Ducati Travelogue of Tigh Loughhead's Motorcycle Adventures in NYC

I'm not a huge cruiser fan, nor much of a Harley aficionado, but these police-'hogs' (pardon the pun) looked pretty boss walking down 6th Avenue in Midtown today. I know the city spent close to $3 million last year on Harley Davidson Road Kings and Electra Glides, and I guess they wanted a strong presence for NYU's graduation ceremony at Radio City Music Hall this morning.

After several weeks of heartache and fruitless diagnoses, and another month with my newly purchased ST3 stuck at Fast by Ferracci in Willow Grove, I finally heard back what was causing the issue with my EOBD light. "Fabio," the service manager from Ferracci, called me the Thursday before my big trip to confirm my worst fear, that the ECU was bad. I found one on Houston Superbike's eBay page, and called them to confirm that I did in fact need the performance "racing" ECU, because of my carbon cans.

I woke up this morning around 7ish and checked the weather. After four days of sunny skies and the temperature hovering in the 60's range, I knew I was spoiled, and of course there were scattered thunderstorms predicted, which would turn bad in the afternoon.

I don't usually talk about cars here, but tonight I'm going to make an exception and digress. Asheville is a cool town. Our hotel was located a bit west of downtown, so we had to call another cab, which we disputed, as it was a $55 up front bill, not including tip. Between the three of us though, we managed to justify that split between us, this would be the typical cost of a cab ride in NYC. Turns out it was one of the best investments we made the whole trip.

I had planned on turning around and going back home today. However, we were out a little late last night (in bed sometime after 3am, though I swore it was closer to 11:30) and got up early (7am). I had planned on taking two days down and three days back up, but I was having a blast and the boys were trying to see how far they could get me to go...

Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R motorcycles in front Seneca Rocks West Virginia

Happy Easter! What an incredible day. We drove less than 300 miles today, but it was some of the best riding I've ever done. I don't think we saw more than 50 cars the whole day, the sun was shining, and the roads were incredible (albeit a bit gravelly).

Ducati 899 Panigale, Tigho's Monster, Aprilia Tuono V4R in Davis West Virgina outside the Bright Morning Inn 899adventures.com

Parked outside the Bright Morning Inn in Davis, West Virginia

Tigho waiting at a gas station outside of Harrisburg Pa for the boys from 899adventures.com | NYDucati

Six months ago, a friend of mine DynastySS told me he was moving back to the West Coast after 7 years in NYC. His company Streeteasy was acquired by Zillow, and he was going to take the long way round to get back home. He asked if I was interested in riding 300 miles / day non stop to San Francisco, to which I replied, "...on my Monster?" He said something along the lines of, "That bike is a cruiser compared to mine...I'm going to get my Triumph 675R track bike legal and take it across the country." Crazy...

For the past three weekends running, I've made the commute down to PA to work on my 2004 Ducati ST3, trying to fix or even find a presumably electrical problem with the bike. I finally got in touch with the previous owner of the bike (his dad sold it to me), and discovered the issue of the EOBD (check engine) light, error sensor messages and a jittery throttle, all which apparently stem from an unresolved issue he neglected to fix (or even inform me about).

Tigho's Naked Ducati ST3 in the barn, assessing electrical problems “EFI Er. 1.1” and “Er. 3.1.”

I need electrics...Saturday was beautiful day; sunny with temperatures in the high 50's in PA, perfect for a late winter ride. Sunday was cloudy, cold and barely in the 40's, creating a pretty brutal atmosphere for bringing my bike back to NYC.

I love my new saddle and tank bags, and a windscreen is an entirely a new experience for me, (since my Ducati Monster affords none of those accoutrements) but neither handwarmers nor wind protection afforded me too much comfort on the long, cold ride back to the city.

After a rather lengthy trip back to Pennsylvania last week by bus, my girlfriend and I met up with my brother in-law and went riding out from Giegertown out to Adamstown, PA. He's the Ducati expert in the family, and rides a Cagiva Gran Canyon, and I I took the ST3 out for the first time recreationally.

nyducati tigho rides to lancaster county in amish country with a cagiva gran canyon

I rode this 2004 Ducati ST3 down from Ringwood, NJ on Saturday to Pennsylvania over ice and snow, and I can't wait till spring to really open her up and bring her up to New York City.

Ducati ST3: First Impressions of a new Silver Duc parked in Tigho's barn

Lotus C-01 By Daniel Simon via Tigho NYDucati

from MotorCycle News

Winter Ducati Ride in Chester County Pennsylvania via Tigho NYDucati.

It was cold, but after the holidays, I managed to get out and do a little touring of wintry, windy Chester County.

January Snowstorm at DucatiTriumphNYC via Tigho NYDucati

Google's Auto Awesome feature can make some pretty cool pictures, but sometimes they turn out ridiculously. I visited Ducati Triumph NYC (DTNYC) in SoHo on Spring Street and 6th Avenue in subzero temperatures, and Google decided to add some festive snow to the scenery.

899: Baby Ducati Panigale Roadtrip ala Tigho NYDucati at Rockwell Cycle

A buddy of mine is taking this bike across the country.

The face of a Ducati Desmosedici RR on Display for Tigho NYDucati at Rockwell Cycle

The story goes that the owner crashed his Ducati Desmosedici RR, and needed a bunch of bodywork done, so he brought it to Rockwell Cycle. This bike was apparently his daily ride, which is rather incredible as there were only 1500 of these motorcycles ever made and they cost $72,500 new in 2006.

