Cook Neilson talks about his epic Daytona Superbike win and riding the bike 'New Blue' was based upon. images by jimola from imola

January, usually a very tough month to be a motorcycle enthusiast in New York, is made somewhat easier to endure by the annual visit of the International Motorcycle Show. In many years past, I've made way to the Javitz Center, on the West Side, across icy sidewalks, cursing the abysmally cold weather, desperate to get inside and see all the new machinery. This year's show weekend would be even more special, because Ducati North America was kicking things off with a very special celebration at Ducati NYC on Thursday night: the introduction "New Blue", a brand new, limited edition NCR bike commemorating the 30th anniversary of Cook Neilson's famous 1977 Daytona victory on "Old Blue", a hot rodded Ducati 750SS. An afternoon snow shower had segued into a grey drizzle, so I ran from the Spring Street subway stop, camera bag bouncing on my hip.

Once inside, I was quickly greeted by Nick McCabe from Ducati, who informed me that not all of tonight's stars had arrived yet. "New Blue" was in the rear of the showroom, under a cover, waiting ceremonial unveiling. But the rest of the floor was strangely empty, of both people and bikes, I started noshing on a breadstick, figured I'd kill some time watching the DJ set up, when I heard a commotion outside—two of Ducati's stars had arrived. A pickup truck rolled up, and in the back, side by side in the bed, sat a Desmosedici RR MotoGP replica, and a 1098s TriColore, soaking in the cold drizzle. It was just absolutely stunning to me that two of the most unquestionably desirable motorcycles in the world would roll up on the street, 15 minutes before the party was going to begin, like a couple of bad boy rock stars—but that's what these bikes are, isn't it?

It was just absolutely stunning to me that two of the most unquestionably desirable motorcycles in the world would roll up on the street, 15 minutes before the party was going to begin, like a couple of bad boy rock stars—but that's what these bikes are, isn't it?

All hell broke loose as a bunch of guys in Ducati T-shirts and coveralls rushed to the truck with aluminum ramps, moving stunned pedestrians out of the way. Arms were flapping, passionate discourse about the best way to get these rare, almost priceless beasts out of the bed of the open truck and into the showroom. It was a scene imported straight from Italy, as random hipsters stopped on the street to watch; it was clear that these bikes were special, and something was happening inside the shop. The wet bikes rolled down the ramps and through the open front doors of Ducati NY, water streaming off them, leaving puddles on the floor. Ducati heavies moved quickly towards the open shop doors, pushing back a crowd of bum-rushers. It was as though the Desmos were playing a pied piper's song, people not realizing they were following the machines until hearing "Sir, this is an invite only event" or the old guestlist standby "And you are...?"

After the crowd was pushed back, five men went to work wiping down the motorcycles, and the fresh black puddles on the floor. I was informed that the Desmosedici was one of three in the world, and that the TriColore was unique, the bike used for all the magazine shots, so it would be quite inconvenient if they were damaged in any way. Ironically, right after I was told this, I turned and saw the MotoGP replica being backed straight into the 1098, and before I could throw my body between the two bikes, I heard a BANG! The two masterpieces were parted and examined, as I looked on, tearily mouthing the silent words....WHY???? After thankfully being pronounced OK, the bikes were then moved to their display areas in the shop, the brute Desmosedeci going in the front window, the sculptured Tricolore behind a velvet rope on the floor. A Hypermotard prototype was there too, looking anorexic and purposeful, even for a Ducati. Unlike the controversial 999 Superbike, the visual appeal of these new models does not have to "grow on you"; and seeing them on a printed page or website does not entirely prepare you for their impact.

Neilson on New Blue.

As I stood gob smacked, gawking at the new bikes, the man of the evening entered. Mr. Cook Neilson, looking sprightly, relaxed, and with something of an entourage in tow. Soon, he was surrounded by old friends, fans, and family, the center of attention. Neilson greeted and joined Ducati North American CEO Michael Lock, and they made their way towards the shrouded masterpiece in the back of the showroom. Lock briefly spoke about the importance of Neilson's 1977 Daytona Superbike win in the annals of Ducati racing, how he and wrench Phil Schilling beat factory teams with "Old Blue", their privateer bike, all while Neilson was at the helm of the biggest bike magazine in the USA at that time, the late lamented Cycle. Lock also spoke of the rich racing history between Ducati and NCR, and how their technology and mutual passion brought about "New Blue". After the brief intro, Lock, Neilson, and the NCR principles pulled the cover off "New Blue", to rapturous applause.

