Ducati. It's a name full of racing heritage and tradition, but it hasn't always been that way. The company's roots are much more humble, first by selling radio equipment before moving into the world of two wheels with a quaint motorized bicycle dubbed the Cucciolo – meaning "puppy" in Italiano – because of its cuddly exhaust note. Needless to say, there was no way of knowing in the early 1950s that the brand would go on to become one of the most successful grand prix racing companies in the world. But we're sure glad it did.

Racing success came early and often in the '70s for the Italian motorcycle manufacturer, and in 1972 Ducati won the Imola 200 with an air-cooled 750cc L-twin engine wrapped in a cradle-type frame. These are the bikes that Ducati sought to replicate with the SportClassic range that first debuted in concept form at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show and finally went into production in 2006. Living up to a legend is never an easy task, so when we managed to get our greasy mitts on a brand-new 2009 Sport 1000 for a couple of weeks, we wasted no time getting familiar with this sleek black machine. Follow the jump to see what we thought.