My original fascination with Ducati goes back several years - my guess is that it started at, or right after, I attended my first Superbike race at what used to be known as Sears Points Raceway (now known as Infineon Raceway in Napa, California. The race was my first taste at what Superbike racing was all about. Up until that point, I’d ridden on the back of my father’s motorcycle and watched his admiration of these mechanical beasts, but had no understanding of why it could or should be an important part of my life. But then that all changed after I watched these amazing athletes hurl themselves around a concrete race track at over hundred miles an hour one after another. From that day forward I knew that one day I would own and ride a motorcycle of my own. I’m not sure this is really any different of an introduction to riding than anyone else’s, but it made a serious impression on me.

I finally made the plunge into the cycle lifestyle once I wrapped up college, purchasing an old BMW R1100RS that was a dull faded blue, had 85,000 miles on it and cost me $4,500. My father had been riding Beemers for quite sometime by this point of my life so I knew they were good, reliable motorcycles that also had ABS brakes. The anti-lock brakes were a really big deal to me back then, and still are, since I was very afraid of locking the front wheel and laying the bike down. Where I really lucked out with this bike was with it’s suspension. The original owner had added an Ohlins Suspension set up, both front and rear. So the bike handled amazingly well for its weight and was just a pleasure to ride over just about any road surface known to man.

Yet even though I was greatly enjoying my first BMW, I always secretly lusted after a Ducati. They are “sex on wheels” after all! In some ways staying away from a Duc to start out with only stregthened my curiousity with and interest in them. Ultimately to satisfy my desire to eventually own one, I purchased a 6 x 4 foot poster of an Ducati 916 SPS from off the internet from The Bullivant Gallery and made it the center piece of my Santa Monica, California apartment.

It was literally the largest thing in the whole room and an instant eye catcher. It was also 70% of scale, I believe. So it was large. Really large. So large in fact it took up the entire back wall of the kitchen. Earlier this morning while doing some web surfing, I came across a link that actually had a picture of the poster - hence the reflective mood this morning…

So I thought I would share both the photo and the link since it this poster ment so much to me… Especially since I now actually own a Ducati. I guess things do come around in this life…