Motorcycles.

[jscottyk]

they are near perfection IMO.

Agreed. See my '95 900SP story above.

[dogrange]

I had one of these. It scared the shit out of me when we did an 80mph accidental wheelie topping a roller. I figured I'd probably die if I kept it so I swapped it for a hypermotard. I'm still alive. But best of luck with it and be careful.

How you like the Hypermotard?

[jscottyk]

So, this happened on Friday. Next up, get a 1000 miles on it before a track day at COTA on 11/26!

First take back on the track after a +10 year hiatus. Felt GREAT! And now the RS break-in is complete.

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[jerk]

Put clip-ons on the Supersport today. I had to raise the forks a bit which actually seems to take some vagueness away at least at my first ride. I lost a ton of steering range initially so I pushed the clip ons more flat- but that doesn't feel quit right either- I need to fuck with them more. My suspicion is that I need to angle them back even if it means I can squish my hands against the tank at full lock.

I'm still figuring all this shit out- but the lower position with more weight forward definitely makes the bike better for me.

[jscottyk]

Put clip-ons on the Supersport today. I had to raise the forks a bit which actually seems to take some vagueness away at least at my first ride. I lost a ton of steering range initially so I pushed the clip ons more flat- but that doesn't feel quit right either- I need to fuck with them more. My suspicion is that I need to angle them back even if it means I can squish my hands against the tank at full lock.

I'm still figuring all this shit out- but the lower position with more weight forward definitely makes the bike better for me.

In my experience, more weight on the front is a good thing for turn-in, but at some point can make things squirly when driving out of corners leading to things like head-shake. Easily solved with a steering damper. Basically you are just changing the trail; but you know this.

If you want to get all crazy and shit, get a set of triple clamps that lets you also change the offset get your geometry nerd on.

Regarding clip-on angle, that seems to be a personal thing. I tend to ride my motorcycles more like MX and like my clip-ons more out so I can get my elbows out when needed. But that's just me.

[jscottyk]

I've got an 2011 1198SP in my sights and am educating myself. Do any you Ducati folk have a recommendation of any online forums with good signal to noise ratios?

So far, these are the three I have found.

ducati.org | the home for ducati owners and enthusiasts
Ducati.ms - The Ultimate Ducati Forum
Ducati Superbikes

Thoughts or recommendations?

[twowheels]

I liked ducati.ms when I owned ducs.

[rwsaunders]

Spotted on the mean streets of South Lake Union.

[jerk]

my business partner and best pal Jeff Huckleberry owns a Honda ST1300. It is the perfect bike when your pal calls you in February and says, "get out of Boston and get you ass to Delmar, California so we can open this fucking bike shop. It's big and quiet and perfect for riding across country or having a wife or boyfriend who won't get their own bike- but in terms of enjoying riding a motorcycle it's a five year old Toyota Sienna of motorcycles.

i love my Ducati Supersport S more everyday although i love thinking about gear for me and gear for it. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably have bought a Panigale or a BMW S1000RS...The Supersport has a perfect engine and perfect power for me- but I do wish more than anything it had a full on motoGP style fairing. I'm riding on the highway at 85-90 50+ miles a day and while i replaced the screen with ducati's smoked touring screen- which looks better and certainly helps with the wind- FUCK wish i could put the front end of Dovi's bike on this thing.

the position with the clip-ons is perfect now for riding. it still kinda sucks for super slow speed turns in the alley- but who cares. the next thing is probably some adjustable rear sets with grippier pegs, and maybe some fun graphics.

i did buy an AGV Piste GP-R helmet and compared to my Shark it honestly feels like you're not wearing a helmet. You can move your head around at any speed, it's really light, and visbility is excellent. My Shark is also their motoGP helmet but couldn't be more different. You shut the visor on the Shark and you are removed from the world outside of the visual. The thing is so quiet and tight. It's also fairly heavy and it blows around a bit- neither of these things would i have known were it not for my new AGV. The AGV is so fucking loud the thing even comes with earplugs. There is no difference between the visor up or the visor locked in terms of sound. MY nose also slightly rubs the rubber breath guard so I took it out and it immediately fogged up at a stop. I installed the included Pinlocks though and now it is perfect. I think I'll re-install the breathe guard after taking some scissors to them and making them sit better. Damn my mother and this strong nose she gave me. The AGV is also carbon and fluo yellow with weird carbon molecular structure graphics, text that says "maniac" on the back, and Ducati and other sponsor logos. Helmets, even race replicas don't normally have those logos and I'm a sucker for anything "pro" so of course that was the (gulp) $1400 helmet i picked.

i also went to try on the second Vanson Hybrid suit the guys at Triumph San Diego were kind enough to order for me. I probably would have bought it- but they wouldn't let me walk out with it. The sleeves are 3 inches too short as is the inseam, the calves are really too tight and the suit also fits really big around my middle and chest.....it's a 46 and the 44 was also stupid short but fit better in the torso and shoulders. I guess I need a custom there too.

