Last night I had the opportunity to attend Ducati's official "Grand Opening" in Soho.   Ducati Soho (the moniker by which the shop is more colloquially known) has been around for years, but the owner of Ducati’s most prolific franchise decided last year to divest the Triumph brand from his lineup, becoming Ducati’s flagship dealership globally.

Many of the Italian motorcycle brand’s elites attended, including Ducati’s CEO Claudio Domenicali their MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo, and Jason Chinnock, who I had befriended in San Francisco when Ducati presented the connected customer experience with Salesforce.
A number of club members attended as well, including many of the who’s who of the NYC motorcycling community.

 The evening was catered and included and open bar with signature cocktails,
and a strict, invite only policy, full with a bouncer enforcing the RSVP policy.
 I only got to go as my buddy Tommy added me as a plus one.
 ...though I guess I'm a pretty solid member of the NYC motorcycling community by now.
© 2018 Tigh Loughhead

Woke up Saturday ready to ride. and spent most of the morning mulling around Ducati Soho.
 Tricked out perfect purple Panigale with everything powder-coated from TheChopShopNY

 Friday night, a couple buddies were planning on a ride, though I mentioned I wanted to go down to Revzilla and try on some new boots, especially as I wanted to be down in PA to see my family that night.  Instead, I ended up planning a route for the NYC boys, up to Port Jervis and then down through the Delaware Water Gap, where we would finally split off in Easton, PA.
Unfortunately, it looked like rain, and we ended up meandering around Ducati Soho all day. I've heard a lot of mixed things about Ducati Soho (and had some 'interesting' experiences with their service dept), but the staff was extremely hospitable, especially Abraham, who helped me try on a bunch of different Dainese gear.
Even though I was out of the house at 6:30, I ended up hitting the road after noon, and got solidly rained on for about an hour.  A little wet, but no worse for wear, I made it back down to the farm and managed to get all three of my bikes running.
I replaced the battery in my ST3, which happily started right up for the first time since I had the valves adjusted in November, but my Monster's battery was dead as well.
 Sunday, I rode out with both of my brother-in-laws (they both have GT1000's), and we took an amazing little ride around Oley, PA.
 Both of their retro Ducati's were gleaming, and my dusty ST3 paled in comparison.
 We ended up at Union Jack's, drinking some fantastic Stone Enjoy By 07.04.15 IPA.
© 2015 Tigh Loughhead