Attention Ducati lovers - this post contains graphic content!
This is a very painful picture to look at not only for the Ducati enthusiasts or the Italian bike lovers out there but for all motorcyclists who can appreciate a beautiful piece of motorcycle engineering. This catastrophe (apologies for the use of a dramatic word) had happened a couple of days ago at a MotoGP event in Indianapolis. The nature’s wrath took its toll. 8 Ducs were damaged in the pile up.
My sincere condolences to the owners of the damaged Ducs. It is a shame this thing happened.
Business owner in Indianapolis went one step further from regular drive through car wash and created the same for motorcycle. Even if you disregard the fact that I like washing my own mororcycle because it’s a form of relaxation therapy for me, I woud NEVER wash my bike like that. First of all I highly doubt the mashine will be able to remove anything other than dust off your bike. The worst thing about this concept is that motorcycles do not like high pressure water, it gets into connections, bearings and hard to reach places to cause all kinds of problems. So would you damage your bike and pay 10 bucks for it?
It seems like I live on the moon. I just found out about Metrolink crash on Saturday, the one killing 26 people. Well, I don’t want to talk about how terrible is was or how Metrolink failed to install automatic systems that would prevent collisions like this. Instead, I want to point out that the cause of the crash was distracted train operator who was sending text messages from his cell phone. It was only yesterday when I blogged about the dangers that these communication devices present, and this accident is another living proof of that. How many lives must be ruined before someone comes to realization that cell phones and driving cannot live together? The train wreck took “only”25 lives away yet the media is buzzing about it. How many people die in road accidents daily because of cell phone distractions? I can bet it’s more than that. IMHO cell phone use while driving should be banned completely, hands free or not. If you are caught with one on your car, you get $1000 fine. Second offence it $5000. You wouldn’t want drunk waiving a gun in your face (or driving 3000+ lbs missiles around you), and drivers on cell phones are MORE dangerous that drunks (according to research, not just my guess) Our roads would be a lot safer. After all, we all got along just fine 30 years ago……
Just walked in the office fuming. I had to run an errand here in Santa Monica. On my way back I stopped at the light right next to a couple years old silver Volkswagen Jetta 1.8T. The light goes green I start moving and I see the guy right on my tail about an inch away from me. I gun it only to see that the guy is trying to keep up. I am sorry. A Jetta can’t keep up with any motorcycle let along the Orange Beast. The guy is right next to me at the next stop light. And even before the light turns green he guns it. A VW/Audi 1.8 turbo engine does provide some torque good enough for a small Jetta. It seemed like he was going at least 65 mph till he had to stop at the next light. Sort of like a “Meet the parents” kind of style if you know the reference. For the record the posted speed limit at that street, Colorado Ave in Santa Monica is 30 mph.
I was getting pissed. I can maybe understand going a bit over the speed limit. But more than twice the speed limit in a car weaving around frightened Santa Monica soccer moms? Not so much.
Next stop light the guy guns it again even before the light turns green. I wait till it turns green and gun it to to catch up to him and possibly talk some sense to the idiot. He clocked 80 mph till he had to stop again at the 3rd light. When I pulled up I saw an older white male. He was lokoing straight ahead and seemed visibly frustratedand. My revving did not attract his attention. And when I was about to get off the bike and knock on his window all of the sudden he began banging on his steering wheel. That’s when the light turned green again. He went on his crazy way and I pulled into my office’s parking garage to fume about this on my blog.
So if you are in the greater LA area please beware of the following vehicle - early 2000s silver VW Jetta 1.8T custom license plate RR AIA with a middle aged white male behind the steering wheel. If you do seem him either try to stay away or punch his lights out.
And this is a one mile commute stretch when this thing happened about half hour ago, around 11am:
Every motorcyclist knows how dangerous people who talk on the phone while driving are. As a matter of fact most of my near miss encounters with four wheel vehicles involved the dreaded cell phones permanently attached to “driver’s” ears. So understandably when on July 1st cell phone use while driving was restricted to hands free devices, it was quite a relief for me since I blindly believed that law enforcement will do what they have to do, enforce the law. For a couple of months I actually noticed the decrease in cell phone talking bastards, with some occational yahoo on SUV still chatting away. However in the past couple of weeks it’s back to normal, the cell phone talkers are at a rage yet again. I think it’s caused by police not enforcing the law, I’m wondering that the statistics say. It sucks that people have such disregard to law, what was the point of making that rule then? By the way inlike similar laws in other stated texting is still legal, one could imagine that it’s also a little distracting. So for now, whatch out for soccer moms on the phones.
Since starting my business a little over two month ago I’ve been learning something new every day. Some things were expected, some come as a surprise. One thing really stands out though. I expected a lot more support from my so called “friends”. I’m not talking about buying something from me, or helping me at the shop. Just moral support, that’s all I’m asking for. The least you can do is stop by to see my place. Pass the word around. Give the word of encouragement. In reality, I get way more support from complete strangers. Kind of makes me sad. As far as friends who do support me, big thank you is due. Without your help I wouldn’t be able to make it very far.
