Ducati in the Mountains - The stars were aligned for a ride into the mountains today. Perfect biking weather, and nobody on the roads. The only worries were deer when on the road, and bears when stopped.
1969 Moto Guzzi Ambassador & 1972 V7 Sport - Loop frame Ambassador (V7 Special in Europe) and Tonti-designed V7 Sport are worlds apart.
V7 Sport in action - The Tonti-designed V7 Sport was Guzzi's first sporting V-twin. Performance and handling are way ahead of the Ambassador, even though both bikes are essentially similar 750s, and built only three years apart.
Other interests - I also enjoy fiddling around with old Jaguars. There are three in the garage at the moment - this is a '67 series 1 E-type. Believe me, bikes are less trouble, even Italian ones.
Another Le Mans Mk.1. This one was missing the small headlamp fairing, but was otherwise perfect and ran really well. Great sound from the competition pipes too.
1979 Ducati 900 SS Desmo. These are going for silly money now, but I got this as a swap for a lovely Fiat 124 Spider. But that was forty years ago...
1938 Victoria KR200 Luxus & 1959 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport - Two bikes I owned while working for BMW in Munich. The Victoria was road registered, and would run for exactly 55 minutes, then seize from the heat. Bump-starting was futile, so I learned to look for a good bar every 45 minutes while it cooled. I imported the Falcone from Italy, but never got it past the German TUV for registration. I borrowed some trade plates for a memorable 2-hour run through the Alps though. Probably the bike I most regret selling, but when you're freelance...
1982 Ducati 900 Mike Hailwood Replica. Great bike - always fired up on the first kick, but most times I ended up pushing it home for some reason. Another bike I wished I'd kept.
My third LeMans, another Mk.1 with 10,000 miles on the clock. Should have shipped it to the US, but made the mistake of selling it instead.
1925 SanSouPap & 1929 Thomann - Two old French bikes from the 1920s I owned while living in France.
Evaluating a loaned Harley T-Sport for Motorcycle Consumer News magazine in October 2000. The bike packed a decent punch, but weaved all over the road above 70mph. Okay, done - now can I have my Ducati back please? Backdrop is Roy's Motel on Route 66 - the location of many famous photographs.
On a remote mountain pass near the Albanian border, 1983. For around 100 miles, this WAS the road. The dog appeared from nowhere. Despite appearances, he's actually begging for a biscuit, not humping my leg.
Around this time, Albanians were know to take pot shots at anyone approaching their territory. So there were few stops - the trick was to present a moving target.
No thanks, Dad - I don't really want to swap it for your Maestro. Doing a family stop-over on my way to the Isle of Man TT with the works FZR in the late eighties.
My own TDM, fitted with forward-mounted Nonfango bags for solo touring. The location helped centralize the masses, and made for a more rigid structure.
Start 'em young! My son gets to grips with his Yamaha PW alongside his dad's Supertenere (another project I worked on with Yamaha). Note the appropriate footwear! The PW was a terrific starting point for kids, with no gears and shaft drive. Just to date the photo, Douggie has his own child now.
Just in case my daughter thinks she's saved from the archives, here's Heather on my new 600 Tenere back in '87. She was 3 years old back then, so you can do the math...
What I did on my Saturday. Old vehicles need a lot of TLC.
Getting the inside rear wheel light in my 911S on a terrific road in the Austrian Alps ca. 1984. I can't believe how much these early Porsches are fetching now.
Driving above the clouds on the Big Sur in Club Sportiva's Ferrari F-355.
Stablemates - 1966 Americana vs. 1969 American influence.
More stablemates. The Alfa went up in flames unfortunately while is was in the workshop for repairs, along with a dozen or so classics.
Early days. Age 30, with my Merak SS - as published in Car Styling.
Daily driver update. 390hp. Oh yes!
At the 2014 Sacramento 'Distinguished Gentleman's Ride'.
The full collection.
2015 DGR - doing my bit for prostate cancer research.
The Jaguar "collection", such as it was before the two older ones were shipped off to new owners in Australia.
gLike
Own Bikes & Cars
Here are some of my own bikes & cars from the past 30+ years, plus a couple of borrowed ones that I also somehow managed not to kill myself on.
