Ducati's Monster S4Rs made its US debut last week in NY. Soup's Rafe stopped by to check out the the scene. image by rafe

Chic mingled with geek at last week's coming-out party for the '06 Monster in Tribeca, a neighborhood in Manhattan where beer cost eight dollars a bottle -- slender young professionals clad in unscarred leather, some old, grizzled dudes, some hair gel, one or two toupees, unless those were furry do-rags.

And chicks. Lots and lots of chicks -- girlfriends,bikettes, and a couple of what looked like Ducuties-for-hire. I sidled up to one, and, taking an interest in her welfare, asked if she was being compensated fairly. "Oh yeah," she smiled.

"But now, Sugar, what's a nice girl like you," etc.?

"Uh, my boyf-- uh, my friend works here. He asked me to come, and I thought it would be fun."

Hmf, ok, on to the ample supply of hors d'oeuvrves. Except some giant slob is blocking the prosciutto.

The NY crowd was decidedly NY-ish, meaning the mix was David Byrne meets Greenday. image by rafe

Back around to other side, then en route to the eats, make conversation with very serious businessman-looking fellow. Hey dude, are you a Monster fan?

"Ah, not really," he replies, a little embarrassed. Then he remembers something. "But -- I'm friends with Ducati's creative director." Great, well, excuse ME. Time to go up to the back of the handsome store to check out the guest of honor, looking gigantic.

Hard to believe this model is going on its fourteenth year. Wow, a teenaged Monster. Shoot, I remember when it came out, and sportbikies looked down at it as just too brazen a marketing move -- a performance bike for posers. It was Ducati's version of the ugly American, kind of an Eye-talian V-Max. Nobody really talked trash about it because, of course, it was a Ducati. Plus it wasn't a Harley.

Ducati had the new Classics on sale at their booth--and they were selling. image by rafe

Its nakedness now reveals some complicated plumbing behind the oil cooler -- the deep-sump oil system of Ducati's 998-cc Testastretta engine, which helps bring it up to 130 horses. The trademark trellis is of course, still there -- (And while I'm at it, can we all please take a vacation from exposing-the-spar-as-a-design-element? -- trellises, Deltaboxes, please, if you have to show it off, at least do something different.)

The mystique still draws 'em like flies. One admirer is "Pete", who lives around the corner and parks his Ducati on 6th Avenue ("a soccer mom backed into it a few weeks ago, and bang -- a few hundred bucks in body work"). He's a bit bemused by the whole scene. "I dunno, I mean Ducati has gone from a semi-obscure brand to a fashion statement. I mean, a $150 pen is a little much."

It's true--you will write better while using a Ducati pen. image by rafe

Pete is talking about the Ducati "writing instrument" on sale just behind where a young-ish dude wearing a buttoned-down Ducati shirt is standing talking a mile a minute -- looks sort of like Freddie Spencer's bookish nephew. Hello, it's Ducati CEO Michael Lock, talking to Gary Eagan.

What's scary about Lock is 1) he makes sense, and 2) you can tell he can think even faster than he talks.

"I've been trying to move our budget away from all the print work -- print ads, brochures -- and get into satellite events like this."

Satellite events? Stupid me, thinking it's a press party. "When you get together this mix -- the aficionados, the fans, the press, the celebrities" -- Gary Eagan? -- "you develop excitement. It works for the dealers." Using parties to market motorcycles -- who woulda thunk you could sell bikes like your mom's annoying friend used to sell Tupperware? But sure enough, according to Steve in the parts department downstairs, who between ringing up leathers and helmets, happily related that Ducati New York has sold four bikes tonight.

It's all about relating to the enthusiast base. "We're reaching out. The Monster Challenge is a great example.

"What we're marketing, really is exclusivity. We're different from the Japanese brands, we're European, it's about being hand made, the ride, the sound -- the individual identity of a very individualistic motorcycle. But don't think of us as MV Agusta -- we have an entry level bike as well, of course.

"And we're deeply invested in racing -- who else gave Suzuki a run for their money last year? And I if saw you on pit row last year and you were wearing a Ducati t-shirt, I bought you lunch. If you had a CBR1000 shirt on, you were out of luck."

'If I had opposable thumbs and a 996,' I'd smoke his ass,' thought Fido. image by rafe

But now, tell me, Mike, what about those fancy pens? When you start marketing peripheral stuff, don't you run the risk of offending your hard-core supporters.

"Well, the important thing is -- don't insult them. Your enthusiast base is like the first class -- they're not always excited about letting the new kids in. But if you take care not to insult them, it will work."

Though I didn't get a t-shirt, I didn't feel insulted. Neither did the guy who gave a lesson in how to pack your puppy for a ride into the New York night.