My guys at GP Motorsports where I buy everything except my Vanson stuff also sold me some neat-o Dainese boots that the MotoGP guys like Rossi are using, They're much smaller than the race boots I'm used to- but fit and feel great. They're designed to fit under Dainese's suit- so I decided to just bite the bullet and get a Dainese Laguna Seca suit. Dainese stuff always has fit my long lanky swallow chested physique well. I have really long legs, which is all in the femur- even stupider long arms, really narrow shoulders- but a pretty big neck, big hands and calves that don't let me easily put on most pants. I was still confident that the Dainese 52 Long" would fit because I tried one once and it was amazing. Well- wouldn't you know it- Dainese discontinued that size in all their suits so we're back at custom.

I don't know what to do.- so I just paid in full and ordered a custom Dainese suit in the old 52 "Long" size. I was able to pick some cool colors so the thing will be most black with fluo yellow legs and sides and speed hump and collar with white demon heads and text graphics. I think it will look pretty fucking pro. Depending on what Vanson says I'll get a suit from them too- all black and super '70s with stitched Vanson text in yellow in some places- straight out of Dunlop brothers super eight movie from 1978.

I'm so dumb about this bike stuff- but i am riding the hell out of this thing and want the best gear I can get.

Still- I'm stuck wearing leather vanson separates that can't zip together, and kind of blow around and ride up in the 3/4 tuck at speed. I love my Vanson pants an Drac jacket and they're perfect for riding around town- but i really want a tight one piece that fits for highway riding and fucking around out in the canyons.

[ides1056]

this one floats my boat

[jscottyk]

Important info on a Brembo recall that could impact bikes mentioned on this thread.

[pdxmech13]

Welp.

After 5 months of hassle and waiting and an engine rebuild just rolled over 100 miles and came upon this.

And that was just engine problem #2. Case had already been replaced last year.

Looking into my options.

Dilly, Dilly!

[jscottyk]

Looking into my options.

Step one. Lemon Law.

Step two. Tuono. Definitely, Tuono.

[pdxmech13]

Yes!!!!!!!

I'm Feeling It!!!!!!

[Corso]

I spend way too much time on this site, day dreaming:

Rare SportBikes For Sale - We Blog the Best Online SportBike Classifieds Every Day!

[jscottyk]

I spend way too much time on this site, day dreaming:

Rare SportBikes For Sale - We Blog the Best Online SportBike Classifieds Every Day!

Damn you!!

[Nate@Scarab]

Two weeks into 1098S ownership.

So far, it's only died once - deep in the Haight on a Friday night. It'd been sitting for about a year and the battery was toast. Lucked out (!) and one of the local shops had a CHARGED battery in stock, ten minutes before closing. Uber'd it over and my roommate dropped by for an amusing battery swap on the street with plenty of onlookers.

The bike is a riot. It hates, hates, HATES going slow. In stop/go SF traffic, it will get hot enough to fry an egg on the tank. The torque curve is pretty unreal, I think the full Termi exhaust helps - front wheel likes to loft in third gear. As a daily driver, it's really amusing and utterly impractical. Goes well in the rain. Compact people do well pillion. Anyone over 5'6 or without much core strength is suffering.

Lots of Sears Point/Thunderhill this summer. I'm excited.

[jclay]

aw, fuck

That's pretty much it as far as I'm concerned.

If memory serves, in the early '90s, and many years after I hung up my helmet and wrote motorcycles completely out of my life, I had a nice surprise, in red. In my teens and 20s (the 70s, early 80s), I was into MX racing, rode for transportation and did the best road sport riding I could manage on a 400/4...chasing Jim Roche and Peter Matheson on their R90S's when they kindly turned the flame down; each also having one of the MV 750S America units available when MV unloaded a bunch in crates, late 70s at something like $2k a pop. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Coulda! Didn't. Anyway, I was walking across a parking lot when a red scooter caught my eye. Now I mean I was finished with even thinking about motorcycles...couldn't care less; I'd survived my experiences, but this glint of a red front-end stopped me in my tracks. I did a little duck shuffle as my brain decided whether walk me over, or propel me on my way; it was cerebral cortex action, not higher level thought. But over I went. I was stunned. Wikipedia now tells me it was likely a 916. And you have to realize that, how shall I put this.....Ducati hadn't been a well regarded machine in my day and place and they were struggling I believe. To whatever extent that was based on parochialism and ignorance matters not; I didn't expect to see the word "Ducati" written on something like that.

From that day on a bit of interest was rekindled and Ducati's hotshot irons were the only MCs that resonated with me. Oh, sure, I still have a soft spot for nice airhead BMWs and a few others but when I see or hear the Duc thump by it really does make my heart beat faster. No offense to anyone's favorite, and in reality we all know that there are loads of uber-spectacular makers and bikes out there, and I hope this missive is taken as a celebration of motorcycles....,but for me....I don't even see the other stuff. Other world rocket ships.

Fortunately I'm old enough, broke no bones that mattered and wise enough to get no closer than this. But if I was 20 again the scooter in my carport would be a sibling of the one in the photo.

[rwsaunders]

Somebody is tearing up the streets in DC.

[Mabouya]

Well, I'm not sure if my neighbors will approve, but today I received the H-pipe for my '01 Aprilia RST-1000 (aka Futura).
I had gotten the Staintune cans off e-bay a while back, so now I'm ready to turn it from something that sounds like a sewing machine to something just a bit louder.

About what it will sound like:




H-pipe vs "breadbox" that's currently in there. (not mine)