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

One of the greatest motorcycle trips I ever rode was a trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway about three and a half years ago.  Back then, riding my M600 Ducati Monster, I'd attempt to keep up with two friends riding the first 899 Panigale ever imported to the United States, and a brand new Aprilia Tuono.

After the DESMO BBQ, a few Desmo and East Coast Duc members Glenn, Melissa, Michael and I were going to head up a few hours north to Harpersfield, to New York Safety Track, one of the favorite racetracks for speedy motorcyclists.


Sunset at Safety Track

This will be my fifth consecutive barbecue and bike show since joining DESMO, the New York and Tri-State area's officially recognized Ducati Owner's Club.

I've included a BBQ and bike recap of each of the previous four years below:

2013 Desmo Ducati Owners Club Annual BBQ 

2014 The 14th Annual Desmo BBQ 

2015 The 15th Annual DESMO BBQ

2016 DESMO DOC's 16th Annual BBQ

I saw this bike a few years ago, and was profoundly struck with its beauty, even though I didn't know a thing about one of greatest custom motorcycle fabricators at the time.
Although I was only peripherally aware of the WSM brand at the time, I was awestruck by this highly-modified MV Agusta Brutale triple when I saw it at the Brooklyn Invitational Custom Motorcycle Show a couple summers back, that I learned was part of Walt Siegl's "Bol d'Or" series.
 Walt Siegl builds out of Harrisville, New Hampshire, and is currently working on a couple Ducati projects using prototype aircraft-grade steel.
 I someday hope I can afford one of these machines, which I hear start at about $50,000,  and are backordered for quite some time, but until then... I'll just be happy that bikes this beautiful actually exist.


© 2017 Tigh Loughhead

I had a chance to stop into a new motorcycle and riding apparel store called Filipacchi a few months back, and though I was quick to Instagram the moment at the time, I just realized I never posted anything about this great new store.
Although I think they're licensed as a Ural dealer, I noticed the Cleveland CycleWerks cafe racer in the window walking around Soho in the spring rain, on the way to my friend's (and fellow Ducati enthusiast's) fintech event called Empire State Startups Conference at Webster Hall.

© 2017 Tigh Loughhead

 I had been out really early this morning, riding all around White Plains and 22 up into Connecticut, first with a couple of friends, and then with a bunch of East Coast Ducs as well.  But, I broke off early, as Moto Borgotaro had organized a couple of private collectors to do a classic 1970's Italian superbike bike show in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn in concert with Union Garage and Alpinestars.

Tommy and I had an early morning today, meeting a few friends off Exit 48 of the LIE at 7am.  The weather was a bit foggy coming out of the city, but I made it from the Lower East Side out towards Mellville in just over half-an-hour.

I had mixed feelings when Ducati announced Project 1312, which turned out to be the "SuperSport," Ducati's return to sport touring.
 I love the ergonomics of my ST3, which was unfortunately killed off by the introduction of the Multistrada in 2007.  Though their capabilities overlapped, the Multistrada isn't the same, offering aa more upright riding position, and which never really felt like a sportbike.

I met Jody at last year's DESMO BBQ, the 16th annual New York Ducati enthusiast's summer party. I had seen pictures of her bike before, but never had met the artist,  Jody Whitsell who one day took a Sharpie Marker to one of the most beautiful Ducati motorcycles ever built, a Ducati Monster S2R.
The funny thing is that I had the exact same idea to do to my Ducati 996, and even bought a set of cheap Chinese plastics, which I either wanted to vinyl-wrap, or paint or draw upon myself.

I had the chance to take the 2017 Ducati Multistrada 950 out today, a baby version of Ducati's all purpose touring motorcycle.

 New York City "Progressive" International Motorcycle Show

One of my best friends from college, who I hadn't seen since he got married about two years ago, is coming down from Boston for the weekend. Now he's not a rider, though he wanted to come, so I bought him a ticket.  His bus didn't get in till late, so we didn't get a chance to go to Javits for too long, and I didn't get to meetup with too many people, or take as many pictures as in years past.

I was a little worried that the riding season had come to close early this year. I had missed a bunch of events towards the end of September and October last year, although California was amazing.

Unbelieveably, in all of San Francisco, I'm staying about two blocks from Ducati San Francisco.  I've stayed for a couple of days in Portrero with a friend of my girlfriend, and then I'm crashing with a friend of a friend in the Mission, literally right down the street from Munroe Motors, the official Ducati shop in SF.

Off with the suit and onto the road...

Marketing guru and motorcycle fanatic

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.

To say my Streetfighter S is kind of scary is a little bit of an understatement.   The jump in horsepower is more than slightly unsettling (-compare about 115hp of my 996 to over 160hp+ on the Streetfighter, which is also a considerably lighter and more nimble bike)

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.

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