N
OW THAT I AMwhat I
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title can imply a staff member with
regular writing responsibility and some
editorial duties) but that reads like too
much work to me, so I reckon I’m
Editor Emeritus or “a person retired
from professional life but permitted
to retain as an honorary title the rank
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Dictionary has it. We have not settled
this dispute; it will continue, I suspect,
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What I’m trying to tell you is that
with my new job, I have a bit of time
to indulge myself. I still sub* the
magazine, but the rest of my time is
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trips that I’ve wanted to do for a long
time. One of them will probably be
a couple of weeks in the Dolomites.
I’ve been there before, but one trip
was rushed and the other was washed
out, so I’m picking a good part ofDucati Multistrada 950
WORDS/PHOTOSTHE BEAR
ON THE
ROAD
the year and allowing plenty of
time. All worked out.
The question that remains is
what motorcycle I should ride. I
don’t think I’m blowing too hard
if I say that I am on exceptionally
good terms with almost all of the
motorcycle manufacturers, and
several have gone out of their way
in the past to deliver motorcycles
to the places where I wanted to
begin my travels.
In one case I tried to be obliging,
and asked BMW for a bike pickup
in Berlin. After all, that’s where
they build them. They helpfully
agreed, but when I went to collect
the bike the bloke at the delivery
centre said, “Ach ja, das ist gestern
aus Muenchen angekommen.”
Fortunately I understand German, so
it was clear that the bike had arrived
the day before – from Munich. It
turns out that all BMW test vehicles
come from Munich. My planned ride
was through the Alps, so it would
have been a lot easier for them if I’d
collected the bike there...
Anyway, a ride in the Dolomites
calls for an Italian motorcycle, and
I had seen and admired the new
“little” Multistrada when we had it
on test. A call to Ducati Australia
yielded a bike to play with while my
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A day of playing ‘mountain rider’
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following conclusion: the Multistrada950 is the best Multistrada I have
ridden, and I have ridden many.
The 19 inch front wheel makes this
a pleasant animal indeed, and the
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high seat and weight of 227 kilos
wet (that’s with 20 litres in the tank,
folks) produces a motorcycle that I
am hanging out to play with in the
many hairpins of the Dolomites. It is
remarkably comfortable, and there are
no unpleasant vibrations. Of course, I
still have to get Ducati to give me one.
But we’re like that, right?
The luggage with which ‘my’ 950 was
supplied was pretty amazing; I reckon
I could have had a bath in either of
the aluminium expedition panniers,
while simultaneously cooling a couple
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other one. Of course I would not have
been riding while I did this because – I
don’t bathe and ride!
I cannot tell you how much I am
looking forward to this trip, both for
the scenery and the bike. This is going
to be serious fun. Read about it in due
course right here.*Subbing involves taking other people’s copy,
which has often had many hours and much
sweat expended on it, and altering it freely
while pretending to be correcting its
grammar and spelling; all the while
laughing maniacally, shouting “Oh you think
so, do you? Fool!” and drinking straight from
a bottle of Jameson’s. To give you an idea of
how important this job is, Boris does it when
I’m away, except he drinks cheap bourbon. DTECHNICAL