Cagiva Alazzurra model registry

Cagiva Alazzurra is a Ducati Pantah in ”other clothes”. Well, almost. The engine is the same and the frame is the same with some modifications. The most significant difference is the reinforcement at the upper attachment for the rear shocks. According to the Italian Wikipedia page the front fork rake is decreased by 0.5 degrees!

Cagiva Alazzurra was first showed for the public at the Milan motorcycle show in 1983 and the production started in 1984. That was after it had been agreed that Ducati should supply Cagiva with engines and it was planned that the production of Ducati motorcycles at Borgo Panigale would cease. If the plan had been implemented, the Ducati factory would have been a pure engine factory (at the time they were also producing car engines and marine engines). But that was not to be. In 1984 all Alazzurra was assembled at the Cagiva factory in Varese. In 1985 Cagiva bought Ducati. The production numbers of Ducati motorcycles was very low back then and they had capacity for more production. So when the Alazzurra 650 SS was introduced, during the fall of 1985, it was produced at Ducati in Bologna.

I visited the Ducati factory in July 1986 and they were shipping was I thought was the last batch of Alazzurra 650 GT's. At the same time the first two Paso’s were in the assembly line.

Thanks to Rob Klootwijk of ducatibrochures.com for sending the high resolution brochures.

Now some information I have regarding different models.

Cagiva Alazzurra 350

270 bikes were produced according to the Italian Wikipedia in 1985. They were also produced in 1984, but according to the Italian Wikipedia there are no information about how many bikes that were produced that year. According to the book Ducati Belt-Drive Two Valve Twins by Ian Fallon, the engine number began at DM350L 032503, but we can see lower numbers in this registry so that is probably incorrect. In 1985 it was available with a full fairing (not the same as the 650 GT). I beleive all were produced in Varese.

Cagiva Alazzurra 400 GT

100 bikes were produced in 1986 for the Japanese market according to Wikipedia. I guess they were produced in Bologna.

Cagiva Alazzurra 650

1166 bikes were produced according to Wikipedia in 1985 and 1986 including the GT/SS. They were also produced in 1984, but according to the Italian Wikipedia there is no information about how many bikes that were produced that year. The first bikes had a polished engine. According to the book Ducati Belt-Drive Two Valve Twins by Ian Fallon, the engine number began at DM650L 610365. The numbers before that was used for the Pantah 650 SL. During 1985 the engine colour was changed to black. In 1985 it was available with a full fairing (not the same as the 650 GT). Late 1985 the wheels was changed from type 1 to type 2 Oscams. I beleive all of them were produced in Varese.

Cagiva Alazzurra 650 SS

In late 1985 the US spec. SS model was released with a full fairing, dry clutch and bigger P08 calipers at the front. There are some pictures of early SS's with wet clutch and P05 calipers as well. The wheels was also changed to the type 2 Oscam wheels and the rear rim was a wider. Another change was a wider front fender.

Cagiva Alazzurra 650 GT

The 650 GT model was introduced in 1986, mostly for the European market. It looked like an SS but had some minor changes. For some reason they had the smaller P05 front calipers. I beleive the last batch was produced in June or July 1986. All 650 GT's were manucatured in Bologna.

More production numbers

According to the book Ducati Belt-Drive Two Valve Twins by Ian Fallon, the production numbers for the Alazzurra are as follows:

Code	Description	1985	1986
036200525	Cagiva Alazzurra 650 "Health" (=police?)	-	10
036300525	Cagiva Alazzurra 350	270	-
036300925	Cagiva Alazzurra 400		100
036400525	Cagiva Alazzurra 650	276	-
036400830	Cagiva Alazzurra 650 GT (fairing)	-	380
036400730	Cagiva Alazzurra 650 SS, USA	453	47
TOTAL	CAGIVA ALAZZURRA	999	537

According to the same book all engines were painted black from engine number 611554 (frame number 3M000789).

VIN codes and DGM codes

DGM

DGM is for "Direzione Generale Motorizzazione" - the italian main authority for all things that are motorized. All models seems to have their own DGM number and I don't know if there are some useful information buried in the code. It seems that the Alazzurra has the following codes:

DGM-51462-OM 2Mnnnnnn: Alazzurra 350
DGM-51462-OM 3Mnnnnnn: Alazzurra 650
DGM-51463-OM 3Mnnnnnn: Alazzurra 650 GT, or maybe it stands for full fairing

VIN code

The VIN code (mostly used on the US spec bikes) has a lot of useful information. There are at least two different VIN codes used on the Alazzurra. ZCGACDFFnnVnnnnnn was used for bikes buildt at the Cagiva factory in Varese and ZCG1CA2KnnBnnnnnn was used for bikes buildt at the Ducati Factory in Bologna.

Z = Italy
CG = Cagiva (or MV Agusta nowadays)
1CA2K or ACDFF = model/type.
1CA2K is a Ducati VIN model code for bikes made in Bologna. 1=street version, C= Alazzurra, A=air cooled twin, 2= 650 cc, K= 60 hp.
ACDFF is a Cagiva VIN model code. A=On road motorcycle, C=TL, D=4 stroke 90 degree gasoline and air cooled, F=650 cc, F= 50 hp
9'th charachter = Check digit
10'th character = Year (A=1980, B= 1981, C=1982, D= 1983, E=1984, F=1985, G=1986, H=1987, J=1988, K=1989)
11'th character = Manufacturing plant

Manufacturing plants: B and V. B stands for Bologna (Ducati factory) and V stands for Varese (Cagiva factory). So far I guess that all GT's and SS's were made in Bologna and most of the rest in Varese.

Litterature (download)

650 SS (wet clutch!) roadtest by Cycle Guide, February 1986
Workshop Manual 350 and 650 wet clutch
Workshop Manual 350 and 650 wet and dry clutch
Parts catalog
Brembo brakes rebuilding guide
Cagiva VIN codes
Ducati VIN codes
350 stickers (thanks to Marc Casals)
Motorrad #16 1985 (in German, thanks to Thorsten Megow)
Motorrad #17 1985 27 hp bikes comparasion (in German, thanks to Thorsten Megow)

Register your Cagiva Alazzurra

So what have you got out there (I’m interested in the original condition)? When you have registered your bike by E-mail (click on the mail image at the bottom of the page) I will put it in the Alazzurra Registry. It would also be nice if you can attach a picture of the bike in original condition, and how it looks today.

Model?
Frame number? Please send the whole number, eg ZCG1CA2K7FBnnnnn or DGM-51463-OM nnnnnnn. You can find it here
Engine number? You can find it here
Manufacturing year? (not the year when it was purchased)
Polished or black engine?
Wet or dry clutch?
Type 1 or type 2 wheels?
Half fairing/ 1985 type of full fairing/ GT full fairing?
Front calipers P05 (small) or P08 (large)?