History on tap: Final ride for owner of rare Ducati | Your Story

“Impassionate wife sells motorbike to finance kitchen – that’s what the headline should be.”

Larry Coyle was full of jokes last week as he parked his vintage 1960s built Ducati 160 at the entrance to Cowaramup’s latest hotspot, The Servo Taphouse.

The Spanish-built, Italian-badged motorcycle is believed to be one of only four of its kind registered in the world and was manufactured in a window of just a few years while Ducati licensed a Spanish company to build alternate models of their vehicles.

It arrived in the South West along with the couple, who moved from Perth to establish a new home and embrace the Cowaramup lifestyle.

“We chose here, believe it or not, over Italy,” Larry told the Mail, with a nod to the Ducati’s heritage and the Coyles’ love of the Italian coast.

Taking the bike for a spin as he prepares to sell, Larry placed gentle blame on his wife Kerry’s dream of a custom designed kitchen, part of the work being completed on their home.

In reality, Kerry Coyle’s support has extended deep into the Italian countryside, where she navigated – often without much signage – to drive the support vehicle while Larry took part in a prestigious, six day Italian race.

“It’s called the Milano Taranto – it starts in Milan, and you ride for six days through Italy,” he explained over an ale at the Taphouse on Thursday.

“It started in 1937 and went for 20 years – then there was a massive crash and people were killed.

“They banned the race for a long time. After many years they revisited it in a different guise and it been going now continuously since the 1980s.”

Larry – who was on his first motorcycle at age 7 – and Kerry were introduced to the Milano Taranto by a fellow car and motorcycle enthusiast, who they joined as a support team for their first year on the course.

“We saw the ride and went: ‘yep, we’re doing this, in three years time, this is awesome’.”

They purchased the Ducati in England, had it restored and took it back to Italy for the 2600km Milano Taranto.

“To gain entry, you had to send photographs of your bike, your credentials, whether you’re a member of a race club, and then they’d send your approval out,” he said.

“Now to get into the ride, you have to have competed in five past events – there’s no way to get a new place.

“We took it over there and competed – we were the lone Australians in 2012. It was amazing, an absolute lifetime experience.”

With Kerry behind the wheel of the support van and Larry on the bike, the couple completed the course and brought the Ducati back to Australia. Now, with construction costs rising and the pair’s dream home taking shape, it’s time to move on.

“This bike is probably the rarest model motorbike to bear the Ducati name,” Larry said. “Confusion reigns supreme as to when they did make them – some say 64 to 68, some 65 to 71, and one of the experts said they only made them in 1965.

“None of it can be verified, but the Ducati register has done a worldwide search to see how many of these they can find road-registered, and they found four.”

Collectors have taken a keen interest, and Larry said he would be sad to say goodbye.

“It’s a show piece, it’ll do 100 kilometres and hour, but only for 30 seconds. She’s a 1964 model motorbike, remember… she’s sparky… she’s feisty.”