I was trying for a bit of anthropomorphism & it was the bike that had nipped into the bushes for a wee - and as we all know a bikes gender is only the opinion of it's owner. But after re-reading wot i wrote I think I failed miserably - I blame it on the Christmas tea I was supping (tot of whisky in a cuppa)
Absolutely fabulous machines - presence, looks, sound, not a little bit of performance & big dollops of that undefinable soul. However I saw one recently and it still had the packing grease on the chain... and I find it sad that the larger proportion of them have pretty much become museum pieces.
I saw one at Goodwood, a few years ago, that had the patina of a bike well ridden and it looked better than the one above aesthetically for it. Fair play to the owner (sorry, forgot your name) of that bike who'd owned it for a great many years, did their own spannering and rode it like it was meant to be ridden. Respect. Its still lovely that bike above though. I'd rag it.
I hope this photograph puts you in the picture basically just kicking back looking at your collection.
TBH I feel out of place with all those trendy hipster "Bikers", being just a working class motorcycle enthusiast. ...and before anyone asks? Yes I have been to the Bike Shed, most if not all of the folk I met wouldn't/ indeed didn't know one end of a bike from the other, but Christ they were trendy.
Because I've known Pete for close to 40 years and have spent a Isle of Man TT holiday stopping with him and other members of the DOCGB.
To be fair here if you go back 45+ years ago owning a Ducati was quite rare. Pete was the membership secretary of the DOCGB and my original membership number was in 2 figures. Today its a personal number 851 and that took me a while to get from the current Chairperson. These days Ducati's and their owners are a common as muck. I miss the old days...