We'll the rain held off for today so I took the opportunity to to have my first ride on my new SPS. Not a special road, no special scenery, no awesome corners, no other bikes to ride with ... but boy what a ride. I'm 40 yrs of age with two young kids and I thought my life was over! Not now! I got home with such a grin on my face ... my Mrs said that she hadn't seen me like it for years, and it was like she got the man she married back. I've been on cloud nine all evening after spending an hour of therapy cleaning the bike after I got home.
I don't know if everyone feels like this after their first proper ride on a Ducati, but it was exactly what I had imagined and exactly why I had lusted after one of these babies ever since I got my first bike nearly 25 years ago. You don't have to be doing anything extraordinary to have a fantastic time on a Ducati - the sound and the feel of the bike are so awesome and it just oozes character after all those UJMs I have owned. The last time I had as much fun on a bike was on my 250 LC when I was 18 years old and still on L-plates. The Ducati has the same way of making you feel so "special". Remember when you were 10 years old and you got that new pair of football boots that were so great that you had to wear them to bed? Well the SPS makes me feel exactly the same. If I could sleep with it I would!
All I can say is, if anyone out there is thinking of buying their first Ducati then do whatever you have to do to make it happen ... you owe it to yourself before you die! And if anyone out there has been riding Ducatis so long that it no longer gives them that thrill (does that ever happen?) then give me a shout and I'll ramble incoherently at you about it till you remember why you bought the thing in the first place.
Gobsmaked!
