Take a look through this.....It may have been posted before, but I hadn't seen it. PRODUCED DESMO-SYSTEMS And one that is missing....... Austin Marine Engines
Really like the setup on the Honda single. Such a simple setup with simple screw and locknit adjustment. If only Ducati produced a low end engine with simple features like this.
Desmodromic valve systems are first mentioned in patents in 1896 by Gustav Mees. John Alfred Prestwich patented a desmodromic valve in 1923. (He of JAP fame). Azzariti between 1933-34 produced 173 cc and 348 cc twin-cylinder engines, some of which had desmodromic valve gear....He effectively became Benelli. The 1914 Grand Prix Delage and Nagant (see Pomeroy "Grand Prix Car") used a desmodromic valve system. Austin's marine engine of 1910 produced 300 bhp and was installed in a speedboat called "Irene I". It wasn't until 1956 that Fabio Taglioni developed the Ducati system It amazes me just how long ago the system was used before Ducati got involved with it. I suppose we will eventually discover that Archimedes or Michelangelo invented the system.
