I get four motorcycle magazines: Motorcycle Classics, RoadRUNNER, American Iron, and Motorcyclist. Every once in a while, a story comes along that goes way beyond simply being good. The current issue of Motorcycle Classics has such a story: Tempting Fate: Around the World on Ducati 175 Tourismos. Landon Hall is the Motorcycle Classics Managing Editor, and he (along with Richard Backus, the head honcho) have a winning formula: A great team of writers and photographers, an eye for a great story, a focus on vintage bikes, and the ability to pull it all together in every issue. I once told Landon that each time I get the latest copy of Motorcycle Classics, I get concerned because it is so good I don’t know how they’ll be able to do better in the next issue. And then they do. Every time.
The story, Tempting Fate: Around the World on Ducati 175 Tourismos , is about two young Italians (Leopoldo Tartarini and Giorgio Monetti) who went around the world on Ducati 175cc motorcycles in the early 1950s. The tale appealed to me immediately because it involved a long journey on small displacement motorcycles, and the writing and the photography sealed the deal (Hamish Cooper penned the story and Phil Aynsley did the photography). The details made it come alive, like this one: Ducati actually issued these guys handguns as part of their kit (Steve Seidner, are you getting my drift here?). And more. Lots more. Trust me on this: You’ll enjoy this article.
More good info…the index page for our ExhaustNotes gun stories is up, and you can get to it here:
I trust (and hope) others can relate to this excerpt as do I.
” Years later, Tartarini said of the ride, “This feat molded me, completed me. During a year like that everything happens, leaving you with values that will last for life.”
Good read Joe, thank you for sharing.