Super Ride!

The World’S Biggest Makers Of Superbikes Are Making A Beeline To India, Where Young, Moneyed.

- Chanchal Pal Chauhan

Mumbai-based Ashutosh Palep has a medical degree and runs a successful pharmaceutical business. But his passion is superbikes. He’d rather be known as a ‘Ducatisti’ – as fans of Italian luxury bike maker Ducati’s products are called rather than as a doctor or an entrepreneur. He is the moving spirit in India of the Desmo Owners Club (named after the desmodromic valve used in Ducati bikes) a global association of Ducati bike lovers, who travelled in July this year to Misano, Italy, to meet other Ducati aficionados and participate in the World Ducati Week, held at the Marco Simoncelli World Circuit racing track there.

“It was a test of steel where we took part in several competitions over three fun-filled days,” he says. “The journey to Misano was also an experience, especially the ride from Rome to the Stelvio Pass across the snowy Alps. I also got a sneak peek at the new model Ducati will be launching in 2017.” Though Ducati entered India only in 2015, long after its global peers, it has already sold over 100 of its high-end brands here. Palep’s current favourite is Ducati’s 1,200-cc Diavel Carbon, which cost him a cool ₹18 lakh. Nor is it the costliest model available in India that honour goes to the Panigale 1299R, with an ex-showroom price of ₹49 lakh.