Ducati’s Café culture
Simon meets another owner to swap Scrambler stories
One of the cool things about niche bikes like the Café Racer is that owners tend to be real enthusiasts and there are a couple of really active Facebook groups where the Scrambleristi show off mods, share tips and discuss plans. Membership is global, but now and then you come across riders who are local. And so it is that I am sitting down over a cheese sarnie at a country pub with Café Racer owner, Gary Davies. We’ve ridden over from the MCN offices; it’s the first time I’ve seen another CR in my mirrors and I have to say that Gary’s bike looks damn fine.
Gary’s fairly new to the Scrambler but not to biking, having started off in motocross as a kid, passing his test in 2002 and with a CV including a Kawasaki ZXR400, Suzuki GSX-R750 and an Aprilia RS250.
“I bought the Scrambler as I wanted something to slow me down,” he says. “I’d sold my GSX-R and was looking for less power, less weight and something different.” CCM’s Spitfire was on the radar, but in the end he went for the Ducati. Quizzed on what he loves about his silver machine he picks out the styling, easy weight and not too aggressive riding position. There are things, however, which race car engineer Gary would change. He feels the front brake lacks bite, so some different pads or maybe even twin discs are on his shopping list. He’s not sold on the fuel gauge, finding it doesn’t update itself regularly enough – he’s not wrong and I reckon the fuel light is a bit premature, too.
While a third concern is the gearbox with false neutrals changing from sixth back to fifth. It’s interesting because my gearbox feels great. One difference is my CR is nudging 4000 miles while Gary’s is still relatively box-fresh. With a few more miles on the clock, I suspect it will be a different story. My aftermarket Termi exhaust piqued Gary’s interest, too (his is still on stock cans). As I fire up before we ride away, I can see he’s impressed and I’m keen to see what his bike is sporting next time we meet. You never know, we might even find a few more local Scrambler owners to tag along.