A NEW KING OF MOUNTAIN PASSES

Have you ever stopped to wonder why we bikers are drawn to Ducatis? Put the question to Facebook and I suspect you’ll get many different answers. For some, it’s as simple as the best of them being irresistibly red. Others will make the argument that, regardless of hue, they’re simply the most beautiful motorcycles (and with the 916 and Panigale as examples, it’s hard to argue their point). Still others will say it’s the engine; their contention is that the Italian take on pistons is somehow more soulful than mere internal combustion. Indeed, the true technocrat will just mouth “desmodromic valve actuation” as if no further explanation is needed.

For me, it’s always been the Ducati appetite for apexes. Slow steering (the aforementioned 916) or quick to full lean (that would be the latest Panigale), 17-inch slick or 19-inch semi-knobby up front, it matters not; if it’s wearing a Ducati badge, you know there’s a certain accuracy of steering that’s missing