nuttin' about speakin' no Eye-tallion! In the U.S., Ducati is revered as the Ferrari of two-wheelers, and the Diana was the first model in the U.S. to bring the company that reputation. If you click on the Bultaco Metralla link, you will see one of the Diana's leading competitors. The photo below is the very best one of a Ducati Diana that I have seen. Take into account that I am a sucker for blue as much as I am for skinny motorcycles. What color do you think both my CL-350 and Mach III were? Yes, I know the 550 Nighthawk came only in red or black, but the red is the prettiest shade I have ever seen.

Ducks were even more rarely seen on American streets back in The Sixties than they are today, so I cannot be certain of much of the Diana's production details, but here is what I think is true. The Diana was imported into the USA in 1960-64 as a sportier version of the much more common Monza. The original 1960 version, as seen on the Metralla page, was painted medium-light blue and silver. The shock covers both front and rear were the body color. There was a small windscreen attached to the headlight. The gas tank had a very distinctive shape indigenous to the model. Even the gas cap was a special racing type. The handlebars were flat. The seat had "buttons" along the lower edge. There was a separately-mounted tachometer and no speedometer. The headlight had a shallow shell, half the size of the one on the Monza. There was no battery. The frame was a single-downtube-type with the downtube attached to the engine casing, as opposed to being a cradle type. The fenders were appropriately thin and sporty. The standard muffler was a linear, round, chrome tube. The transmission was a four-speed with a right-side, rocking-type shift lever. Now here is where the plot thickens. I am unsure of the model year changes from this point forward. Later models had a battery, the rear springs were uncovered, and a black megaphone exhaust was included as standard equipment (in addition to the standard chrome muffler). As you can see in the photo of the 1962 model below, the seat has red piping and no buttons. Was this a factory change? I am unsure. Was the black megaphone always standard, or was it an extra-cost option in some years? The rear springs on the model below are blue. Were many of the originals chrome, or not? Were there colors other than blue and silver for the model? Red was probably an alternate color: I have seen photos of red examples, but factory photos only of blue and silver ones. Dianas are so rare that even finding good photos of them is difficult.

The Diana was replaced by the Mach 1 with a five-speed transmission in 1965. (This model is not to be confused with the 250cc Kawasaki two-stroke triple called the Mach I released five years later.) Most, maybe all, of the Mach 1's were red. The Mach 1 can be distinguished by its lack of a small windscreen, chrome, exposed rear springs, Monza-type, deep headlamp with included speedometer, and small, silver side covers that still left the battery exposed. Later models had a racing-type lip at the rear of the dual seat. Arriving during the U.S. motorcycle boom of the later '60's as it did, the Mach 1 is probably far more common than the Diana. The Mach 1 may have been an improvement, but the Diana was a legend.

See also: Ducati 250 Scrambler