Ducati Travelogue of Tigh Loughhead's Motorcycle Adventures in NYC

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.

If you consider yourself a motorcycle-sort of person, then a trip to Barber will become more of a religious experience than an educational trip to a museum.

Last week I was down in PA, belatedly celebrating a bday, and my buddy Alex asked if I wanted to try riding a couple of his vintage Italian motorcycles. Now I've long lusted after the 1980 Ducati 900SD Darmah and 1981 Moto Guzzi CX100 Le Mans that sat in his garage, so I grabbed my GoPro and headed over to Giegertown.

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, New Jersey's officially recognized Ducati Owner's Club.

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.

I finally got a chance to check out Billy Joel's motorcycle museum in Oyster Bay, Long Island!

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.

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.

Sharpie Edition Ducati Monster S2R by Jody Whitsell

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.

Tigh Loughhead of Gotham Ducati and Erik Buell

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.

Today was one of the most magical roads I've ever ridden, traveling across the Lost Cost through Capetown to Petrolia, and then back through the fog, most of the way down Route 1, all the way back to Santa Rosa.

I got up early today a little miffed. My goal had been to get to central Oregon, and the lack of available hotels had pushed me back down south and inland several hours the night before.

This morning, after speaking at Dreamforce, and meeting a truly staggering amount of people, I rented a Ducati Hypermotard to ride up the California coast. Many more pictures and video are forthcoming, but I have spotty wifi at the moment, and will add some pics as I can.

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...)

There are thousands of bikes in Peru, though mostly 125cc motorcycles. Roncos, Pulsars, FZ125 and Yz125’s abound, and people use them for everything; from commuting to carrying pets to all-purpose delivery vehicles.

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.

NYDUCATI: Bike Night at The Tuscan Gun in Brooklyn

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.

Alex (with whom I rode Italy last year), needed to get out of the house and ride this morning, before my niece's first birthday party. Our excuse was a beer run, about an hour's drive up to rural Kutztown, PA to a great craft brewery called Saucony Creek Brewing (note: the "Hop Suplex" is phenomenal, but don't drink too many if you need to ride, as it comes in at 10.5% alcohol).

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

Tigh Loughhead in Ortaköy, Istanbul, Turkey

Barlas Gunay, Tigh Loughhead and Sinan Soyalp ride Istanbul by motorbike

I flew in to Turkey yesterday afternoon, to meet up with a couple of my best friends from college, who live in Istanbul. My boy Barlas picked me up from the airport, and Sinan joined us after work. Barlas has recently become a motorcycle fanatic, and was eager to show me his YZF250, a baby sportbike in the Yamaha R line. They don’t import this model to the US, only to Turkey and Asia, whereas in Europe they import the R3, whereas the entry bike in the states is the R6.

Tigh Loughhead visits the Moto Guzzi Museum with NYDucati

A quick walk up flight of stairs yielded another generation of Moto Guzzi racing motorcycles.

Tigh Loughhead: NYDucati visits the Museo Moto Guzzi in Mandello Del Lario, Italy

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.

NYDucati: Custom Ducati Cafe Racer shot by Tigh Loughhead

One of the prettiest Ducati's I've seen, I'm pretty sure this was built from a 900SS.

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.

We didn’t get riding quite as early as we wanted yesterday, but we did get a ton of riding in today. I think cheap grappa last night put me over the edge, and we needed breakfast, but the hotel turned out to be just as creepy as the night before, with the host hovering over the unappetizing continental breakfast that the hotel offered. Also, no one drinks coffee here (café Americano, that is…), but instead; caffeine is consumed in tiny sips of expresso, which isn’t really enough to get me going in the morning.

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

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Check out Gotham Ducati, NYC's first and only official Desmo Owners Club

Off with the suit and onto the road...

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

Milan, Como, Gravadona, Menaggio, Lugano

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