Ducati Tour Has Come And Gone

LITTLE NECK, NY – If you blinked, you missed them. Missed the new 2018 Ducati models, that is.

With Ducati noticeably absent from the recent Progressive International Motorcycle Show in New York, the best hope Ducatisti in the northeast had of getting a jump on seeing the new 2018 models was to get to dealers that the company planned to visit with the bikes during a tour. That’s the company strategy this model year; skip the IMS circuit (except for the Long Beach, CA show) and go directly to potential customers.

Unfortunately, only three stops were scheduled in the region. They elapsed quickly last week and weren’t promoted as well as they could have been. If you failed to get to Ducati New York in Manhattan, Gold Coast Motorsports in New Hyde Park, NY or Hudson Valley Motorcycles in Ossining, NY at the appointed hours, you missed out.

Among the models displayed on the Ducati Tour were the new Scrambler 1100 Special, Panigale V4 S, Panigale V4 Speciale, Monster 821, Multistrada 1260, XDiavelS and 959 Panigale Corse. They were nicely displayed when I attended the showing at nearby Gold Coast Motorsports.

What perplexed me, though, was the more than $17,000 price gap between the all-new, four-cylinder Panigale V4 S and Panigale V4 Speciale, which has an MSRP of $39,995. Is the difference really worth it? By the way, the base model of the Panigale V4 is $21,195.

Overall, as expected, the bikes were exquisite and beautiful. It’s just that it may be awhile before Ducati lovers get to see them again. The company plans to resume its bike tour after the first of the year, but none of the other dealers in the northeast – more than a dozen total – are on the itinerary. One wonders why no other Ducati dealers in our region are hosting.

Here are some more pictures of the Ducati tour stop at Gold Coast Motorsports:

Ducati has also put out a video showing the Panigale V4 in action on a track:

Photos by Bob Rosen