HAPPY DAYS ON COOL MACHINE
If bikes were people, the Ducati Café Racer would be the Fonz, because as those of you of a certain age will remember, he was the star of the 70s American sitcom Happy Days, and the epitome of effortless cool.
And as devotees will remember, in season three, he let slip that what made him cool was his motorcycle.
Henry Winkler, who played him, is 71 now, but I get the feeling that if you showed him the Café Racer, you’d be rewarded with an enthusiastic thumbs up, an ear-to-ear grin, and his trademark: “Heeeey”. It is, as you can see, the most stunning variation yet of the Scrambler which was introduced in 2014 and, unlike other Ducatis, which major on power and handling, was marketed to appeal to young urban hipsters.
However, it sounds and goes as good as it looks. The V-twin has the most evocative of engine notes, made even better in this case by twin Termignoni exhausts which produce a syncopated burble on idle, a deliciously vicious snarl on acceleration, and a gloriously satisfying symphony of pops and barps on deceleration.
Acceleration, while not earth shattering, is more than perky enough to snick past anything four-wheeled on the road. Braking, even with just a single disc up front, is more than adequate, with only 188kg of bike plus rider to haul in.
The real joy, though, is in the handling, with that light weight, low seat, 17in wheels with Pirelli tyres, sharper chassis geometry and slightly more aggressive riding position than the standard Scrambler. It all adds up to that most sublime of feelings – that rather than thinking about cornering, you’re just instinctively flinging yourself into them, and the bike’s coming along for the ride.
There are, of course, a squillion accessories to raise your dudeness to a level of unique nirvana, and I’ve only two complaints. One is that the basic Scrambler starts at £6,750, but with the Café Racer at £9,395, you’re paying a hefty premium to look so cool on a bike with zero gizmos apart from ABS.
The other was that after an hour and a half in the saddle, my buns were asking politely for a break.
So before you buy one, just make sure your nearest urban hipster dude café is less than 100 miles away...