So we decided to ride a little vintage…
We met at Moto Italiano Santa Cruz Sunday morning. Jason Putris, the owner of the shop, showed up with his 1956 Moto Guzzi Falcone, a truly beautiful bike that runs great.
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 