The night before and I’m making a few final preparations. There are two things adding to the trepidation: firstly, the Scrambler could well prove to be the least powerful bike there and secondly, it’s my first time out on a track since a jaunt around Brands Indy on a Kawasaki Z750 in maybe 2007.
This is going to be fun, but also a bit scary… The Ducati Scrambler Café Racer is off to Silverstone for laps of the full circuit on a Ducati trackday. Update 7: Scrambler Café Racer takes on Silverstone GP You never know, we might even find a few more local Scrambler owners to tag along. 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. My aftermarket Termi exhaust piqued Gary’s interest, too (his is still on stock cans). With a few more miles on the clock, I suspect it will be a different story.
One difference is my CR is nudging 4000 miles while Gary’s is still relatively box-fresh. It’s interesting because my gearbox feels great. While a third concern is the gearbox with false neutrals changing from sixth back to fifth. 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. He feels the front brake lacks bite, so some different pads or maybe even twin discs are on his shopping list. There are things, however, which race car engineer Gary would change. Quizzed on what he loves about his silver machine he picks out the styling, easy weight and not too aggressive riding position. “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. “I bought the Scrambler as I wanted something to slow me down,” he says. 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. 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. Membership is global, but now and then you come across riders who are local.Īnd so it is that I am sitting down over a cheese sarnie at a country pub with Café Racer owner, Gary Davies. One of the cool things about niche bikes like the Ducati Scrambler 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.
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