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

My boys from Gotham Ducati in NYC are joining me at the track today.  James showed up after dinner last night, but Jerry and Tommy got in late. They decided to ride down, and didn't get in till after midnight and unbelievably, they rode down from NYC.

Harlem Superbike School OGs

Racing motorcycles is a ton of fun, but requires a good bit of preparation.  It's awful to wait for weeks for a track day, then drive several hours to NJMP or NYST to find that you've forgotten something essential important or essential.  I've put together the following pack list to remind myself what to bring along to a track day, but maybe you might find it helpful as well.

Track Day Basics

A bike: You should prep your bike and make sure it's running smoothly BEFORE leaving for the track.  If not, you'll fail tech inspection, and not be able to ride.  Most riders safety wire parts of the bike that might come loose during a track day, like an oil filter and bolts, which especially if you ride a twin (like a Ducati), often untorque due to vibration.

Riding gear: Most racetracks require full leathers (at least zipped together), and though you can rent gear, it won't fit nearly as well as something of your own, and I highly recommend adding a back protector if your suit doesn't already equipped. Most tracks also require "gauntlet" style gloves and race boots, and a decent helmet.

Track Day Essentials

Toiletries are also a "must have" if you're going over night.  I might also include ibuprofen, sunscreen and some towels as well. 

Track Day Optional

Track Day Advanced

© 2017 Tigh Loughhead

My goal is 10 track days this season... a weekend per month.

Credit: Anthony Collins Photography

Every weekend, when the mercury rises above 60 degrees, my boys and I are out at sunrise to participate in a ritual we like to call Harlem Superbike School.

Back at Jeff's New York Motor Works. I'm itching to get to the track, but I need new tires.

Last night I had the opportunity to attend Ducati's official "Grand Opening" in Soho.   Ducati Soho (the moniker by which the shop is more colloquially known) has been around for years, but the owner of Ducati’s most prolific franchise decided last year to divest the Triumph brand from his lineup, becoming Ducati’s flagship dealership globally.

Introducing Gotham Ducati, New York City's first and only DOC officially sponsored by the Ducati factory in Italy.  There are numerous riding and social clubs, as well as groups built around track days around the tri-state area.  There also quite a few Ducati fan clubs, spanning New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but until now, there hasn't ever been a dedicated club celebrating New Yorkers who ride Ducati motorcycles.

Although my situation could have been better (result of the at the end of this post), the first think you notice when you arrive at Ducati Westlake is that the motorcycle shop is nestled in between a Maserati and a Bentley dealership.
The size of the outfit is impressive, sitting on a parking lot filled with gift-wrapped luxury automobiles, and driving in, you really feel like you have reached the Los Angeles suburbs of Southern California.

I am loath to disparage other motorcyclists.  Riding is a small community, and yet there are certain transgressions that are unforgivable, and this happened today when Mo at EagleRider San Francisco put me on an unsafe bike that nearly killed me due to his neglect.

Just as I had stumbled on the fabled Munroe Motors (Ducati San Francisco) last year while at Dreamforce, I wandered by a shop this year overflowing with Italian Motorcycles which turned out to be Desmoto.

Walking around the Mission looking for a Best Buy (so I could find a card-reader to download my GoPro videos riding),

I happened to pass by a Cycle Gear and Desmoto.

he told me that Desmoto specializes in all types of European machines, from service to restoration to race-tuning.
 There were race farings and Italian machines everwhere, like this 850GT Moto Guzzi sitting next to a Ducati Monster.
 In addition, there were a whole slew of trophies and posters from years past.
 Brien told me that the space had gotten incredibly expensive, and was slated to move to Portrero sometime in the coming months.
 I told him about my upcoming trip,
 and my plans to try and hit Yellowstone before heading south towards LA.
 Brien also knew Patty (with whom I was going to hang out with the next day) and Mo, from whom I was renting a Ducati, who he claimed had hid bikes serviced at Desmoto, though not too frequently as I was about to learn in over the next few days.
© 2017 Tigh Loughhead

Last year after speaking at Dreamforce, I had rented a Ducati Hyper, and took off up the PCH on a trip that resulted in one of the best solo-motorcycling experiences I've every had.

Last year, I had a quite a bit of awesome route guidance from friends who had lived or ridden the West Coast, but none better than from someone I had not met yet named Patty, introduced to me by a local friend Sandro, who helps to run DESMO on the East Coast.

Selfie Photo Credit: Patty

Motorcycles are one of the best things to ever happen to me...

Today was one of those halcyon motorcycling days that I'll see in my memory in sepia-tones for the rest of my life. 

A few weeks ago, I had an utter fail at the Tail, where I broke my key in Georgia the day I was finally intending to ride the famed Tail of the Dragon.  I've wanted to ride this stretch of Route 129 for years, ever since I left two friends in Asheville headed to Cherohala en route across the country on Italian Ducati and Aprilia superbikes.

I've wanted to do the Tail of the Dragon for years... The Tail of the Dragon is one of the few motorcycle trips on my bucket list (besides maybe the Bavarian Alps) that I haven't ridden before.
If you don't know, the Tail spans a vertiginous 308 turns in 11 miles from North Carolina to Tennessee,  nestled in between the Smokey Mountains and the Cherokee National Forest, and which is widely considered one of the riding Meccas in the United States.

I stopped by North 14th Street with my buddy Eric last weekend for my fifth consecutive year attending the Brooklyn Invitational.
If you don't know, the Brooklyn Invitational Custom Motorcycle Show is a custom bike show in Greenpoint, Brooklyn each year, started less than a decade by custom motorcycle-builder Keino Sasaki, artist John Copeland and photographer Jeffrey Schad.

Looking back through my Google photos, and I can't believe I never posted pics from IMOC 2017.

I had missed last year, but had been to IMOC 2015 rally with the East Coast Ducs in 2015,

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.