Lately, I’ve been running into a lot of bikers in various stages of their career. Getting to the track is paramount for these guys and ladies. I imaging they’ll be excited by the unveiling of the Ducati track day transporter, which is the result of a Toyota and Ducati collaboration. Every hobby and sport has its extras, and what makes this new equipment stand out is flip up bedsides, a motorized loading ramp by Rampage, tool and spares storage, and my personal favorite — pop up solar panels for accessory power. The transporter was unveiled at the SEMA hubub last week.
In 1926 the Ducati family founded the Società Radio Brevetti Ducati in Bologna. Based on Adriano Ducati’s patents, they sought to invest in radio transmissions. It wasn’t until 1946 that Ducati began to make miniature motorcyles. The first bike was the Cucchiola. An icon was born.
Disclaimer: The following passages are taken out of context in reference to this writer’s unfulfilled motorcycle fantasy.When you’re in your third trimester, unfortunately you have to turn down tempting offers of this sort:
Hi Tamara,
I have something I wanted to run by you and see if you’re interested in learning how to ride a motorcycle – the Ducati way…! Ducati just introduced a new motorcycle, the Monster 696. It is the entry level bike for the brand but by far the coolest and super stylish. One of the features on the bike is that the color is interchangeable so you could basically ride a different color bike each day…very big on the design element with this bike.
Here is what we are doing. Fly in, have dinner/stay at a cool hotel near Lakeview, CT. Next morning we would bring you to the Paddock at Lime Rock Park where you would actually learn how to ride a motorcycle on a Ducati Monster 696 and leave there ready to get your license. We would take you through the whole thing the “Ducati way”.
Humph. The doctor didn’t know what to say when I first asked him about G-Forces in reference to the race track. When this sort of invitation landed in my inbox, I knew that it wasn’t going to fly. I figured my rationale to be a motorcycle mama was pushing it. Never mind that the 696 is said to be Ducati’s most important bike of modern times. It’s light and laced with Brembo brakes with horsepower under the harness. That combined with American fuel fodder has made for Ducati’s strongest season to date with record breaking US sales this summer.
I can only speculate what Ducati is like on the open road, wind tussling my hair. It’s a whole different thing when you don’t know how to ride one. Maybe next year.