Drove up to Bear Mountain for the first time (in a car) for Rockwell Cycle's annual holiday party. The staff is fantastic, and I got to see my buddy's brand new white 899. Great food, music and a bunch of pretty Ducs.

Merry Christmas! Santa's real ride...

Every year (*ahem, during my two seasons on the road), we gather together on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and ride up to Oley, Pennsylvania to the Fire Station to give thanks for our beautiful bikes.

Tigho NYDucati Bobber Ducati Monster Cafe Racer on Craigslist

November Skies still beautiful to Ride under in NYC. Tigho NYDucati

On Essex and Grand Street riding mid-November
© 2013 Tigh Loughhead

Tigho NYDucati Custom Triumph Chopper off Bowery

Though I'm not a huge fan of the genre, I stumbled on this pretty custom Triumph chopper out making a fancy Saturday beer run to my favorite spot in the city, New Beer, on Chrystie between Rivington and Delancey on the Lower East Side.

Tigho NYDucati still riding to work into November.

Tigho NYDucati Ducati Beveled Desmo at Cycle Max in Downingtown

Don't sit on this vehicle

2014 1199 Superleggera Ducati Pictures: Tigho NYDucati

2014 1199 Ducati Panigale R Superleggera Ducati Pictures.
More information can be found in my original post here and here.

Ok, so there might be something wrong with me. I just spent a couple hours watching a rather provocative burlesque show at The Slipper Room on the Lower East Side, but the sexiest thing I saw all night was parked across the street on Orchard Street and Stanton.

This totally naked custom GT1000 was custom painted (you don't see too many in all black), what looked like motocross tires, clip-ons, a full tail chop and a funky exhaust.

Tigho NYDucati at the Ear Inn: DOCNYC Tuesdays in Tribeca

Several friends have invited me to the Ear Inn, where on Tuesdays there is an impromptu bike meet up in downtown Manhattan, at one of the oldest existing bars in Manhattan. I finally went with the DOCNYC on Tuesday, and though initially we were hassled by the cops a little bit, we had a great time, and even went dancing at the Spanish tapas bar Kaña next door.

tigho nyducati ducati ducati monster 1100evo

Tigho NYDucati: Ducati 1199 Panigale R Superleggera Ducati 1199 Panigale R

Ducati 1199 Panigale R Superleggera.1,199cc Superquadro engine with 220bhp, which should retail for around $65,000.

Only about 100 will be allocated to the United States.

More information can be found here.
© 2013 Tigh Loughhead

Boston Bay: NYDucati Lands on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Massachusetts on a Tigho Ducati Trip.

On the way back from Cape Cod, the sun was setting and I stopped off at Plymouth Rock. Even though I had an hour left to go to get back to Boston, I was glad I did.

Tigho NYDucati goes Biking to Boston and Cape Cod and Chatham, Massachusetts Cape Cod Canal

Last Sunday I decided to take a trip out to Cape Cod Massachusetts. I rode out to meet a friend in Chatham, Mass on the southwest of the Cape. Behind my bike you can see Cape Cod Canal, which connects Buzzard's Bay to Cape Cod Bay

Out in the woods in Western Mass - Somewhere South of Hartford

I tried my best to find a scenic route from New York City to Boston, but not only did I forget my winter gloves in 50 degree weather, I didn't realize that much of Connecticut and Eastern Massachusetts are a rather boring drive. I started up 684 to Danbury, then up 202 to New Milford to Nepaug State Forest.

Incredible Retro Custom Cafe Racers at the Brooklyn Invitational Custom Bike Show 2013

Heads Down: The Park Avenue Daily Grind : Tigho NYDucati

Brooklyn Invitational Custom Bike Show out riding today... Tigho NYDucati

Stumbled on the Brooklyn Invitational Custom Bike Show out riding today...

Tigho NYDucati: waterfront industrial park in Long Island City to take a break. To our amazement, in the corner of the parking lot behind a twenty foot chain-link fence was a waterfront bar called Anabel Basin with incredible views of New York City.

My girlfriend arms were hurting, as she's not too used to riding long distances, so we pulled up in the parking lot of some waterfront industrial park in Long Island City to take a break.

To our amazement, in the corner of the parking lot behind a twenty foot chain-link fence was a waterfront bar called Anabel Basin with incredible views of New York City.

I, for one, am pretty excited about the new line of Italian imports coming from Italy this year. I don't think MV Agustas are quite as pretty as Ducatis, but they're comparable in performance, craftsmanship and of course the pricetag. This 2013 MV Agusta F4RR retails for around $25,000, though a base F4 starts at around $20K.

Ok, so this isn't a Ducati, but it was a bizarre bike. I stumbled across this Dodge Prowler-style scooter chained to a lampost in Chinatown. I couldn't find a make, so I'm not sure if it was custom scooter or just another weird bike out of China (of which there are tons in downtown NYC).

I'm not sure if this was for sale, or just in the shop at Rockwell Cycle, but this was one of the wildest monsters I've ever seen. No cans, just baffles, twin-headlights, custom painted chromo tank, aftermarket belt-covers, open clutch cover, custom guages and carbon fiber everywhere and spoked, tubed rims.