The Darmah was first introduced at the ’76 Bologna Motorshow before it would see production the following year. The Darmah was created in an effort to bounce back after the commercial failure that was the ’74 860 GT which had some reliability problems and wasn’t the snazziest looking Italian two-wheeler. The Darmah SSD boasted a few bar-raising features like its magnesium factory rims. In 1978 Ducati introduced the Darmah SSD (or Super Sport Desmo) which was only made for three years (’78-’81) during which 1,440 units were built.
Designed by Leopoldo Tartarini – the man behind the Sport Desmo 350/500’s design – the Darmah was a damn fine looking bike. Making it appearances that much cooler is the fact that its side-panels wore the tiger head logo. While this is of course my personal opinion, but I think this examples appearance has held up drastically better than most machines from the 1980’s. Despite the paint on this example not being original, it was nonetheless repainted to its stock livery. According to the seller, everything else on the bike is 100% stock aside from 36mm Dellortos replacing the original 32mm. (Though the SSD model was built ready to accept 40mm carbs).
The Darmah SSD was powered by a 863.9cc air-cooled 90-degree twin that made around 70hp at 7,000rpm. The five-speed sequential transmission found on the Darmah models was fairly standard around this time. What was a little more exotic was the 6-bolt Brembo disk brakes, Ceriani telescopic fork, Marzocchi rear suspension, and Bosch electronics (including headlight). Darmah 900’s could still break the 120mph barrier. The frame on the SSD model was different than the base model with the front frame down tubes being bowed and chain adjustment was eccentrics at the swingarm pivot.
This example’s odo reads 2,705, but the seller can’t say whether or not that’s accurate. Having said that, this Darmah SSD is said to be in in excellent shape with its electric start firing right up and the machine supposedly running and handling like it did thirty-five years ago. Though the Darmah lineups ultimately failed to garner the success Ducati had hoped for – reportedly due to the market feeling like it was too much of a compromise with the Darmah trying to straddle two genres – these machines nonetheless are beautiful examples of Italian styling and mechanics from the early-’80’s era.
You can find this rare 1980 Ducati Darmah SSD 900 for sale here on Craigslist in Plano, Texas with a price of $18,000.