The Doffo Winery and MotoDoffo!

Fast forward 60 or 70 years (or more), and somewhere there will be a high end vineyard with a vintage CSC motorcycle collection.  I can see it now…beautiful grounds, extreme hospitality, and a famous collection of California Scooters, RX3s, restored TT250s, and CSC paraphernalia.   Maybe they’ll even have on display one of the RX3s that rode the early Baja runs or the Western America Adventure Ride.   Perhaps they’ll display an original signed copy of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM.   That would be cool…a collection of iconic 250cc motorcycles that changed the motorcycle scene in the early part of the 21st century and brought riders back to the realization that a 250 is the world’s most perfect bike.   And the wines would be first class, too.   Imagine that…a future vineyard with a classic bike collection!

There’s good news here, folks.   You don’t need to travel into the future.   Dial that dream back to today, and you’d be at the Doffo Winery.  It’s an amazing vineyard with one of the world’s great vintage motorcycle collections, and I spent the day there yesterday.  I’m talking about the Doffo Winery and its MotoDoffo collection, and it’s right here in southern California.  Two men with a passion for producing great wines created it all, and the good news for us is that their passion extends to restoring and racing vintage Italian motorcycles.   A father-and-son team, Marcelo and Damian Doffo have an absolutely stunning motorcycle collection.  These are not just two guys with too much time on their hands…they are riders and enthusiasts, and they are passionate about motorcycles.   Red racing motorcycles, to be specific.  The passion for all things moto is real…that word came up constantly during our time together yesterday.

What a day I had spending time with Damian, learning about the MotoDoffo collection, and photographing amazing motorcycles.   Words alone won’t do the story justice, so let’s jump into the photos…

Damian Doffo and yours truly.  Damian is a Cal Poly grad.  Go Broncos!

A Norton parked outside. The MotoDoffo collection emphasizes small displacement Italian motorcycles, but it includes many interesting bikes from other parts of the world

Argentinian? Italian? You’ll have to read the full story in Motorcycle Classics magazine or visit the Doffo Winery yourself to find out!

A portion of the Moto Doffo collection.

Sachs, a German engine in a Dutch motorcycle.

When men were men and brakes were brakes.

A beautiful Bultaco Metralla fuel tank. Is there one “s” or two in Montesa?  (Inside joke for my Riding China buddy…)

A Ducati with a jelly bean fuel tank. These are some of the world’s most beautiful motorcycles.

The jelly bean 250.  When you look at this, the question is obvious: Why would anyone ever want anything other than a 250?

Ah, Celeste. Bianchi. Magnificent. Bianchi’s signature color, whipped together in postwar Italy.   It was created from milsurp OD green paint, with a few other colors tossed into the mix.

Didn’t know there was a domestic market 350cc Ducati L-twin, did you?

A single-cylinder Moto Guzzi baloney slicer, so named because of its external flywheel.

The Boss, Damian Doffo, in the classic bike restoration shop. The Doffo family is heavily involved in motorcycle racing.

I kept coming back to the jelly bean bike. Doffo does all of their own restorations. In a sea of magnificent motorcycles, this one was even more so.

A vintage racing Ducati. The tracks on the primary cover were intended to improve cooling.

Doffo does it all…frame work, body work, and engine work.

An amazing collection, to be sure…this is the belly plan from a racing Ducati.

Seat time, on a vintage Ducati moped.

The view from the veranda, in front of the MotoDoffo collection.

This is a good news and more good news story, folks.  The MotoDoffo collection is open to the public, and it’s right here in So Cal.  Temecula, to be exact.  More good news?   The ride to Doffo’s is amazing…it goes right through Temecula’s rolling hills and amazing wine country.  Even more good news…the Doffo winery specializes in reds, and in particular, they offer high end Malbecs, the crown prince of wines.  I’m thinking maybe a one-day ride through some of the same California countryside we covered on our most recent TT250 Baja adventure ride, with the Doffo Winery and MotoDoffo motorcycle collection as the destination.  That would be a fun day.

There’s more info on line….check out the Doffo Winery and the MotoDoffo collection, and I’ll let you know about our plans for the ride outlined above!