Ian Falloon was born in New Zealand and studied engineering and music at Victoria University, Wellington. After a motorcycle accident brought an end to his career as a symphony orchestra oboist, he began writing articles about motorcycles for magazines including Classic Bike, Cycle World, Motorcyclist, Two Wheels, Motorcycle Sport, and Australian Motorcycle News. His first book, The Ducati Story, has run to several editions and has been published in three languages. The success of The Ducati Story led to a series of Ducati books and histories of Honda, Kawasaki, BMW, and Moto Guzzi motorcycles including Motorbooks titles The Complete Book of Ducati, The Complete Book of Moto Guzzi, The Complete Book of Triumph Motorcycles, and The Art of Ducati. With an interest and passion spanning decades, Ian now concentrates on collecting and restoring older Italian motorcycles, particularly Ducati, MV Agusta, Laverda, and Moto Guzzi. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, and is ably supported in his projects by his family.

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When Ducati's great engineer Fabio Taglioni designed the 750 Ducati in 1970 there was no way he could comprehend how important this model would be. His design was unlike any other before or since: a 90-degree V-twin with single overhead camshafts driven by a train of bevel gears. Taglioni soon developed his 750 into a Formula 750 racer, and in 1972 beat the rest of what the world had to offer at the Imola 200. With this victory, the desmodromic 750 became a legend.

Ducati responded by producing a hand-built limited production desmodromic Super Sport. They also continued to produce the touring 750 GT and sporting 750 Sport until legislation killed them at the end of 1974. Today, this triumvirate of 750s represents the end of an era; the era before cost accounting and government design requirements. These were amongst the last pure, unadulterated sporting motorcycles built and it is not surprising they have inspired a new generation of retro classics, the Sport Classic of 2005 and 2006.

Author Ian Falloon is a Ducati expert with several books on the marque including the best-selling The Ducati Story, and Ducati Twins Restoration Guide. He has owned several 750s over the years and has a particular enthusiasm for this model, still owning the 750 Super Sport he bought back in the 1970s.