It took a few more years but me, my wife (who as my girlfriend followed me to AZ) and our little daughter made it back to the beaches of Santa Cruz. My buddy J and I instantly started building bikes and hanging out again, as documented on this motoBlog. On one of our trips to San Diego to pick up a few bikes J mentioned a Ducati 175 he bought in Italy and he mentioned the Grio…he also had a Guzzi 175 Lodola as backup if the Duck didn’t make it to the States in time. We immediately spent the rest of the trip from SD to Santa Cruz talking about beautiful, little, mostly hand made vintage bikes…and running the Giro. My hunt began in that truck on the way home. A 57 Ducati 175 was almost impossible to find, but there were a lot of other Italian gems to search for.

After 2 months of hunting and finding a few contenders, including a near perfect Lodola 175, I ran across a 1956 MV Agusta 175.

MV Agusta 1956 175

I did my homework and decided this would be the bike. One of the few advantages of a terrible economy is that bikes that used to be out of your price range are now…only a little out of your price range There are also a lot of bikes that normally would never be up for sale…showing up on EBay and Craigslist.

I waited until the end of the auction and hit  BUY IT NOW. I now owned a 1956 MV Agusta 175, had a Giro bike and something beautiful to keep my Ducati company.

It was my turn to drag J along to southern California to pick up a bike…mine this time.

The bike was being sold by a well know collector of vintage singles and J had seen his collection once before…this guy has one of the most amazing motorcycle collections, so we were hoping to pick up my bike and get a look around at his bikes.

The MV was as perfect as the pictures.

MV Agusta 1956 175

The seller was really nice and happy to show us…everything he had.  J had bought 2 bikes from him in the past so he treated us like old acquaintances. We spent 2 hours looking through his collection with all 3 of us pointing and talking about the amazing machines that were under one roof. I asked permission to take photos and will share a few as I don’t think he would mind.

Velocettes: If one is good...two is better!

We called this the trophy room. You wouldnt believe what it contained

MV Agusta Disco Volante & A Ducati Elite

Ferrari...The owner told us a great story about the Ferrari Bros, a lawsuit and a short bike history.

A huge collection of Italian 50 cc bikes...They looked like candy and several were found new in box.

I had a 1978 Vespa once upon a time...he had maybe 20.

We loaded up the MV to head home.

J and the MV

But…we received a phone call (another story) and had to make a quick stop at Pro-Italia to pick up a Ducati Monster. The Pro-Italia crew were cool and the shop is great. They have a friendly and impressive team.

One old, one new...Thanks for the Monster Pro-Italia.

Half way between LA and Santa Cruz we stopped in the rain and grabbed lunch. On the way to the truck we were checking out the bikes loaded on the truck and J looked at me and said…think it’ll start and gave me a smile, so I jumped up on the truck and one kick later the MV was running and sounded great.

First kick...at a roadside stop, still tied down. Sounded great.

Another road trip adventure ended. As long as they start and stop in Santa Cruz, include bikes and my buddy J, they will no doubt continue to be some of the best times.

Ducati of Santa Cruz had a mission to drop off an RSV4 in San Diego and we figured why not pick
up one of J’s many bastard children that are spread around the world.
Yes, Jason has bikes not only across the state, at buddies shops, but in at least 2 different countries…
I think the “Buy It Now” button is easy, but the “Pick It Up” button is missing
One of my (Jason Beatty) favorite Ducati’s is the F1 750. My old boss John Hoffman from Cycle Specialties of Athens raced them and taught me to work on them in my early 20’s…I love them.
So Jay (Jason Putris - owner of Moto Italian/ Ducati of Santa Cruz) mentioned a road trip to SD and I offered to go along IF we brought the F1 back.

So our trip begins.

Leaving Santa Cruz- Jason Beatty and the Aprilia RSV4

Far too many smokes, but tons of good conversation ensued as we charged to San Diego and had a smooth ride of about 8 hours. It seems in real life you never get a lot of time, with your friends, to hang and talk shop, cell phones and life always get in the way. A road trip is a good time for this.

We arrived at GP Motorsports in San Diego and met our buddy Paul Lima.

GP Motorsports - DUCATI OF SAN DIEGO

It was my first trip to his new store (it is IN town near the airport and a great location) and he showed us around and introduced us to his crew. Solid shop full of new and old bikes - love it. Paul has an amazing collection of vintage bikes including Velocettes, Vincents , Guzzis and Ducatis…many British bits too…He didn’t have time to take us to the ‘home’ shop to view the collection, but I will get some pictures on the next trip (I think he owes me a ride on the Vincent for making making me wait to see it).

After unloading the Aprilia and hanging out a bit at GP Motorsports we jumped in the truck and Jay and I headed over to Moto Forza to claim the 750 F1. A short drive to Moto Forza and we were greeted by the owner Balz. Balz had the bike ready and cleaned up, but we poked around the shop looking at all the cool singles and bikes he has on display. Moto Forza is a cool shop and Balz and his crew are solid. We also met Kris Cordato who works at the shop and also runs 13Choppers.
These guys build CRAZY Ducati based choppers.

13 Choppers

After loading up the F1 we headed to a local pizza joint with Balz to talk bikes, shops and why Balz’s Superlight is one of the coolest Ducati’s ever.
Good Times.

750 F1 loaded and ready to go!

750 F1 loaded and ready to go!

After pizza we headed back to Santa Cruz as what kind of road trip is one way…

Jason (Putris) late night gas-up!

Here is the F1 at it’s new home Ducati of Santa Cruz.

Ducati 750 F1 at home at Ducati Santa Cruz

I think we have to make another trip to see Paul, Balz and San Diego’s finest bike shops soon, maybe we will take a few vintage Italian Ducatis/Guzzis with us and check out their roads as I hear they ain’t bad…

Jason arrives with his Falcone

Pre-ride Oil Change

I decided that I couldn’t stand bench racing the 1965 Ducati 250 single racer and pulled it out of the shop.

1965 Ducati 250 Single

Beatty (me) and the 250...

Note to self, when you are riding vintage and haven’t run your bikes in a few month it is probably best to not show up the morning of the ride without prepping the bikes…We spent about an hour getting the bikes ready and at 10am Marty, another Santa Cruz local, showed up on his 1972 Eldorado 850.

Marty and his Eldo

After getting the Ducati and Guzzis running we grabbed some gas and headed off.  We started in Capitola and followed the coastal roads north.  We had a little surprise addition to our ride.  As Jason and I were prepping our bikes we noticed a women in a Jeep watching us…I even asked Jay if he knew her.  She eventually approached us and mentioned that she had read about our vintage ride and wanted to see some older bikes.  Barbara , our new friends name, was an old school passenger on the back of her ex’s many different bikes (Lots of British bikes!) .  Jason being one of the nicest guys around went into his shop and grabbed her a helmet and put her on the back of his Falcone….an epic day for her no doubt and a new Moto Italiano fan was earned.

Living in Santa Cruz has its benefits and the amazing views are even better when on a 65 Ducati single.  The little Duck had a racing carb so it does not idle which makes stop signs and lights as well as Sunday beach traffic a treat.  The 250 also has a reverse shift pattern on the right side…  I think part of the fun of riding vintage bikes are the differences and adjustments one has to make ride them.  People ask what was it like - well compared to my modern Ducati it is…the wrong way to look at it - if you find yourself on one you will probably get it