A day at.... Ducati 450 MX Experience, West Sussex UK

“Roll off the throttle and trust the engine braking,” shouts Barry as I approach an impossible-looking descent. I’m breathing hard and sweating in the heat. My mind is swinging, twenty times a second, between exuberance and abject fear.

Too late now, I’m committed. Trust the engine braking.

I recently spent a balmy spring day with Ducati at their MX Experience Day at Golding Barn Raceway in West Sussex and learnt a lot.

Kickstands up and let's go.

Now I can still ride a dirt bike about as well as the average 60-year-old, but the instructors are something else as they whip the Ducati 450 DesmoMX at pace around a slippery, dusty motocross circuit in the bright sunshine. The instructors make it look effortless, which is both inspiring and mildly irritating.

Barry is also 60 but has been riding motocross since the age of three and is an ex-pro racer. In fairness, after watching him ride for five minutes, it's clear we've both spent the last six decades doing very different things.

After a few laps of the undulating course, under Barry’s careful supervision, I start to relax and settle into a groove. Using the throttle, braking in a straight line, leg stretched out in front, frog-stepping through each corner, then powering out and allowing the traction control to slide a little, just for effect of course.

It’s physical, total concentration.

I’m up on my toes leaning forward to weight the front tyre, then sitting down for the corners as close to the front of the seat as possible. My heart is thumping like a good'un and there is no room for thoughts of anything else. For a few precious minutes, mortgages, emails and the general state of the world simply cease to exist.

The Ducati 450MX which is testing my limits is set up on the softest power (green) mode and I’m only using a quarter throttle at most. In full-power red mode and full throttle it’s a beast with a sharper throttle response and much less engine braking.

It’s clever too. Very clever.

And a far cry from my own dirt bike in terms of power and sophistication. Power sits in the top cadre against its peers but Ducati have also given it some cool technology from their road bikes. Desmodromic valves, programmable riding modes, traction control, wheelie control and a silky quick shifter which is a revelation on a dirt bike. I only used the clutch to start the bike. Frankly, I felt slightly guilty about it.

There’s also an app. Of course there is. Why wouldn’t there be these days?

It allows you to customise the setup and can even provide optimum suspension settings for your weight and style of riding.

Soon the bike will tell you when it needs servicing, based on a dynamic analysis of riding style and how hard or not you ride compared to a factory racer. Which, in my case, is rather like comparing a reasonably enthusiastic pub footballer with a Premier League striker. Meaning longer service intervals for those of us who only occasionally trouble the upper reaches of the bike’s capability. Which is most of us.

Cool ! Told you it was clever.

With a new enduro version and possibly a 250 in the pipeline, I don’t think it will be long before we see Ducati on the start line of enduro championships, maybe even in the rally scene and ultimately at Dakar.

So what did I learn?

Firstly, I’m not as good, or brave, as I thought I was. But even an old dog can learn new tricks and improve with the right coaching. I improved my motocross skills during the day, conquered a few fears, played silly beggars with a bunch of new friends and caught a bit of sun.

Proving the old adage that you're never too old to be silly.

Practice and knowledge really do dispel fear, even if you're increasingly aware that the consequences of getting things wrong now involve considerably more ibuprofen than they used to.

Secondly, the new Ducati 450MX is an absolute beast but also surprisingly refined, for a dirt bike. Technology and development are everywhere these days. The Ducati is fast, clever and hugely impressive, showing once again that dedication to performance, whether the human or machine variety, and investing time in development is rewarded.

Finally, you'd think I'd be acquiring wisdom, caution and sensible hobbies. Instead, I seem to be collecting more motorcycle experiences, bruises and increasingly ambitious ideas.

My body isn’t as bouncy as it was in my twenties, it takes me slightly longer to recover and I carry a few previous injuries which are limiting at times, but that’s all part of the natural order and I don’t fight it.

Common sense, or more accurately mental and physical stagnation, however still appears to be a mirage somewhere in the distance. Or perhaps travelling several miles behind. Either way, I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Perhaps the real lesson is not whether I can ride like the instructors, because I clearly can't. It's that there are still new things to learn, in the motorcycle world, new skills to develop, new places to see and adventures to stumble into. Which is rather encouraging when you’re approaching 60 and still making it up as you go along.

As for me?

I left Golding Barn tired, dusty, slightly sore and considerably more respectful of motocross riders.

I also left with a huge grin and some new friends with a shared passion.

The Ducati MX Experience wasn't just a chance to ride a new motorcycle. It was an opportunity to explore a different branch of motorcycling, consolidate skills, and learn something new. To push my limits a little and spend a day doing something that is ridiculously good fun.

I discovered skills I didn't know I had and spent the drive home convincing myself that I could do that again and, with just a little more practice, be a bit quicker next time.

By the time I got home, the aches had started to appear in places I wasn’t previously aware contained muscles.

Having been born in Italy, I admit to having a soft spot for Ducatis and fingers crossed we'll soon see a few more red bikes tearing up motocross and enduro trails around the world.

And if Ducati ever decides to build a lightweight rally adventure bike?

Well...

Given my track record with motorcycles and questionable decision-making, that could get very interesting indeed.

Thanks for getting to the end. Take a look at other experiences by clicking on the three little lines at the top right of the page. 

Below are some photos from the day. Drop me an email at andy@mototoff-ridingon.com if you're thinking about trying the experience or better still go to Ducati's website and learn more by clicking on the button