Ducati Pantah 600

We ummed and ahhed over this one for a while. The Pantah debuted as a 500 and it ended its life as a 650, and even the midlife Pantah 600 was almost out of our specifications thanks to its 583cc motor. But at the end of the day it got the nod thanks to its position as the first of the beltdrive camshaft Ducatis, and as such arguably the first of the modern era. And, hard though it is to imagine a paucity of 600cc sportsbikes, back in 1981 the Pantah 600 was pretty much the only faired 600cc racerep on the market.