But wait, there's more ...
PART 7So we spent the next week back in Lucca (just outside Pisa) where we were around familiar faces and some English speakers. A convalescing hospital escapee is not the same as a tourist so our final week in Italy was a pretty low key affair. Joe and the guys continued to help us out where they could including hosting us for a couple of dinners, organising accommodation, providing us with a local SIM card for the phone and helping Julie with her blood tests.
But the biggy was Joe driving us back to Bologna so we could see the factory and museum … Joe’s 2 year old daughter had affectionately named Julie ‘Granny’ but nothing was going to stop her hobbling her way around the factory floor and museum. We first stopped at the ‘factory outlet’ just up the road. Next time we will remember our passport for duty free shopping … the prices are cheaper there than the small shop at the end of the museum just remember they are slightly discounted Ducati prices so don’t expect any real bargains.
We quite enjoyed the short walk around the factory (no photos) which is quite clearly a place that has been cobbled together over the decades. The assembly is still done by hand and they seem to make quite a big deal about the number of females on staff … I reckon smaller hands would be a big advantage. Basically one person is responsible for the assembly of an entire bike … not only does this give the workers more variety it also allows them to take some ownership of the final product.
We saw a couple of Streetfighters enter the Dyno booth while we were there as this is the final test procedure before they are packaged up for shipping – the old guys seemed a bit smoother on these poor bikes than the youngens … and then they go and rev-limit your bike during run-in
. We were surprisingly happy about the factory tour – I mean it is just a factory/assembly-line right? – but it would have been so much cooler if we had have been able to it a little earlier when we would have been able to see the ‘old-style’ Monsters coming along the production line.
Then it was on to the museum … a brief rundown is not likely to spoil any future visit you may have in mind (especially as I have since heard that they will be re-building the factory and (bigger) museum a little further down the road. The foyer has a couple of the more recent models on display while we were there this included a Streetfighter and a Desmocedici. The hall leading into the museum had a few Ducati artefacts/curios in cabinets such as cameras, typewriters and radios … and then all the bikes.
It starts with the Cucciolo and comes right through to the modern day. Perhaps unsurprisingly the focus is on the racing bikes from the early stuff to the modern WSBK and MotoGP bikes with a section dedicated to each. We were given a brief run-down by our guide before being left to wander/wonder and take a photo or two (hundred). Not being mechanically inclined (and with a pretty limited knowledge of the old bikes or the racing scene) my observations were pretty much limited to “ooh, look at the pretty bikes”. If you want to know more you may just have to take a visit yourself.
Like all museums it is difficult to be all things to all people when you have such limited space – and dare I say it – a limited stock of bikes to choose from. But the bikes on display are immaculately presented. I understand that the early (bike producing years) of Ducati were filled with some pretty bespoke machines and there have been some unique bikes produced. But there were no scooters on display and a section dedicated to the Apollo … a bit more attention to their most recent saviour (the Monster!) would have been nice for us. But I suppose the image is all about racing so it is fair that that is where the focus lies.
Funniest part of the tour was when the guide (whose father’s race bike is on display) started giving the safety apparel speech and about how dangerous it was back when her dad was racing and talking about injuries. Julie couldn’t help herself, exclaiming “like this” as she showed off her recent belly re-structure … this only reinforced how revered the girls seem to be at Ducati. It turns out that the accident site was only about 4km from the factory … so we had almost made it a week or so earlier.
... stayed tuned for the last boring instalment ...
