I've been in Italy for work nearly a week now and had an unexpected day off today so I decided to make a short trip down to Bologna from Venice (about an hour) to visit the Ducati factory!
Upon arrival I was a little disappointed that I may not get in on the tour of the factory since you are supposed to have arranged an appointment in advance, but we happened to luck out by being american...which is unusual in Europe. The 2 tour guides (very cute italian females) happpened to have a thing for americans and my single friend who was with me picked up on it and ran with it. Next thing I know he was proposing to her and she was loving every minute of it
Needless to say, we were on the next tour with her as our guide!
As for the tour... What a great experience to be able to walk the floor where my 2 Ducati were built. There is a HUGE sense of pride from all the Ducati employees and it come through in the tour when the guide asks what everyone in the group rode and for those with "Jap" bikes to go back to the front gate! There were a few other comments that shocked me because we are so politically correct in the USA that I think we sometimes forget that pretty much everywhere else you can say what's on your mind without fear of being sued for it because it hurt someone's feelings...
Anyway, the tour consisted of a walkthough of the machining facility, engine building, bike assembly (Hypermotards in full swing), the corsa section, and the final test run area. I want the job of being the test run guy! Each bike is put on a dyno and run through the wringer listening, feeling, and checking electronics to make sure everything is good. All in all in was about a 3-4 minute process with about 2-3 bikes inline. Got to watch a new Monster 1100S get run in and the good to go thumbs up from the guy doing the job. From there they seem to have an area where perhaps some tuning is done after the dyno run to fix any minor issues found.
Last was the streetfighter and desmosedici production area and then on to the museum. I've got pictures from the museum which I will have to post when I get home at the end of the week.
The highlight of the trip though... Spied the new Multistrada!!! Just as we were walking out the front gate, 2 ducati's come roaring down the street and stop at the front gate. At first I thought they were hyper's, but then noticed the tall windscreen and dual angled headlights similar to the 1198 but tilted up quite a bit more. The front fairing looks a lot like the hyper nose with the 2 "snout-like" opening at the front, but gets much wider to wrap around like the old multistrada front end did. The headlight area of the fairing looked very cool along with the windscreen which looks much shorted than the previous multi. The tail of the bike was alos very similar to the streetfigthers tail, but with an extra bump on top (most likely a second seat or storage area). Like the last multistrada the exhaust was under the seat, but was a pretty slick and well integrated looking can with dual outlets. Looks like what they should have put on the hyper...!!! Other than that the bike was basically the same aas the hyper and seemed to perform like it too... Both test riders pulled nice long power wheelies across the front parking lot to show off a little bit for the tour group. Thos epower wheelies were then followed by a nice display of backing it into a left hand turn to go around the back of the building
Best of all was that 1 of the 2 riders tearing it up was a girl!!!
Overall great experience for any ducati rider visiting Italy. I just wish they had the PUMA Ducati V2 1000 boots in my size since they were on clearance for 200 euro. They largest size they had was one size too small but they were still damn comfortable. Way more than my alpinestars!
However, I did pick up some footpeg sliders while I was there so I look forward to grinding the down at my upcoming July 2nd trackday.
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