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.

Long Island is typically flat, an island tattooed with blacktop to accommodate an obscene amount of commuter traffic- which makes it kind of an undesirable destination for motorcyclists.  However, first thing in the morning, the North Shore is a little different.
There are hills around Great Neck, Bayville and Oyster Bay, of Great Gatsby fame, where the rich keep country houses in close proximity to nearby marinas.
And the roads twist and bend around the water, up into the hills and back down, creating a perfect (and fairly technical) route for the early morning Ducati rider.
  We rode out early, but alas we caught a bit of rain, which was just enough to raise oil residue from cars to the surface, without washing it away, creating a dangerous riding condition.
 But although we couldn't take corners as fast as we may have wished... we still had a beautiful ride with a couple of Ducati Streetfighters, Tommy's 1299 Black Ice Panigale, and a brand new Street Triple R.
We had a late breakfast at the Golden Coach Diner, and Tommy and I headed over to Billy Joel's 20th Century Cycles, the rock and roller's private collection of obscure and antique motorcycles.
© 2017 Tigh Loughhead