REVERY petrol head worth his or her salt would bow, or at least nod, at the mention of Panigale. It is one of the most awesome rockets on two wheels ever built by Ducati.
Many Panigale owners and Ducati fans do not know about Borgo Panigale, the town it was named after.
I was lucky enough to find myself in Borgo Panigale during the World Ducati Week on July 20 to 22 with Desmo Owners Club Malaysia (DOCM) 52 members and associate members.
Courtesy of Ducati Italy, the Malaysians were given a guided tour of the Ducati factory and the well-known Ducati Museo, the main reason why people visit Borgo Panigale.
The industrial town, with a population of about 25,000 in 2009, is a quarter of the old and beautiful Bologna in central Italy. Ducati introduced the 1285cc Panigale in Milan in 2014 and the following year started manufacturing the bikes for Italy and the rest of the world in Borgo Panigale.
Life was never the same again in the town after that, I was told.
The DOCM members had just reached Bologna from Milan before ending their journey in Misano about 120km southeast of Bologna, the venue for the World Ducati Week 2018.
Thirteen of the Malaysian participants rode their Ducatis from Milan, while the rest travelled by bus. The DOCM members were led by their vice-president, Marzuki Jaafar.
At the start of the factory visit, our tour guide, Barbara, warned us that any form of photography was illegal and she even insisted that we covered our camera lenses with the provided stickers.
Inside the factory, the visitors were greeted by the sight of the 1952 Ducati 65T and, next to it, the bike’s successor, the Monster 1200 Corse Anniversario edition.
You could hear the “ahhs” and “oohs” throughout the tour. The Malaysians were lucky to witness the production of the last few L2 engines, which will be replaced by V-twin engines. Clearly, to most of them, the factory was not just manufacturing motorcycles, but also was making dreams come true.
Barbara was knowledgeable and helpful during the tour, and everyone had a good time at the Ducati Factory and the Museum. Some of the visitors could not help talking about plans of getting a new Ducati after the factory visit.
“I fell in love with the Ducati Scrambler during the factory visit, and now I’m eyeing to get one for myself,” said associate DOCM member Nurul Musliha Khoruddin.
I had the opportunity to speak to the company’s project manager, Lorenzo Uliani, on the production of the motorcycles.
“We produce 55,000 bikes a year and normally the assembly of each bike takes about eight hours,” said Uliani.
After the factory visit, we went to the museum, which was located on the second floor.
The museum showcased the history of how Ducati started as a brand before the company is famous for its motorcycle production. The visitors were able to inspect every model that was ever made - and raced - since the end of World War 2.
There are exhibits of legendary racing bikes, framed side by side with the trophies they had won and the racing suits of the champions that rode them.
The Ducati Museum is divided into different exhibitions for Ducati production motorcycles, which marked the different periods that has taken place from 1946 to present. Ducati celebrates its 92nd anniversary this year.