This month, the Member Spotlight shines on Alan Wilzig, who is the owner of MH900e #0642/2000.  For those of you who don’t have the privelege of knowing Alan personally, he was involved with Ducati North America for several years and his business relationship with that company fostered his interest in Ducati motorcycles and, indeed, all types of fine machinery!

Explaining the acquisition of his first Ducati, Alan explained, “I was the banker for Ducati North America at the time and I asked them to donate a 750 Monster and a 900SS ie to a charity gala auction I was hosting.  They graciously agreed.  I turned out to be the high bidder on the Monster, which was the only Ducati I wasn’t scared of, since my only riding experience before that time was on dirt bikes.”  Alan went on to buy the 900SS when the high bidder reneged on his bid after several weeks of excuses.

Alan’s ownership of MHe #0642 began when Ducati NA remodeled their offices in 2003.  Alan wrote, “When Ducati NA were cleaning up the lobby in their NJ place they decided to liquidate both an MH900e and a Supermono that had been displayed there.  I offered them $8750 for the MHe, which they accepted, and $50,000 for the Supermono, which they refused.  I did a LOT of banking for them, in particular setting up programs for dealers with no credit so they could buy parts and things, so their acceptance of my offer for the MHe was a particularly nice “Thank You” gesture from DNA.”

Alan then displayed the MHe in his office because, “It was a great conversation starter; Impressive to new prospective clients because I could casually mention I was the banker for Ducati North America.”  Alan related one story where the MHe helped in his business dealings:

I remember one time I was a little anxious meeting an “old time” client of the Bank after my father’s retirement.  The client was a 72 year old former Minister turned real estate developer, who was also an avid student of history.  He was enthralled listening to my Father’s stories of European history, especially World War II and his experiences as a survivor of Auschwitz.  For the first time in my career I thought, “What the hell am I going to have in common with this gentleman to break the ice and begin a relationship with him independent of my Father?

He arrived at my office five minutes before I walked in, and was poring over the MHe when I arrived.  “Boy, this brings back memories”, he said.  “When I was sixteen years old I brought an old NSU home and my Mother made me sleep in the garage with it until I sold it the next week.”

From that meager beginnig we became great friends.  We had breakfast together monthly until I sold the Bank four years later.  Of all the people I ever dealt with, this was the man I believed would think I was some immature “lucky sperm club” member who was so cavalier about business that he kept a stupid motorcycle in his office.  This relationship alone made the MHe a valuable asset!

Shortly after acquiring his MHe, Alan developed a serious case of motorcycleitis, which caused him to begin a buying spree of epic proportions.  Alan averaged buying a new motorcycle every twelve days for a period of three years from 2003 until 2006.  He explains, “… being married to a moto-friendly Belgian (Alan’s fabulous wife, Karin) certainly helped, as did selling my company in 2004 and embarking on my plans in 2005 to build the highest spec private use road racing circuit in the world.”

After a five year battle with local activists, weather, zoning authorities, building inspectors, paving contractors, and even more local activists, Alan’s “driveway” is finally finished.  Not a subtle character, Alan is having no less than the Brothers Bostrum come to his New York home to break the facility in right!

If you want to find out more about Alan, you can find lots of pretty pictures at www.wilzigracing.com or at Team Wilzig on facebook.