Dear All
It finally happened, after the delayed delivery, the rain, the farmers mud and then the sunshine, I finally plucked up the courage to remove my Ducati 996s from her paddock stand and fired her up.
I have been waiting in excess of 10 years to ride let alone own a Ducati and today was the day that I realised my dream. I fought tooth and nail with my missus, I had to sell my first ever motox that I had owned for over 23 years and my RGV that I have owned since 1996 from new also has to go. All for me to be able to own my Duke.
I had so many different opinions on how and what I should do (watch out for the engine braking, mind the throttle response on roundabouts etc etc), but I had to put all the opinions to the back of my mind as I did not want to feel too nervous or more nervous than I already was.
Anyway moving on, I fired her up and to my surprise my better half came out to see what all the noise was about (was she coming round?) she said be careful and have fun
I popped her into first after warming her up for a good few minutes and released the clutch slowly as I moved across our gravel drive. Then it was onto the road and very gingerly along trying to miss all the mud from the tractors yesterday. Finally after half a mile I was onto the A10. Which way should I go, I asked myself as there are roundabouts in both directions. I turn left as the first roundabout is fairly big so hopefully my throttle control will cope. I approach the roundabout in 4th and change down, blipping the throttle until I engage 1st and enter the roundabout. My nervousness surfaces briefly but only until I lay her over very slightly and smoothly open the throttle. My god, what a shock, she was as smooth as a babies bum and I immediately felt at home. I have a quick blast up to the next roundabout, glance at the speedo and whoops, a little bit quicker than my RGV, better get the brakes on in a hurry. Two fingers not enough, which is a bit of a surrise but then I was moving quicker than I thought. I zip around the next roundabout feeling even more confident. Stop Dean, I tell myself, it's not your RGV and it will bite you
.
I relaxed somewhat and spent the next few miles taking in the sound and just enjoying what I was actually doing. I felt incredibly at one with my bike, my wrists were fine, just a little discomfort in the balls of my hands but I know that will go with time. I took in a couple of A roads and explored the power and brakes before I started the journey home.
On the route home I approached one of my favourite roundabouts (wide exit) and gave her a bit of juice, I felt the back end twitch but then she sat down and propelled me up the road like I have never experienced before. There was my smile I had been waiting for and I can tell you it was well worth the wait.
I then took a a leisurely ride home and arrived safe and sound. I had covered 53 miles and I was gone for just over an hour. An hour of my life that I will never forget, being the day that I had dreamt about for so many years and that I have worked so hard to reach.
I would now like to take this opportunity to thank all the guys that have given me valuable advice and I hope that I will soon be able to meet up with you and go for a blast.
Best Regards
Dean