I'm exhausted, and I should be packing for EICMA in Milan in a couple days, but even though my eyes are bloodshot and my wrists sore, I know that I won't put this up unless I get it done tonight, even though I was riding from eight this morning till nearly eight tonight.

Hawk's Nest with the East Coast Ducs

 Over the years, my riding friends have dwindled as the seasons change, so I was fairly amazed that twelve or thirteen bikes from the East Coast Ducs showed up on 10th Avenue and 45th Street this morning at 8:30am.
 Braving 40-50 degree weather, we went up the Palisades towards Bear Mountain and Seven Lakes Drive, a notoriously twisty, scenic series of roads.
 I was happy to be testing a whole bunch of new winter gear,
as in a week I'm hoping some friends can rent a bike and travel up around Lake Como in northern Italy.
It would be nice to do it on a Ducati, but I'm just hoping we can find some wheels outside Milan.
 Today was good practice though, and the weather really warmed up towards mid-day.
 Our penultimate destination was Hawk's Nest, a couple mile stretch of winding curves, one after another, a few hundred feet above the Delaware River Below.
 Hawk's Nest is just north of Port Jervis, and if I remember correctly, it's sort of the informal northern end of the Delaware Water Gap.  We arrived at around 1:30, and ended up way behind schedule, going back and forth up the mountain.
After some fantastic Barbeque. we didn't head back home until nearly 4:30, as dusk approached.  I stupidly had only my dark visor, which is basically useless at night, so I had to ride back for nearly an hour, from north of Bear Mountain, all the way back to the Lower East Side, with no visor at all.
Luckily I made it home safe, but clearly no prettier than when I started.
© 2015 Tigh Loughhead

East Coast Ducs Photo Credit: Alex

I didn't sleep too much last night, and had to get up early to be at Columbus Circle at 7am.  I'll write separately about the motorcycles at the 2015 IMOC rally, but this is how the ride there went down:

 Last year, about 40 DOCNYC members had RSVP'ed, but only three other people showed up to IMOC (The Italian Motorcycle Owner's Club Rally) besides me, when I was riding down from a college buddy's wedding in Boston.
 But, now that I riding with a new crew, the East Coast Ducs 11 people signed up to come, and 11 people showed up.
 About half of us left from NYC, and I may or may not have eluded the police (mostly by accident),  as everything is on high alert with both the pope in town AND the UN General Assembly in session.
 We met the other half of the group in Stamford, Connecticut, and began the 150 mile trek up to Massachusetts.
 The weather was actually a bit chilly as we hopped on the Merrit Parkway, and we attempted to find some back roads in northern CT and southern Mass, but without too much luck.
Good riding with good friends though, and eventually we rolled up to the Hamilton Rod and Gun Club.
  There were many fewer bikes than last year, but still an amazing collection of motorcycles, mostly of the Italian variety.

Photo Credit: Alex

 Last year I got stuck on I95 for several hours, and a few of us were determined to get home somewhat early.  Suzy and Erik and I were hoping to take the ferry back to Long Island, but unfortunately they were booked, and we all at least started out planning to leave together, even though we ended up breaking up into a couple groups (as usual) to get home.
© 2015 Tigh Loughhead

Woke up Saturday ready to ride. and spent most of the morning mulling around Ducati Soho.
 Tricked out perfect purple Panigale with everything powder-coated from TheChopShopNY

 Friday night, a couple buddies were planning on a ride, though I mentioned I wanted to go down to Revzilla and try on some new boots, especially as I wanted to be down in PA to see my family that night.  Instead, I ended up planning a route for the NYC boys, up to Port Jervis and then down through the Delaware Water Gap, where we would finally split off in Easton, PA.
Unfortunately, it looked like rain, and we ended up meandering around Ducati Soho all day. I've heard a lot of mixed things about Ducati Soho (and had some 'interesting' experiences with their service dept), but the staff was extremely hospitable, especially Abraham, who helped me try on a bunch of different Dainese gear.
Even though I was out of the house at 6:30, I ended up hitting the road after noon, and got solidly rained on for about an hour.  A little wet, but no worse for wear, I made it back down to the farm and managed to get all three of my bikes running.
I replaced the battery in my ST3, which happily started right up for the first time since I had the valves adjusted in November, but my Monster's battery was dead as well.
 Sunday, I rode out with both of my brother-in-laws (they both have GT1000's), and we took an amazing little ride around Oley, PA.
 Both of their retro Ducati's were gleaming, and my dusty ST3 paled in comparison.
 We ended up at Union Jack's, drinking some fantastic Stone Enjoy By 07.04.15 IPA.
© 2015 Tigh Loughhead

 I woke up early this morning to a beautiful, blustery spring morning.
 I hopped on the MTA North (Hudson line) up to Garrison, to be picked up by the guys at Rockwell Cycles, who had just done the service interval on my Ducati 996.
 They picked me up at the Manitou station, and I decided to walk up the hill towards the Bear Mountain Bridge, and a stumbled upon a couple incredible houses, like this uber-modern glass structure overlooking the Hudson River.
 After I picked up my bike, I texted a few friends, one of whom came up on his black Monster, and we took a quick ride up to Bear Mountain.
 After parting ways, I headed over to the DESMO "Oil Spill" at ECS outside of Middletown, NY.  I got terribly lost without a proper GPS setup, but eventually got there around 2pm for some cold pizza and a few members still wrenching their bikes.
 I parked next to one of the coolest (and most bizarre) cafe racers I have ever seen; a custom built 748 (you can see my matching tank in the background.
 The owner had totally rebuilt the bike, and added all kinds of aftermarket black and red parts, carbon fiber, and even a custom carbon fiber and fiberglass tail he made himself.
 The guys at ECS were fantastic, even helping to change DESMO members' timing belts.
 Other members brought their race bikes in for minor adjustments.
About 5 of us took off around 4:30 or 5, and went for a quick ride, back the way we came, on a 996, a Panigale 1199S, an 899 Panigale (above), a 1200 Monster and a Speed Trip-
© 2015 Tigh Loughhead

 New York City "Progressive" International Motorcycle Show

Ducati Models for 2015

 After helping rescue a junkie on the subway, where this poor kid kept falling against a departing train, then proceeded to jump down onto the tracks where he couldn't even regain his footing (I pulled him away then out from the tracks), I was ready for a real thrill at a motorcycle show.
 To be honest, I hated the scrambler when it was first announced.  I thought it was an embarrassing marketing ploy to throw a cheap product at the previously untapped hipster market that Triumph dominates.  And arguably it is... The new Ducati Scrambler is by far the cheapest Ducati on the market, they're pandering to the modification scenesters, banking on building a market for "customization" and aftermarket parts, and the bike is manufactured in Thailand, which is sacrilege to a Ducatisti purist.
 Ducati Triumph Soho had a number of custom bikes, and a few had outrageous styling, like this neon Panigale with the see-thru Ducabike wet clutch system.
 Perhaps a bit absurd, but coordinated at least.
 As a reminder that Monster's now have returned to metal tanks, this 1200S Monster was polished down to the steel.
 Another blinging Panigale 1199S from TheChopShopNY.com