Neilson hopped on the bike, 100 cameras flashing at the same time, a satisfied smile came across his face, and then he was mobbed by fans, friends, and autograph seekers. I waited about a 1/2 hour and was finally able to get close enough to introduce myself and ask for a brief chat. To get anything interesting out of some interview subjects can be a real chore, but not Cook Neilson. He took my voice recorder in his hand, and told the tale of how "New Blue" came about:

"I hadn't ridden anything in forever. The last time I was on a racetrack was back in 1993, I rode Doug Polen's Fast By Ferracci Ducati at Laconia (Loudon), a track I just hate, riding this 144 horsepower thing for a Cycle World story. The last time before that was Riverside in 1977. So this past summer, Michael Lock invited me to the dealer meeting in Salt Lake City, which had a track day at Miller (author note: Nielson and wrench Phil Schilling were inducted into Ducati North America's Hall Of Fame during this event, in celebration of their victory at Daytona in 1977.) So they gave me this 999R to ride around, whoa, shit! And I rode that thing around for a little while and escaped (smiles), and then they said, you have to ride this NCR Millona, so I said of course—those are the kind of invitations you can't say no to. I noticed when I walked over to it that it had tire warmers on it; I had never actually been in the presence of a motorcycle that had tire warmers (laughs). And here they wanted me to ride this thing! Anyhow, it was just a wonderful little bike, it only weighs like 285 pounds, made a billion horsepower, but it was so easy to ride, and I was really impressed. So I thought, if you add thirty years of technology to where Old Blue was in 1977, I would think it would be pretty close to this. Which is why I told them, when I got off the bike and they asked, "what do you think?" I said the bike I used to race was called Old Blue. This is New Blue."

A pair of wet ducks were brought in out of the rain. Ducati guards pushed back those who were not worthy.

"So time goes by, and I don't hear a word from Ducati, or NCR, or anybody. Then I get this email from a friend of mine that says they're debuting New Blue in Milan on November 14. I got this email on November 12th! I saw a photograph of it taken at NCR the day before it was taken to the Milan show, so the rest of the world found out about it a day after I did. When I saw it, I thought that it was so cool of them to do it, because they haven't done that many tribute bikes. To have them do this one was extraordinarily flattering. It took me a while to understand that this is not supposed to be a verbatim replica of something from 30 years before, rather a reference, brought up to speed with the flavor of the original, and in that context, NCR did some amazing stuff. The bike has carbon fiber brake lines. I borrowed this magnetic eyeglass holder from my wife, and went over the whole machine this afternoon—there is very little ferrous metal on it. The chassis is steel, but look at tall the fasteners, they're titanium. They're fanatical about weight--to take this V Twin and make it rideable and 285 pounds - that's like what a 250 Yamaha weighs. With 116 horsepower!"

I asked Cook about how much horsepower the original, highly modded "Old Blue" Ducati made, back in 1977:

"Old Blue made exactly 90.4 horsepower on CR Axtell's dynamometer. We only had it on a dyno one time, and that was out of curiosity. Axtell was curious and so was Jerry Branch, they just kinda wanted to see what it was. I'll never forget that afternoon, we strapped it into Axtell's dyno and he's revving it up and sparks are flying off because the chains hitting the swingarm, me and Schilling are kinda holding onto each other as Axtell's getting up into the white line, and he makes the run and we take it off, while he looks at the numbers, and the first words out of his mouth are "Not Bad." And then he said. "Not BAD!" And we thought--that's high praise from Axtell, cause he's seen all kinda shit on this dyno that was bad! He really liked the nice flat torque curve. In 1977, 90 horsepower was enough to be competitive. At Daytona we were two seconds a lap faster than everyone else. We knew that we were going to be a little tight on gas, so Schilling had a spare gas can and we topped it off just before we got going. At Daytona, Old Blue got 11 miles to the gallon, and it was burning all of it. The exhaust traces in the pipes and the spark plus looked perfect. Before we took it out for the last practice session we went over to see Bobby Strohlman and that guy Skip at Champion (spark plugs), and they looked at the spark plugs and they said "don't touch a thing, this is perfect." So the night before the race, we checked the valves and all sorts of silly stuff, but we never changed the timing or anything."

