Ducati began , before WW II , as a company which built electrical parts , and complete radios for the home .
Ducati , like Honda , was re-born after WW II , by making "clip-on" engines for use on bicycles . Ducati may never have actually made the bicycles onto which the engines were bolted . But at some point , they did SELL complete motorized bicycles .
I would be slightly surprised if Ducati ever sold bicycles without Ducati engines bolted onto them . By the time they got around to selling the complete motorized bicycles , things had already gotten a little specialized . The bicycles were obviously made for use with an engine .
But , perhaps they did sell just plain Ducati bicycles !
However , I'm thinking that Ducati probably had the bicycle specialty companies make components stamped with the Ducati name , and assembled motorized bicycles around the engines .
My guess is that even though bicycle collectors may not be interested in that Ducati crank , you could probably sell it for a good price to a Ducati enthusiast !
And here is an excellent photo of a restored example of the little Ducati "Puppy" :
http://mujweb.atlas.cz/
And a web site devoted to a slightly more original , and slightly different model :
http://www.motoavanti.com/
Quotes from web sites devoted to the history of Ducati . Source addresses appear at the bottom of each quote :
1.) Divided into nine main sections, the museum reiterates the chronology of Ducati's evolution from small electrical company to motorcycling giant. Each section describes a major period in the company's technological development along with the key personalities that have made Ducati the leading light at racing circuits the world over. The story begins in 1946 with the Cucciolo, Ducati's first engine. Up to this point, the company, which was founded in 1926 by the Cavalieri Ducati brothers, had concentrated on the manufacturing of electro-mechanical devices. The museum recounts the history from the company's first engine on the way to the current 996, the envy of the industry and a perennial winner at Superbike World Championships.
<http://www.comune.bologna.it/iperbole/bomusei/inglese/musei/S13/descrizione _estesa_1.html>
2.) In the middle of WWII a designer named Aldo Farinelli developed the prototype of an auxiliary motor to be mounted on a bicycle. Farinelli's design had a number of major advantages over the competition, above all its four-stroke cycle and two-speed gearing, which used the engine's power to its fullest potential.
Ducati, which up until that time had produced radios and electrical components, partnered with another Italian firm, SIATA, to produce the Cucciolo, or "Puppy". By 1946, the rights to Cucciolo production had become exclusively Ducati's. In 1948 Ducati came up with its first original design, the T2. It was heavily influenced by the T1 design, but made improvements in the engine's efficiency, robustness, and, above all, logic of construction. The cylinder, for example, was redesigned and made removable and the drive mechanism made more accessible, the cylinder head was modified, and the rating was raised. The company also sold a sports version of the T2, capable of delivering 2 hp and reaching a top speed of 60 kmph.
http://www.ducati.com/
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas
> Hi everybody
>
> I recently obtained a right hand 3-arm steel crank arm with slotted arms
> that looks like many others made by Magistroni. What is unusual is that
> the name Ducati is stamped in the middle of the arm in a brake in the
> flute. I have never seen any Ducati branded bike parts before and
> neither has anyone else that I have shown the arm to, including Hillary.
>
> Like some other Italian motorbike makers no doubt Ducati made bikes in
> their early days but has anyone ever seen one and if so was it top end
> or more utilitarian?
>
> I do not want to sell the arm but I would be interested in buying a
> matching 170mm left arm if anyone has one.
>
> Tony Beckett
> in very autumnal southern UK