The 999

I've had the Ducati for a few months now, not that I've had that much time to ride it. My impression of the 999? The most awesome motorcycle I have ever swung a leg over. Wow. Performance wise this bike is great, I mean it was designed for racing, but it's performance seems to increase exponentially the faster you go. It's awkward to ride around town, it's geared very tall and doesn't like to go slow. The faster it runs, the more stable and precise it becomes.

It's not the most comfortable bike, i'm working on a few adjustments to make it more so, but I didn't get it because it was comfy. I may opt for some new clip ons that will bring the bars up a little and offer some adjustability, but all in all I think I just need to get my body used to it with some longer rides. Upgrades and parts are cheap either, I could buy another bike for what a new Termignoni full system will cost me, but the sound may be worth it. I've only managed about 700 miles on it so far, but as soon as school lets out, that may change to 1,700 in one weekend. I want to hurry and get another 1,300 miles on it so I can start the big service and have it ready for my Colorado trip in Sept.

What's Italian, fast and red all over?

My new Ducati.

Been a while

As you can see, it's been a while since I've posted anything on my Motolife blog. For good reason though. Not long after the last post I no longer had a Motolife. I sold the Triumph to free up some money while Ashely quit her job to focus on school. Ashley put her head down and worked hard to graduate early and get a job right out of school. SO from about April 2009 to now, I've been Moto-less. I actually completely disconnected myself from it, I even stopped getting on the many motorcycle forums so that I wouldn't think about it. After a while it worked, I had forgotten how much I enjoyed riding and wrenching on a bike. UNTIL The weather started warming up and when Ashley started bring home a paycheck, I started to get the itch. I began looking for an RC51, but found none worth buying. I was set on a twin engine layout so I began to look somewhere I didn't think I'd be able make happen. Ducati. Ducati. Ducati. It's fun just to say it. I found a nice 2005 999 for sale at a BMW/Triumph dealer that had been traded in. I went down one Saturday (03-05-2011) and test rode it. All of a sudden I was back. It was as if I'd only been sleeping and just woke up, the 2 year hiatus seemed more like hours. The bike was phenomenal to ride, I took it easy as I was a bit rusty, but I did manage to double the speed limit in front of the Police Academy to help release my inner hooligan. The ride made a lasting impression on me. Time to convince the wife that this was the bike and the time was now.