"Old Blue was apart all the time; the only time it was together was when it was on a racetrack, literally. We didn't do anything to the chassis, but we always worked on the engine. We had to magnaflux all the gears because they were a problem, so it was either on the racetrack, or on the bench next to my toolbox, apart. The valve stems were short in those engines, so we had to check them all the time, plus, you can't just let it sit there, you gotta do something! (laughs). That was a really fun year. Schilling and I had a lot of mottos, but the big one was "Don't solve problems you don't have." We knew if we got the chassis balance right, we could use the best tires out there, which a lot of guys couldn't use, we got the engine really reliable and making decent horsepower, the only problem really was we had to ride it better. It was such a great bike in 1976, and to get beat by those BMW guys was awful. I mean it was awful because those bikes were awful. They were well ridden, no question, they had good guys riding them. But they were BMW's, and I had a bike that could handle, stop, and go faster than those bikes, and to get beat in 1976 just freaked me out. After that it was like, OK, we have the best bike in the field, I just gotta ride it better. And I busted my ass to get to the point where I felt I could ride it well enough, and I did. I rode it well at Daytona, we made a couple of mistakes at other racetracks that year, but by and large I think I rode it well enough."

Finally, I inquired as to the validity of a story I read about "Old Blue". It had been reported that photo of Ducati Engineer Dr. Fabio Taglioni was taped onto the bike, and that the only time when "Old Blue" suffered mechanical problems was at races where the photo had been inadvertently removed. Was this true?

"No, we didn't have a photo of Dr. T, but in 1975 we taped up the headlight, and Schilling left a bare spot with the letter T on it for Doctor Taglioni. The only thing I had was in my toolbox, a photo of the SR-71 Blackbird Spyplane, which we called the "Desmo Of The Skies". Phil had a friend who was an SR-71 pilot, named Blair Bozek, and we ended up corresponding with him. He was a Ducati guy too."

I wrapped up with Cook Neilson, who had been hugely generous with his time, after being tapped on the shoulder and turning round to a sea of fans, who had been patiently waiting to meet the legend. Listening to Cook tell his stories, I had completely lost track of my surroundings, so compelling were the tales and the teller. I was then introduced to NCR CEO, Michele Poggipolini, who told me about the unique technical aspects of "New Blue", and NCR's future goals with Ducati:

'Oh, think of the conversations we could have.' Former masthead-mates Kevin Cameron and Neilson.

"New Blue makes 116 RWHP; NCR produce our own titanium rods and valves, hi-comp pistons, camshaft, and we worked with our suppliers to produce a new clutch assembly. The clutch and alternator cases are magnesium. This engine is 10 kilograms (roughly 22 pounds) lighter than the stock Ducati motor. This engine has been developed by NCR for the Millona, and is highly reliable. In three years of European Supertwins racing we did 25 races and won 20 of them, and we had no mechanical problems. This is important for our customers; they can really get an exclusive motorcycle, with the highest technology, with the best materials, but with minimal weight. They can go race every weekend, you change the tires, add fuel, and go. Our focus was to build a twin cylinder motorcycle that was really light, so the air cooled motor was the main choice, as this is already 10 kilos lighter than a liquid cooled Ducati motor. You might look at the specs and think that 116 horses is not that fast, but with the light weight, the bike is very fast, even against Japanese four cylinders, even at a track like Muguello, because we don't lose that much on the straights, because the brake limits are so much higher, and we have amazing torque. The bike has the same torque as a 999R, and it's so light you just look into a corner and you're there, like a 250cc bike, but with a Ducati motor. Every bolt, every fastener is titanium. The Ohlins forks have special internals developed on the track for this bike, and Ohlins also produced specific twin rear shocks that are very high performance as well. The exhaust is custom made by Zard. The bodywork is very special, it is not only silver and blue in color, there are actually 7 different paints used for the color, and our supplier is the same guy who paints the Ferrari Formula One cars. We don't use stickers anywhere on the bike, everything is airbrushed. The seat of the bike is done Schedoni, who does all seats for Ferrari's Formula One and road cars. NCR's vision is to produce complimentary products to Ducati, similar to what AMG does with Mercedes. We have both the passion and the technology to build these bikes, that's what we deliver to our customers. You can order the bike (one of 50) through any authorized Ducati or NCR dealer, for $49,900."

Afterwards, I lingered at the party just a bit longer, which bordered on sensory overload, you could barely move through the throng. There was so much great music, beautiful women, good food, mechanical artistry, and rich conversation. I stepped out into the rain, ran for the C train, sat down breathless and rain soaked, thinking that in all the glorious periods of Ducati's history, there has never been a more exciting time. For Ducati, 2007 brings an intersection of impressive development, respectful yet productive nostalgia for the past, and the commencement of a breathtaking design renaissance. The "New Blue" event at Ducati NYC sure was one hell of a coming out party.