Carlo Longhi

I’VE DONE 2000 miles on my V4, and I’ve only had it two months. It was the first V4 in Ferrara, the town where I’m from. I saw it, and I bought it. I am a little bit crazy. The bike is my girl and my therapist. I am in love with this bike. It’s the third Ducati I’ve owned. First came the Hypermotard, then the Multistrada Enduro. But I found the Multi was too big for me. You have to be very tall to ride the Enduro. I sold it to help pay for this V4. I wanted to try something different. For long travel it is difficult, but the sound and the feel is like an emotion. I don’t keep it clean. I like it dirty. In Italian we have a phrase: ‘to the pub.’ I don’t just ride this V4 ‘to the pub,’ so I don’t have to keep it clean. Instead, I ride it to the lake or the mountains. I’ve ridden it to the Stelvio Pass already. It was very long, and very difficult. My next plan is to take it to Nordkapp in Norway. That’s 2500 miles away, but I’ll stay strong. In the morning I’ll have a big breakfast, and then ride it all day long. The engine feels like a rollercoaster. I get on, turn the key, and then ride a rollercoaster for five hours straight. My legs are shaking like a freezing dog when I get home, and I love it. Maybe next year I’ll buy the Termignoni 4 Uscite (Four Exits) exhaust system, because the noise and the flames are amazing. But it costs a lot. The world of Ducati is an expensive world. Some people think Ducati should stick to building V-twins, but I don’t agree. I believe V-twin development is finished. There’s nowhere left to go. But the V4, it’s like a newborn baby. I can’t wait to see what Ducati do next with the engine.