A friend of mine emailed me this video. Not much to say, this does look like way too much fun. Although pretty dangerous. “Look, no brakes and no hands”
I have been tempted to buy the REV’IT! socks for a very long while now. Partially because it says REV’IT! right along the side of them. Partially because they look super cool. And partially because I was curious to know if they really make a difference.
For a long while I tried convincing myself that wanting special motorcycle socks was a complete nonsense. I don’t own a special pair of socks for walking and a special pair for sitting in an office chair. My attempts to resist my temptation proved futile in the end. I caved in and bought a pair of REV’IT! Tour Summer socks.
The first test was actually performed indoors. I wore them all day long at the office. The overall result of this day long test could be summarized in one word - WOW! My feet haven’t been that comfortable in a long while. Actually they have never been that comfortable. I did not feel like taking them off. So I kept them on when I came back home as well.
Well, this is all great one might say. But how about you do some riding and tell us then how your feet felt? I did ride in and out wearing them. But what can you possibly get from a 30-40 min dashes. I could have worn any socks really and did not even notice the difference.
The test day had come last weekend. A group of my friends and I went riding last Sunday logging over 250 miles of freeways and canyons. I wore the socks. Again the result of this again almost a day long test could be summarized in one word - WOW! We were hitting temperatures of up to 100 degrees and yet my feet were not burning from heat. My ankles and calves did not feel tired at all at the end of the day. I don’t know how REV’IT! pulled it off. Despite my earlier argument about how unnecessary riding socks are I do own some other riding socks from Fox and Alpinestars. And they don’t get close to these ones.
I would highly recommend these socks to anyone who rides a lot. Again they probably will not make a difference a ride is under an hour. But if it is not you will definitely feel the difference.
Well not exactly. More like a canyon riding bastard. Earlier today the Orange Beast was taken for its first canyon run. I regret to inform you that I did not live up to the Orange Beasts expectations as a canyon carving rider.
In my defense I had 3 things working against me. First of all the previous owner was “smart” enough to wipe the wheels with armorall. What that does to a tire is makes it super slick in effect significantly decreasing the grip with the road surface. I was able to successfully eliminated most of the armorall during my daily commuting. However there was still armor aplenty on the sides of my tires. As a matter of fact I almost low sided earlier this week while leaning right on a freeway on-ramp. Motodisiac had wiped my tires with a carburetor cleaner a couple of days ago. That should have done the trick. Yet the sides of the tires looked shiny and still felt somewhat slick. Long story short I was still conscious of that fact in my today’s canyon carving pursuit.
Secondly KTM 950 Supermoto is a tall bike. Much higher than anything I ever rode in canyons. It felt top heavy to me and I was sort of afraid to lean hard.
And the third thing - I did not feel like dropping it :).
Our ride today was some 250 miles of freeway, tight twisties and winding roads near Ojai, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Santa Clarita. We left at 10 in the morning and came back around 5pm. Over 100 miles of the ride was a freeway, another 100 - winding roads and curves (no sharp turns), and the rest - twisties. KTM 950 Supermoto does not strike you as a bike that would be a comfortable long distance runner. So one can only imagine how my rear end felt towards the end of the day. Let’s just say that the soft area also known as arse felt nonexistent closer to the end of the ride.
Not much to complain or praise about the bike as I did not try pushing it. Although I did grow more confident in the second half of the canyon riding.
I am sure we’ll go canyon riding again sometime soon. And as long as it is not too far from home KTM Supermoto would be my bike of choice. On a ride like today the Futura would be a more appropriate ride. At least if I don’t want my behind to become numb again. It’s been over an hour after I came back home. And only now the numbness in the bottocks area is slowly going away :).
I can not express enough how much I love the Futura. It is a beautiful motorcycle, it is a very comfortable long distance ride, very convenient for single person and two-up riding, it is a fast and sporty machine and it is definitely one of a kind and a rare commodity out here in the US. Here, I pledge my love for it. There is however a small issue. How many motorcycles does one need to own?
Sometime ago I started looking for a commuter bike that would be lighter than a Futura and at the same time fun to ride. You might remember the hypermotard hysteria. An opportunity came along and I became a proud owner of the orange beast - 2006 KTM 950 Supermoto. And boy is this bike fun to ride. I accidentally popped a wheelie earlier this morning. But that is a topic of another blog post.
So here is my dilemma. I mostly commute. And if me and my friends go riding it is usually not a long distance run but a series of sprint rides to and in canyons. Not that the Futura is a bad motorcycle when it comes to canyon carving. But the orange beast is a different level of fun. Sadly enough my beloved Futura has been sitting in my garage for almost a month now. I treated her nicely with a brand new battery tender. But still I am unsure if I should keep the bike for my occasional long distance travels. Or wipe my tears as I see it ride away with a new owner.
I am still torn and indecisive. What do you think?
