Is there any other colour suitable for a Ducati?Or for any other Italian bike for that matter.
Kawasakis are green,Laverdas are orange,Ducatis are red-period.
Having ridden several over the years,
the first one I owned was the Rutter Replica 600F2 pictured below.
It was the real thing, with a fully tuned motor,Paoli forks,cast iron Brembo discs,
spax shock,single seat-very radical for its day..
She weighed 150kgs and had a claimed 127 mph top speed.
I tried to ride her on the road but unless ”on the pipe”,
she was lumpy,snatchy and rough.
On a fast road and on a rising throttle,the power and torque were scintillating!
Every inch a thoroughbred,built for road racing-races like the TT and the big circuits like Spa,Hockenheim,the Nurburgring.
The reason I say this is because of the steering geometry and the 18inch wheels,
the bike understeered quite noticeably,
- quick turning was not an F2 speciality-it was built for the open road.
I took the bike to parade at Mallory ,
at one of Mick Walkers Italian bike, race days .
Greatly admired,and sounding every bit the racer
with its very loud,short stubby exhaust(ear plugs a must!)
the bike took some steering round the hairpin and Gerards ,I can tell you!
Soon after ,I was having a TV aerial fitted at my new house in Chesterfield.
The guy fitting it was an ”early stocks” racer
that I had met, whilst racing at a Cadwell park meeting,a few weeks before.
His father in law had been a sidecar racer of some local notoriety in his younger days
and whilst helping his son in law out,spotted the F2 in the garage.
“Did I want to sell it?”
“Well actually yes”-the bike was advertised in MCN,due out on the following day.
He agreed to give me the asking price-£3500-which was what I paid for it.
Disappearing off for half an hour ,he returned with the cash,
loaded the bike in his van and left,having mounted the aerial.
WELL
9;00 clock the next day,I took a phone call from a collector,
ringing from Tokyo, inviting me to name my price.
His European agent had seen the advert and faxed him details.
I explained that the bike had gone already.
This was not a problem”,just get it back and I will pay”
Of course,the purchaser wouldnt sell it back to me!
Then later that week a guy from Denmark rang
and offered to wire me £5000 to find another F2 for him-apparantly he kept missing UK purchasers
as he lived in a remote corner of Denmark.
I didnt take up his offer-too much responsibility;
It pays to know your market though doesnt it? 
And then a black one next to it-
and a scruffy one!
Heres the Ducati team van
The highlight of the weekend,
Did you know that Ducati
What a shot!
What is it about big men and little bikes?
“GET OFF ME……..”
“Honey I shrunk the bike!”
“WHAT IS IT?”
Italian bikes are RED
and one with her clothes on
lovely brake detail
There was a cute 2 stroke Benelli for sale
Lovely condition,eh?
Nearly there!
A wacky MZ outfit,
And lastly,
Posted by Peter 
Posted by Peter 
Posted by Peter 