1978 Moto Guzzi Le Mans vs. 1980 Ducati 900 SS

Enlarge Image Image Gallery 1978 Moto Guzzi Le Mans

Somewhere out on the technical Summit Point Motorsports Park circuit there is a blind, downhill left that drops away as you make the turn.

Exiting the previous right-hander, I run Shane Chalke’s immaculate Ducati 900 SS hard through second gear before rolling off and listening to the twin Conti mufflers work their magic on the over-run.

Lightly dabbing the brakes, I pitch the bike left to begin the descent, when in an instant I wake up in the middle of my worst nightmare. Without warning, both tires let go at exactly the same moment, and in the time it takes to say "Backus will kill me" we are heading for an extremely ugly crash. I can clearly see images of Shane beating the remains of my broken body with a bent fork leg as editor Backus cheers him on.

With the world moving little faster than one frame at a time, from somewhere outside the silent vacuum that has formed around me and the 900 SS, the sound of scraping snaps me back to reality. Another alarming jolt lifts me out of the seat, and we are immediately into another two-wheel slide. This scraping/sliding pattern occurs three times in total as I realize the center stand is hitting the track. With God rumored to have ridden a Ducati, He must have felt like extending a miracle to a wretched motorcycle scribe this day, as the third bounce puts us firmly on two wheels and rolling toward the fast left-hander. Drenched in sweat, with my heart racing, I continue around the racetrack at a much abbreviated pace, feeling like I am coming around from a mild concussion.

Ducati 900 SS on track

Visually, Shane’s 900 SS, a 1980 model he bought new in 1979, is positively magnificent, and firing the big bevel twin to life before my ride is as close to motorcycle nirvana as it gets. Waiting for the bike to circulate its fluids and come up to temperature, I stare into the bevel sight glass window at the gears spinning around. Watching the oil surging and splashing as I lightly blip the throttle, I realize a lot of good riding time could be lost over this enjoyable pursuit.

Pressing on with the job in hand and climbing onto the black Ducati, I find a tall, skinny motorcycle with a long reach to the bars. The clutch is heavy, but slipping into first gear is a breeze as the shifter snicks into first. Twisting on the heavy throttle, I make my way out of the pit area.