Report from the New South Wales Ducati Owners Club Concours 2012

Reader Contribution by Ian Lee
Published on October 16, 2012
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Some things go well together. Spaghetti and meatballs. Spoked wheels and trailbikes. Early mornings and coffee. Some things do not go well together. Like Ducati concours events and rain. I was pondering this as I listened to the storm outside give no signs of abating anytime soon, and drifted off to sleep, set on the idea of there not being a big turnout at the 2012 New South Wales Ducati Club Concours event the next day. My fears will ill-founded though; the sun beckoning me out to spend a morning amongst the singles, desmos, the bevels and the belt drives.

Daylight savings always throws me out. I can never adjust to waking up earlier, but the thought of good Italian coffee spurns me on. Along the way I come across a Honda CB750/4 and a Kawasaki Z900, I ask the owners if they are heading to the Ducati day, but they tell me they are headed elsewhere. Which gives me an idea. But that’s a story for another time. Continuing on, cursing my own stubbornness when it comes to buying a GPS and using a 1997 UBD, I make it to Silverwater Park.

Started 35 years ago, today the Ducati Owners Club of New South Wales is 400 members strong. This Australian Ducati concours event is run annually, with all profits made going to the Royal Rehabilitation Hospital at Ryde. This is sort of fitting, as I have no doubt that the hospital has had to care for a few motorcyclists during it’s time. This year has been a bit more of a challenge in planning than usual, with a change in venue and the unfortunate passing of the stalwart planner of the concours event, Steve Chew. For all the changes though, just looking around it looks like everything is running nicely. The day has only just begun, but even just these earlybird bikes scattered across the oval would be enough to write an article on. I fall into conversation with Michael Berry, a Ducati specialist from the Desmo Clinic in Ryde. His military green 1979 GTS900 catches my eye, and he is more than happy to share the specs of this unique machine.

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