Ducati
Pantah
 
The Pantah was the first of the belt-driven
camshaft Ducati motors, the first generation
of the current Ducati V twins. First shown December
1979, it came on the market as the 1980 500SL
and the last of the line 650SL was sold in 1986.
Successful in racing as the 600 cc TT2 and later
TT1 750 cc racer, it was a lighter, shorter
wheelbase motorcycle, in a new trellis frame
that was to become a trademark Ducati feature.
Pantah 500 cc
When the 1976 350 cc and 500 cc
vertical twins were recognised as a marketing
disaster, Fabio Taglioni went to work developing
the Pantah.
The Pantah 500 is where the current
line of V twins began. Developed from the last
of the GP500 racers of 1973, the Pantah and
its successors have shown that, contrary to
the previously accepted wisdom, a twin can race
against the fours and win.
The bike was first shown at the
Milan Bike show in December 1979. The prototype
was different again to Ducati's earlier bikes:
it had a trellis frame, with the suspended motor
acting as a stressed member, the swingarm pivoted
on the rear of the crankcase, the SOHC was driven
by toothed rubber belt, the primary transmission
was via Morse chain and the front disc was a
Campagnolo Hydroconico.[1] The claimed performance
was impressive: 500 cc, 50 hp (36.5 kW) @ 8500
rpm, 180 kg, 1450 mm of wheelbase, significantly
different from the earlier bevel head V twins
which were long bulky and stable, and easily
surpassed the ill-conceived 1976 parallel twins.
The Pantah came onto the market
in 1980 as the red and silver 500SL, with the
engine using belt driven camshafts, and a plain
bearing crankshaft. It had the same bore and
stroke as the old 500 racer, 74 mm x 58 mm,
but the head had a 60 degree included valve
angle and kept the belt driven camshafts used
on the final 500GP engine version. They were
noticeably lacking in bottom end and mid range
torque, but revved freely enough. The suspension
seemed less certain than earlier Ducati models,
and the 35 mm front forks lacked rigidity.
Enthusiasts found the final gearing too tall,
and the intake and exhaust restrictive. If you
changed those for higher flow items, and lowered
the gearing, it gave a performance increase.
Pantah 600SL, 600TL and TT2
racer
In 1981 the silver 600SL became
available with fairing and hydraulic clutch
activation. It had an 80 mm bore and the 58
mm stroke giving 583 cc (The first Pantah based
racer, the 600 cc TT2 racer used 81 mm) By 1984
the last of the 600SL bikes had MHR paint.
In 1982 the 600TL was released, and the styling
was promptly panned. The TL only lasted till
1983.
Pantah 650SL and TT1 750 racer
In 1983 the 650SL came about because
of the need to homologate the TT1 750 racer's
61.5 mm stroke. Instead of producing a production
750, the 650SL was born with 82 mm bore and
the required 61.5 mm stroke. Visually it was
the same as the 600SL, but it had more torque,
and that was a big improvement. The 650SL produced
63 hp @ 8500 rpm.
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