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Ducati 999 |  | Authors: Alan Cathcart, Marc Cook
Publisher: David Bull Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $49.95
Buy New: $36.46
as of 11/21/2009 09:38 EST details
You Save: $13.49 (27%)
New (19) Used (12) from $25.99
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 322361
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Printing
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.2
Dimensions (in): 11.1 x 9.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 1893618277
Dewey Decimal Number: 629
EAN: 9781893618275
ASIN: 1893618277
Publication Date: September 2003
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Product Description
Ducati 999: Birth of a Legend describes the unique way in which all new Ducati motorcycles are designed, developed, and manufactured. Rich with in-depth interviews and never before published drawings and renderings, this book takes you on a lavishly illustrated factory tour.
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| Customer Reviews:
Makes me appreciate my bike even more December 27, 2007
Yves Teirlynck (Atlanta, GA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great book, which is an owner of a 999S makes me appreciate my bike even more.
The author did a stellar job portraying what a leap forward the 999 was, and actually still is. It was also great to find out more about Pierre Terblanche, his design principles and his values and behaviors in general.
Overall a great book. I would recommend it to any 999 owner or Ducatisti.
Yves
Brilliant and beautiful December 7, 2003
John Joss (Los Altos, CA USA)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Whether or not you're a fan of Ducati, its chief designer Pierre Terblanche, or authors Alan Cathcart and Marc Cook, you can't ignore this beautiful, brilliant book. It's an absorbing account of a motorcycle's evolution, at unprecedented levels of detailed reportage. The still and action photos--the latter by Kevin Wing particularly pleasing--are exquisite, detailed and informative.
Most enthuasiasts know Ducati's remarkable race history over the last half century, from the great bevel-gear machines whose valve acuation evolved into today's signature desmodromic technology, up to its amazing 2003 MotoGP bike (podiums in its first year!). The V-twin Pantah, suitably bored, stroked and beefed up, eventually using water instead of air to cool, begat the 851, 900S, 888, 916, 996, 998 and now the 999. The book's depth and detail are riveting. Ducati's people, originals to the core, create the focus. No worthwhile vehicle--no designed object of any significance--can be created without committed individuals who believe in what they are doing, into the bones.
David Gross, Ducati's creative director, wrote a candid foreword, revealing Terblanche as interesting and controversial. A bit like BMW Cars's Chris Bangle, Terblanche comes across as an egotist--not always right but never in doubt--who despises his critics.
This is not a perfect book despite its brilliance and production quality. We needed to see dyno comparisons of the various progenitors to the 999, reference to the WSB 999s vs. the production bikes, and 999/R/S spec comparisons that explain the significant cost differentials.
Also, note that this is not investigative reporting. Ducati wouldn't have let Cathcart or Cook into the joint if there had been any suspicion of deviation from an unsullied portrait. And Cathcart's relentless egotism jars--we get yet another opinion or picture of him on a Ducati, neglecting many of the great champions mentioned but not pictured, such as Hailwood, Polen and others. This facet alone removes a star from my review.
Nitpicking aside, this is a remarkable and magnificent book written, photographed and produced by genuine enthusiasts who have given us an unprecedented look into the development of a great motorcycle. It stands alongside some of the best of its kind, up there with the Guggenheim's "Art of the Motorcycle" and Nick Ienatsch's SPORT RIDING TECHNIQUES (a David Bull book), both reviewed by me for Amazon. David Bull is publishing at the pinnacle of the motorcycling world.
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