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

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.

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.

 We wake up around 4:30 or 5

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.

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. 

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, 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 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.
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.

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.