Ducati 900SS
“IT IS THE PERVADING LAW OF ALL THINGS ORGANIC and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that life is recognisable in its expression, that form ever follows function.” Louis Sullivan, architect, 1892.
The rule of form follows function says that the shape of an object should primarily relate to its intended function or purpose. You could interpret it as ‘if it looks right, it is right’ and if there was ever a manifestation of form follows function, it’s the bevel-drive Ducati 900SS.
In the late 1970s a series of advertisements appeared in the motorcycle press that became fixtures on thousands of British teenage boys’ bedroom walls. At that time Harley-Davidson, Moto Guzzi and Ducati were all imported to the UK by the same company, Coburn and Hughes. Without the budgets of the big four Japanese importers, C&H came up with a simple format for their publicity. They would get a bike into a studio and drape an attractive young lady over it who
