Vee Two Australia / Tuesday, 2 July 2024

2024 has seen plenty of changes here at Vee Two

Dean knew his way around a Ducati and a camera. Here’s the Ducati Alchemy he built with great mate Phil Allen on board.

On Anzac Day this year Dean Duckmanton, our main man in sales, passed away suddenly, leaving a big hole in our hearts and our business. Our deepest condolences go to his Fiancé Pam, his family and friends. A special and great man. RIP my friend. We all miss you so much.

Dean was very well known in Ducati circles in Australia. Dean started working on Ducati Motorcycles when he commenced a Small-Bore Engine Apprenticeship at Gowanloch Motorcycles back in the late 1970s. He and his good friend Phil Allen then started and ran the successful Bike World Shop in Adelaide. Phill and Dean ran Bike World for several years building and repairing Ducati race and road bikes.

The time came for a change, so Dean moved to QLD, trading his Ducati spanner skills for a corporate position at Penske trucks. Of course, his heart lay with the Italian machines from Bologna and around five years ago he teamed up with Vee Two to handle online and phone sales from all over the world.

The weeks following Deans passing have been a bit of a blur as we carried on getting orders out and continuing hands-on work on restorations and general repairs for bevel drive Ducati motorcycles. We are also continuing the development of our Ritorno engine and other special items like our long-awaited electric start kit. Yes, it is very close. And it is awesome.

We are a small team here at Vee Two and the workload can seem overwhelming at times. However, we stay focused and hard at it.

I am also extremely pleased to let you all know that sometimes the universe does provide. In a sliding-doors moment we caught up with Chris Pickett who has turned out to be a perfect fit for us. Chris is a former motorcycle journalist, working as editor for both Cycle Torque and Rapid Magazines as well as being a regular contributor for Australian Motorcyclist Magazine after he stepped away from full time magazine life.

Chris is a bit of a Ducati tragic himself, buying his first bevel Duke at the tender age of 21. He has owned a few bevels since, and in fact bought a new Vee Two Big end assembly for his Darmah way back 1988. He’s owned quite a few belt drive Ducatis as well, raced an Imola replica round case for Ron Young Engineering for many years, and also raced a 888 Ducati at the Isle of Man. He knows most of the operators of the old time Ducati workshops in Australia and has a good all-round knowledge of bevel drive models. Besides doing the sales side of things, he’ll also be on the tools doing repairs and restorations.

We are continuing to develop the Ritorno engine, using our Cad Cam design capabilities to get it to the stage where it can be cost effectively produced. R & D on bevel engines is where this company really started and we want to continue that, as that is what it’s all about for me. We are currently building an in-house dyno room to test engine development. We hope to have that finished soon. We also have new classic racing bikes being built for overseas clients, engines to get out the door, restorations to complete and build the Mike Hailwood Replicas and EVO motorcycles for clients.

We have started to update our website too. You’ll find more of the parts we manufacture on our site, plus NOS and used parts too. And there’s a section for collectible motorcycle sales. We have decided to have a clear out of surplus parts, bikes and machinery to allow for the production of the Ritorno engines.

I’d like to thank everyone for all their support over the years and while we are kicking along, I will also aim to take a bit of a back seat from the day to day running of Vee Two. I have a good crew here at Vee Two, who are more than capable of getting the job done. I’ll still be here but you’re more likely to find me at a milling machine or tuning an engine than you will answering phones at my desk.

Thanks
Brook Henry