The bike that changed my life

Damn, I've had a lot of bikes in my life.

In order of appearance:

1966 Yamaha 180 basket-case (never finished it - can't remember what became of it..)

1967 Triumph 500 Daytona café racer (open meggas, clip-ons, rear sets; the original loudbike..)

1966 BMW R50/s (full Avon fairing - I rode it when the Triumph wasn't working)

1972 CZ 250 (the bike that reinforced my opinion that dirt is for growing potatoes)

1975 Triumph T160 Trident (rarely ran well, but an outstanding ride when it did)

1976 Honda CB 750 (the beginning of the 'I'd rather ride than wrench' period)

1980 Suzuki GS 1000 (better than the Honda, but still not British)

1977 Triumph Silver Jubilee Bonneville (what was I thinking? ..It's British!)

1980 Yamaha RD350LC (Astounding little bike that could. Got me onto the race track)

1978 Honda MT125R (My first race bike - seized almost every time I raced it)

1980 Honda RS125R (Liquid cooling didn't make matters much better)

1983 Suzuki GS550E (No more 2-strokes - I want to actually go racing for a change)

1973 Ducati 750GT (The Ducati die was cast with this machine)

...The Dark Period...

1977 Ducati 900SS (Morphed into a potent 750 desmo vintage racer that I campaigned for 8 years)

1973 Ducati 750GT (Originally bought for spares, it became my daily rider and part-time track bike)

2003 Buell XB9S (Replaced the GT - what was I thinking?)

1987 Ducati 750 F1 (Once I tasted Fran's TT1, I was hooked on light-weight, hot-rod Pantahs. Ultimately, it evolved into an outstanding 853cc vintage racer)

1990 Ducati 750 Sport (The ultimate sleeper with motor, forks, swing arm and wheels from a 900SS)

2005 Ducati Multistrada (A crazy naked bike I called the Hyperstrada - totaled when I was rear-ended)

2008 Ducati Hypermotard (Another custom - but this one failed to deliver in just about every possible way)

1957 Triumph 650 Trophy Bird (In Washington, DC it was the ideal machine - when 50mph is break-neck speed, who cares about traffic?)

1972 Norton 750 Commando (Figured I'd mastered the 'British thing' - what was I thinking?)

2000 Cagiva Gran Canyon (Beefed-up the motor & suspension and swapped to 17s with sticky tires, but it was still a pig. Cool bike though..)

2005 BMW R1100S Boxer Prep (Finally; after 40 years of looking, I found the ultimate street bike - and promptly gave up street riding)

1985 Ducati TT1 Replica (Lou Saif made me do it and I can't thank him enough - a brilliant track bike)

1985 Bimota DB1 SR Custom (I regretted the purchase throughout the 2-year build, but when I rode it for the 1st time at Mosport, I fell in love)

I still have the TT1 and the DB1 and will likely hang onto them for a while.

But the bike that changed my life was the 900SS that I bought for myself as my 1st year sobriety reward - and shortly after I made the purchase I met Fran McDermott, saw his 750 desmo bevel vintage racer and decided that I needed to take a trip down Racer Road.Both the process of transforming the machine and the experience of learning to race at the 'podium' level rewarded me with a whole batch of new friends, a commitment to a higher level of mechanical skills and a new level of confidence and humility. The bike and I spent the first 8 years of my new life together and it seemed that we both improved at the same rate.

Christened 'the loudbike' by the tribe I ran with, the moniker has stuck to me and my bikes to this day. But after I rode Fran's TT1 in the first of a series of vintage endurance races, the old bevel twin seemed a heavy and slow steering antique. So I bought a 750 F1 and began to transform it into a full- on racer and a year later; sold the loudbike to another racer. When he crashed it in Mosport's turn 2, it flipped at least 5 times before bursting into flames and burning to a crisp.

I thought it didn't affect me but by the end of that season, I had started to write about the bike and my connection to vintage Ducati hot-rods. The loudbike blog was born. The bike still affects me and I miss it horribly. Maybe it was that period of intense personal growth

• maybe it's tragic demise.

What's left of the right-hand exhaust (shown flying through the air in the crash photo) hangs on the wall in my workshop; reminding me of one of the most intense and rewarding periods of my life.