Skip to main content

Throttle Jockey: Italian beauties on parade

As cool and capable as new motorcycles are today, many have taken on a certain… utilitarian aspect. While this is not necessarily a bad thing and is often necessitated by the bike’s design or mission, it does leave them a bit dry and devoid of a strong style quotient. That’s why many riders love classic bikes; they just seem to have more personality, more soul, more beauty.

Recommended Videos

Not all of them do, of course, but designers of days gone by always seemed to automatically build in at least a bit of character while also meeting the needs of strength, power and utility. Same could be said for many old cars as well.

One of the hotbeds of motorcycle design that consistently combines speed with sex appeal is Italy of course – have you eyeballed a Ducati, lately? But the real golden age for Italian design was in the 1960s and 1970s, as the Italian bike makers transitioned from creating vehicles simply needed to get people around following World War II to their re-emergence into world markets, where stylish competition from Germany, America and Japan awaited.

Among the most famous performance marques from the era were Laverda, MV Agusta and Ducati. The 900cc and 750cc Ducati Desmo L-twins of the 1970s are among the most sought-after bikes from the era, sometimes fetching six-digit sums at auction. Rarer still are the fire-breathing machines from MV Agusta, which was producing DOHC inline-fours more than a decade before Honda unleashed the four-pot CB750 in 1969. But MVs were hand-made, very expensive low-volume machines for the well-heeled and not destined for the unwashed masses like the millions of Hondas pouring out of Japan.

Laverda1
Image used with permission by copyright holder

It speaks volumes to the execution of the CB750 that as the sun rose on Soichiro’s empire, the shadow of Honda and the other Asian makers nearly wrote Ducati, MV and others into the dusty pages of history along with BSA, Norton, and Triumph. Indeed, the lights pretty much went out on MV Agusta in 1980, despite a long streak of racing success. Cagiva resurrected the brand 11 years later and it’s still around today. MV Agustas are still expensive, exclusive and cause a bit of drool from enthusiasts, but the old models are still considered the best examples of the brand’s heyday.

Stuart Parr is one of many enthusiasts who appreciates this golden era of Italian motoring, but he’s also a man of means and has put together quite a collection of lovelies from Ducati, MV Agusta and others. He has kindly shared his enviable collection for an exhibit, the Art of Italian Two Wheel, that just opened in New York City, and gearheads have the next three months to check it out in Gotham before it goes on the road around the country. If you can’t make it to a show, we hope the small gallery above will ease your pain somewhat.

Riders everywhere clamor for bike builders to emulate these classic designs, but modern technology, the demands of riders today and the ever-shortening design cycle for new bikes means that motorcycles like these are likely to remain artifacts of glory years gone by.

Appreciate them while you can.

Ducati9
Image used with permission by copyright holder

All photos courtesy of Brian Buckley.

Bill Roberson
Former Former Digital Trends Contributor, The Manual
Please reach out to The Manual editorial staff with any questions or comments about Bill’s work.
Don’t ruin your cigars: here’s how to properly season a new humidor
Seasoning secrets every cigar lover could use
faceless man presenting a cigar humidor with cigars inside with gloved hands

If you're a newcomer to the world of cigars or just bought a brand-new humidor, you'll need to season it. And no, I'm not saying to add salt and pepper to it. If you've never heard of it, you might ask, "What is seasoning for a humidor?"

Don't think you need to flavor the box or anything — seasoning is really about getting the wood inside your humidor so as not to rob your cigars of precious moisture. Easy to understand, and getting it done is relatively straightforward as well. The trick is figuring out the "why," and we'll get into that in a bit. But let's first discuss seasoning a humidor.

Read more
The NBA’s ultimate celebration tool: The victory cigar
A look at the players and coaches who smoke to celebrate
Jordan smoking a cigar image on a bag

Sports are synonymous with celebration. After winning the biggest trophy of their lives, athletes want to indulge in the payoff that comes with seeing their dreams realized. Teams go into the locker room, where a waterfall of champagne hits them in the eyes, and swimming goggles seem to be a requirement, lest you walk around on the best night of your life half blind. While drinking is often the activity of choice after winning a championship, the NBA has an alternative symbol of greatness that other sports don't use nearly enough: the victory cigar.

Basketball is a team game, but it's also an individual canvas for solo superstardom. After winning an NBA championship, the coaches and players who sit atop the throne have long smoked a cigar in the locker room, during the parade, or even on the bench before the clock has hit zero. There's nothing quite like a good stogie to signify the ultimate win over the rest of the league, but how did the victory cigar get so ingrained in NBA championship celebrations? We want to take a walk down memory lane and look at some of the historical moments and people who made the cigar what it is within the NBA today.
Red Auerbach's victory cigar on the bench
Red Auerbach: The Story Behind the Victory Cigar + His Disdain of NBA Officials - Red on Roundball

Read more
The best medical shows of all time to binge now
From ER to The Pitt, these are the best medical shows ever made
Noah Wyle in the Pitt

Throughout TV's long history, the medical drama has occupied a somewhat unique place in the landscape. Medical shows are often some of the most reliable on TV precisely because there's so much drama built in to working in a hospital.

Personally, I've found the medical drama to be deeply comforting for years, even if I have no desire to be a doctor myself. Understanding the stress of people in the healthcare profession is fascinating in and of itself.

Read more