Having spent all week filming motorcycles it was awesome to finally come home and finally be able to ride one. Of course like the professional road racers I watched all week, you don’t get very far without a good crew and in my case that’s the gang at PI. While I was out of town the boys at ProItalia sorted out the mechanical issues with the Ducs. Turns out that the master clutch cylinders on both my bike and MotorMilt’s needed to get replaced. Thankfully both were warrentied. I think it goes without saying but I’ll be throwing down for the extended warrenty option before my warrenty runs out…

Getting back on the bike after a couple of weeks off was a bit odd as usual - the normal ebb and flow of riding felt far less familure than I would have liked and a bit more forced when I left this morning but eventually I got into the flow of things and found my rhythm. By far the greatest shock of the day was how much of a difference the new master clutch cylinder made to the bike and experience of riding. In many ways it felt like a new machine. The disengage point is now literally only a few millimeters away from a fully extended clutch lever - this location is no where near where it had previously been located. Only a few weeks ago I was having to drastically pull the lever back to the handlebar and then some. Now short shifting is the name of the game and the order of the day. I suspect that what this really means is that my clutch cylinder had been going bad for quite sometime and it was only the last few rides that made it completely apparent. The downside to this fiasco is that I feel like it’s going to take me a few rides to physically get smooth with where the disengage point is again. It’s that different. Night and day almost.

Eventually I made my way to The Rockstore for breakfast - actually because I was up so early I was just the 8th bike to pull into the parking lot this morning - before I hit Latigo Canyon on the way back home. Having a working clutch made all the difference in the world. Most importantly it brought my Duc back to life. It allowed it to breath again, in that visceral, exciting, emotional, extremely enjoyable way that simply has the ability to take your breath away at any moment. The kind of sensation that I’ve been craving all week and missing for too long. So even though I was seriously slower and less extreme than the road racers I watched all week, I felt incredibly lucky to once again be able to feel the rumble of a Ducati twin and the sheer throw-you-back into your seat sensation that a liter bike can provide on an amazing beautiful cayon morning in LA.