August was a busy month for Ducatistas in the United
States. The end of July had MotoGP
at Laguna Seca. The early part of
August had the Pikes Peak race where Multistradas demonstrated their
excellence. The final US event was
held the weekend of the 18th, MotoGP at Indy. One week after Indy, the MotoGP race at
Brno in the Czech Republic was held.
Lots of racing for Ducati fans.
Several of our members did the Indy run and assisted at
Ducati Island. Reports that I have
received indicate that it was a great time and the factory did much to make the
experience great for Ducatistas.
Unfortunately, no Ducati rider made it to the podium.
Closer to home, the owners group had a group ride on the 4th
to Bourbon, MO. This ride left
earlier than usual and was led by me.
Vito and Giorgio joined me on the ride. The roads were in great shape, and temperature was getting
hot along the route. While in
Bourbon, the three of us decided to head back via I-44. Vito led the way with Giorgio following. Once they hit warp speed, I decided to
let them go ahead and I rode at my own pace back to my house. All riders arrived home in one piece.
The August 7th Bike Night was well attended with
both new and old members. For
those members that attended and I had membership kits for, I passed them
out. I will continue distributing
the kits at Bike Nights until they are gone. We had a great presentation by Jeff Pittinger. Jeff discussed many of the aspects of
touring on two wheels. As he has
ridden several hundreds of thousands of miles, without incident, his experience
and sage advice is appreciated.
Ryan Harrison from MotoEuropa presented a new luggage line that is now
being carried at the dealership.
Ryan also demonstrated his method of packing lots of clothing into a
small space. After watching his
technique, I am amazed at how much he can fit in a small volume.
We initiated a second group ride in August and it was held
on the 18th. As MotoGP was going
on that weekend, Joe Henderson and Giorgio were the only takers. They did a pre-ride of the September 1
ride, and the route is on our website.
The weekend of the 25th was active as well. Vito and Cuban Rob did a ride on
Saturday to Hillsborough. Joe and
Jay did a Scavenger Hunt Ride. Later
in the afternoon of the 25th, many members converged at MotoEuropa
to hang out, pick up parts, look at motorcycles, and just socialize. I was there with my brother-in-law, who
visited from Peoria. He enjoyed
meeting all the members.
For the September 4th Bike Night, we will be
introduced to the new management team at MotoEuropa, we shall discuss more of
Ducati’s plans for the clubs and the brand as was presented at the World
President’s Meeting of 2012. We
shall highlight upcoming events, and I will continue to pass out membership
kits to those of us who requested them in 2011.
One activity that is being held by the Gateway Ducati Owners
Group, starting in August, is the Scavenger Hunt. The Hunt is open to all active members (those who have paid
their $20 annual fee) and consists of taking photos of your Ducati in front of
a variety of items. As I noted in
a previous post, I did a Bixby ride, and I photographed my MTS in front of the
Bixby General Store (80 Points).
As my brother-in-law was visiting from 8/23-8/26, we also toured the
various motorcycle related activities in St. Louis. We rode to the Munganast Motorcycle Museum on Gravois (I
have a photo showing the address and my motorcycle), and we stopped by
MotoEuropa where he viewed the MotoMuseum, met many of GDOG members, met the
staff, and was impressed with the dealership. They do not have a dealership like MotoEuropa in Peoria, IL
(where he is from). I also managed
to photograph my motorcycle alongside two police motorcycles while I was parked
at MotoEuropa. Sometimes it pays
to be lucky.
Some future activities are on tap for the rest of the
year. The I-70 series continues
and the dates and tracks are as follows:
Putnam
Park – Sept 8-9
Heartland Park Topeka - Sept 29-30
Gateway Motorsports Park – Oct 13-14
Some of you may be familiar with Barber Vintage Festival
held at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama in October. Well, Ducstock II will also be held at
that time. Those of you interested
in attending Ducstock and want more information on the event, please email me
at president@gatewayducati.com
and I shall send you the information that I have.
As the dog days of summer come to a close and the mercury
becomes more bearable, we should see great riding days in the St. Louis
area. Let us keep the rubber side
down as we take advantage of the roads and camaraderie we have.
Gary Kwawer
Chief Contact Person and President
Gateway Ducati Owners Group
No comments:
Post a Comment