Dream Job Driving For Ducati

 

BROOKFIELD, CT – Pete Celona has made his home in Brookfield for the past three years, but his belongings have been in storage since July to enable him to enjoy an enviable vagabond life. This past summer, Celona got to drive bikes for Ducati on a cross-country demo tour. “As you would think, it was kind of a dream job,” he said yesterday, calling from the road from a truck cab somewhere in Kansas.

His adventure took him from the east coast – with stops at Seacoast Sport Cycle in Derry, NH and Wagner Motorsports in Worcester, MA – to the west coast with demos in Seattle and Los Angeles.

In-between, his visited dealers in Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska. The job not only required driving, but also helping coordinate the demo events with regional Ducati managers and dealer personnel.

“I did pretty much everything. I pretty much knew the bikes already and I had some training through Ducati,” said Celona, recalling that he started the summer tour just after the Fourth of July. Part of the job involved introducing the brand to riders who had maybe never considered Ducati before.

The job also involved dispelling long-held perceptions of Ducati held by some riders. “Years ago, people were kind of hesitant to buy Ducati because of how expensive they were and how expensive they were to maintain,” he said. That past reality has changed somewhat. “Ducati has really come around. A lot of service intervals went up. Maintenance costs have gone down.”

Celona drove a Dodge diesel pickup with a 30-foot gooseneck trailer filled with eight bikes. At each stop, the dealers supplemented the demo fleet. One of the benefits for Celona was that he got to ride the bikes himself. “Got some seat time on the Diavel and Multistrada,” he said, adding that he also managed some track time in Seattle on a 899 Panigale.

The free-and-easy lifestyle fits Celona, who grew up in Goldens Bridge, NY. He’s worked for several Connecticut motorcycle dealers over the years, most recently Moto Guzzi dealer Hamlin Cycles in Bethel, and has traveled extensively.

“My mom owned a travel agency for a long time. I’ve been all over,” he said, reporting that over the summer he especially enjoyed the “big sky” country of the west. “There’s nothing around – land and sky.”

Summing up the demo tour, Celona said, “It was a success. We saw a lot of riders coming into the Ducati product line. I hope they ask me to do it again next year.”

For now, he’s taken a job with Corse Moto Transport in Santa Barbara, CA and plans to move to SoCal.

– Bud Wilkinson