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Thirty Ducatis and Stuart Parr at Art of the Italian Two Wheel

Video below:

Last week, I organized a bike night with Stuart Parr to view his Art of the Italian Two Wheel exhibit at 285 Madison Avenue in Midtown NYC.

Ducatis congregating around Central Park.

Stuart came out and joined us at Columbus Circle on a 1974 MV Agusta 750S Grand Prix motorcycle, and we tore around Manhattan with around thirty Ducati riders.

A number of riders from the DOCNYC and other Ducati clubs showed up, and we tore through the city behind Stuart's very loud MV Agusta.

We went uptown first, then through Central Park, and down 5th Avenue, revving our engines at every opportunity.

Finally, we rolled up to 40th and Madison around 7pm.

Stuart tried on a few of our bikes for size, like Arthur's gorgeous MV Agusta F4 above.

Many riders had taken off early from work, but happily sweated through our suits hanging out in the presence of such Italian history and beauty.

We hung out at Art of the Italian Two Wheel, comparing bike stories,

and hearing a little more about the history of beveled Desmos, among other two-wheeled Italian factota.

Stuart has collected so many incredible bikes, like this 1976 900SS and 1966 Van Tech Motobi delightfully mounted on the wall.

The centerpiece of the event is 5 immaculately preserved 70's era MV Agusta 750S GP bikes, a testament to Grand Prix racing when MV Agusta was virtually unchallenged in motorcycle racing.

Many people consider this fully-faired Ducati 750F1A a masterpiece, though it was completed during a transition period for Ducati, when it was acquired by Cagiva. Built as a TT replica, later F1 models actually bore the Cagiva branding.

This LaVerda 750 SFC (Super Freni Competizione) was actually built as an endurance racer, though it weighs over 500 lbs. My favorite was the eggshell blue-frame 750SS Imola replica below:

A bunch of riders from the DOCNYC, DESMO and some other clubs like the MissFires showed up to the event, and we ended up riding down to the Ear Inn around 8:30. The ride down there was squidly at best, and though we turned a ton of heads riding through the city, and revved our engines aplenty (with many people lane splitting and MotoGP starts at virtually every stoplight), everyone arrived safely downtown. I'm embarrassed at how fun it was...

My friend Chris had a bubble in his clutch line, and had asked me to bring my brake bleeding kit along with me on the ride.

So after a beer, we pushed his 998 onto the sidewalk in front of the bar, and proceeded to bleed his clutch with the help of about 15 riders, so he could safely make it home.

© 2015 Tigh Loughhead