After attending the MotoGP race on Sunday my son and I were even more excited about the tour of the Ducati factory and museum that we had scheduled months ago. It was easy to sign up for one, just go here http://www.ducati.com/company/book_your_visit/index.do and enter your details. It was 10 euro per person, and well worth the price.
We had heard that you must arrive early for your tour to get checked in, so we made sure we were in Borgo Panigale in plenty of time. About 30 minutes before our tour was scheduled to leave we checked in at the main factory gate, and then waited outside with about a dozen other folks. At 10 minutes before our scheduled start our lovely Italian tour guide showed up and we were off.
Employee parking outside the factory. Primarly Monsters and new Multistradas
First stop was the small Ducati Musem store where we had to pay for our tour, then it was off to the factory floor. Our tour guide explained that the front, smaller part of the factory complex was the street motorcycle area, which is what we would be seeing. The larger half of the factory was Ducati Corse, the racing division, which she says she's never even seen the inside of. "Very secret, special keycards".
Of course we were not allowed to take any pictures inside the factory. I was surprised to learn that almost nothing is "made" in the factory, nearly everything comes from suppliers and is assembled here. I think the engine crankshaft was one of the only parts made in-house. There were 3 assembly lines, one for Monsters and Hypermotards, one for superbikes/streetfighters, and one for Diavels and Multistradas (iirc). The Diavel/Multistrada line was the old Desmosedici line. She said the new Multistrada was a huge success, and that the Superbikes are not popular in Europe (too "sporty").
I was hoping to see a huge river of red paint running through the middle of the factory, Willy Wonka style, with happy Italians scampering about dipping trellis frames in the waters, but was disappointed. At this point there are no paint facilities on site. They are hoping to add that ability soon.
The factory tour took about 30 minutes, and then we moved over to the Museum. Camera were whipped out, and jaws dropped as we were led around past some simply gorgeous machinery. She would stop at certain bikes and give us some history as to it's importance, and happily answered any questions asked. Sadly the tour was over much too quickly, and you weren't allowed to wander around without a guide.
How it all started
She pointed out the number of records won :-)
The 4-cylinder Apollo project. Only one full bike ever produced, and 2 engines. "Where is the only Apollo in the world?" asked our tour guide. "In a Japanese collector's house. The people who made it only have this picture on the wall".
The silver bike in the background had a vertical "window" in the gas tank to see the fuel level (the gold stripe). Mike Hailwood's bike kept that look.
Mike's hi-tech solution to keeping his visor clean. Moist sponge inside a cut tennis ball.
The main circular hallway housed the less "important" bikes compared to those in the rooms
The legend of Desmo begins
Crazy ice-racing bike
Dakar bike
Drool....
Just a few of the title-winning Superbikes.
The legendary Supermono
Our tour guide and the Superbikes
Best room in the house. My son and I were wondering if we would even get to see one of the MotoGP bikes, and then the last stop on the tour was this room. Wow.
That's a lot of money lined up
View from the front of the factory
While the museum store didn't have a lot of items to choose from (quite frankly by this point I was practically salivating to buy something (else) with a Ducati logo), we were told the official Factory Store just across the street would meet our needs. Boy, were they right. I've never seen so much Ducati merchandise in one place - shirts, hats, jackets, gloves, helmets, books, videos, keychains, flags, pens, watches, mugs, toys, bicycles, motorycles, you name it. Our tour ticket came with a 5 euro coupon good for merchandise purchased at the store. In the end, we exercised some restraint and ended up with just hats for my son and I.
Factory Store had some cool items not for sale
The Ducati Factory Store
It was a little sad pulling away from the Ducati store and starting our drive to Vinci. After 10 days of riding the alps, attending the MotoGP race in Mugello, and now touring the Ducati factory and musuem, this was the last biking-related activity of the vacation. That chapter was closing, and the rest of the trip, while expected to be wonderful, would not in some way revolve around bikes.