Ducati Travelogue of Tigh Loughhead's Motorcycle Adventures in NYC | NYDucati

I've been running around like crazy this weekend.

Riding around on my Ducati Streetfighter this weekend was a blast, filled with that sickly sweet mixture of power and fear that makes your skin tingle and your throat tighten up, wondering about your mortality in the back of your mind (cue Song of the Sausage Creature...)

A photo posted by BADOC (@bay_area_desmo_owners_club) on Jul 1, 2016 at 6:44am PDT

I've been riding and traveling for most of the spring, so I haven't had a chance to catch up on my ride reports, but had to recap a bike night in Brooklyn a few week's back.

Coming back from Joshua's house, Mark from Brooklyn Moto had invited me to come to a motorcycle BBQ in Brooklyn, and watch MotoGP, the fifth round taking place in Le Mans in France.

I'm in the process of writing up a more detailed ride report, but last Sunday the East Coast Ducs went up to Hudson Valley Motorcycles and did a few hundred miles in upstate New York.

A short history of the Ducati Superbike over the last 30 years.

The master chef of Mu Ramen fame, who happens to a so be a massive Ducati motorcycle enthusiast and East Coast Duc member, invited the club to spend the afternoon dining with him and 52 lbs of mouthwatering, dry-aged prime rib steaks and watching MotoGP.

So I've had a rough time getting my bike on the road this spring.  After going out with the East Coast Ducs first ride of 2016 and discovering that I needed a new clutch in my 996, last weekend my chain was really loose.
However, I'm finally using my GoPro Hero4 Silver, and I've finally got some great footage of riding around the city,
even though I ended up getting pulled over on the West Side Highway.
Worried about my chain and recent drama at my garage, and wanting to get some video footage of New York City, I rode over to Klutch NYC, where Rafael runs a great shop in the East Village for motorcycle apparel and gear.
so we hung out for a while with my friend Erik, who is helping out detailing bikes at Brooklyn Moto.
I rode back to my house and ordered a new DID 525 chain, and a new Michelin front tire from Revzilla, before my girlfriend came over and we walked back over the Brooklyn Bridge,
to walk around Brooklyn Heights,
and watch the sun set over Manhattan from Brooklyn Bridge Park.
© 2016 Tigh Loughhead

Uggh... last weekend my clutch gave out hopping on the West Side Highway on the East Coast Ducs' first ride of the year.

Unfortunately, this is the third clutch I've had to replace in as many years (two dry clutches on my ST3 and one one wet clutch on my Monster), as well as helping friends replace clutches of their own, so I decided to create a little YouTube tutorial about:

How to Replace a Dry Clutch on a Ducati 916 / 996 /998

 I'm hoping to narrate a more comprehensive and useful guide, but here are some highlights on how to replace a Ducati dry clutch.

 © 2016 Tigh Loughhead

Alex and I arrived exactly at the Moto Guzzi Museum, in the small town of Mandello del Lario, at exactly 3pm, which was perfect, as the museum only opens for an hour per day.

The rest of the trip will feel odd without a motorcycle.  There is such agency that comes with a vehicle, and an added immediacy or presence on a motorcycle.  A motorcyclist engages with his or her environment in a way that no other mode of travel offers.  I never feel like a tourist on  a bike; rather I feel part of the landscape, as I feel the curvature of little pieces of earth as I wend my way down the road.

Alex and I awoke this morning amazed at the roads we had already traveled.  Yesterday we explored nearly the entire western half of Lake Como, as well as most of the periphery of Lake Lugano.  Travel has been thoroughly smooth all the way from JFK to Milan to EICMA to picking up our bikes and hitting the road. Newly invigorated from our recent successes, we decided on an ambitious route for the day, to try to explore a THIRD lake, also situated in between Italy and Switzerland, to the west of Lugano, called Lago Maggiore.

Milan, Como, Gravadona, Menaggio, Lugano

Apparently, sexy girls sell motorcycles.

 I don't think I've seen girls this pretty riding cruisers in real life, but Victory owners can dream...
 The new 2016 Multistrada 1200 Enduro
 New Ducati XDiavel. Note how far the footpegs are forward.
 This Ducati DesmosediciRR MotoGP bike actually belongs to Andrea Dovizioso.

2016 959 Panigale

 Ducati's new entry-level racebike is now a litre-bike (...shaking my head a little).



 I have a number of friends with 899's and most of them agree it was plenty of bike, but Ducati took the 899 engine and bored it out to a 959cc displacement, increasing the horsepower from 148 to 157.
 This awful looking exhaust will only be present on the Euro models, as American imports will have the typical exhaust, ending at the bottom of the scoop.

I'm exhausted, and I should be packing for EICMA in Milan in a couple days, but even though my eyes are bloodshot and my wrists sore, I know that I won't put this up unless I get it done tonight, even though I was riding from eight this morning till nearly eight tonight.