There are two differnet kinds of riders, says the old racing adage. Those that have crashed and those that will. At the Ducati North America 2005 Dealer Meeting 999R demo last week at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Ala., we watched at least five representatives from as many dealerships stack otherwise perfect Ducati 999Rs at a profligate rate. For those readers keeping track, the day carried a retail price tag of nearly $150,00— just in hardware.

Ducati dealers were offered the chance to rip around Barber on a 999 at the dealer show. For some it went well. For others ... it got expensive in a hurry. image by joe-joe

The twenty 2005 999Rs used for the dealer meeting demos were from the international press fleet from the bike's debut at Laguna Seca earlier this summer.

One of the most interesting observations of the day was seeing Eric Bostrom suit up and circulate among the dealers as a control rider on a stock, yellow 999 Biposto. Having Bostrom on the track proved damaging for some of the machines whose pilots wanted to show the young Californian that they could hang with him.

Bostrom's leisurely pace—which did look leisurely at least some of the time—proved too much for those who couldn't check their engorged egos at the gate. While no one in his right mind could possibly blame Eric for the crashes, few would argue that having him on the track at the same time as those with relatively little or no track experience was a cool yet expensive idea.

Toward the end of the day, one of the last groups to run the course was brought in under a red flag when a rider crashed in turn 14A—after the lead group had completed just three laps. While anxious riders waited in the stifling heat and humidity, John Porter, Director of Marketing for Ducati North America, issued a stern warning. "The event is seriously in jeopardy of being shut down. I need everyone's commitment here that we're going to keep these things upright." Shortly after, Bostrom chimed in with some practical advice: "You guys gotta relax and have fun out there. The pavement's gotta be like 50 degrees celsius, and these tires just don't have a whole lotta grip when it's that hot."

Would-be riders from the remaining sessions began to stand down when Ducati brass started mumbling something about adding broken machines to their dealerships' inventory.