Nice, this guy rode the route from easy rider and blogged it. What a great idea!
Thoughts on the Ducati 748. Warning, moto-nerd speak ahead, proceed with caution.
Thanks to the fine gentlemen at Tony’s Track Days, I got some excellent saddle time with my new duck at New Jersey Motorsport Park’s quite fast Thunderbolt Raceway. Given a short week to prepare, it was a rush to get the suspension setup, oil changed and a crash course in safety wiring. Here’s a few other new-to-me factors of the day:
- First time riding with GP shift
- First time riding on race slicks
- First time riding with Tony’s
After Tony’s rider’s meeting, most of my worries about #3 were put to rest. It was clear that the other track clubs I’ve ridden with are more race oriented. Great, because the last thing I needed was an inside block pass by Johnny Racer while I’m learning the new beast. So I got suited up.
Heading to staging it was definitely clear the 748 is no R6. Its taxiing manners are rather primitive with a bus-like turning radius, chattering dry clutch and tall first gear that just starts walking at 20mph. With a wave from the staging officer, I banged the shifter down, dropped the clutch and mashed my personal bits into the gas tank as the bike coughed and stalled. Fuck, #1 bit me already. I sheepishly toed the sifter back to neutral, restarted, and I’m off.
Once the tires warmed up things really started to fall into place. The absurd riding position, made worse by my Woodcraft clip-ons and Ducati Corse rearsets, began to make sense. The motorcycle accentuates and encourages proper body position. Hanging off the saddle in a corner rests your forearm beautifully in a well-placed recess of the gas tank, neutral riding position places your head exactly where it should be behind the windscreen.
This is truly a bike that when ridden hard, it asks to be ridden harder. It may sound like something an uninspired moto-journalist would say but It’s true. The chassis, even with my hacked suspension settings, is unflappable. Throw it down into a corner and the 748 settles itself and utters a quick chatter from the clutch on throttle transition as if to say, “yeah, and?”.
Well that’s it for track days this year. It’s going to be a long winter. At least I have some timing belt changes and desmo-valve checks to keep me busy.
Image - Victory Motorcycle Breaks Speed Record at Bonneville - autoevolution
Ridden by Gregor Moe, a Victory Kingpin motorcycle managed to set a new national speed run record of 165.8 mph during the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The record was set for the 2000-M-AG class, which includes bikes of up to 2,000cc with modified frames that are gas-powered but do not use turbochargers or superchargers.
Thanks for the hat tip!
Hey guys!
Here’s some good stuff from tumblr
http://blog.whisperoftheshot.com/
http://rolling-jet-thunder.tumblr.com/
http://voiture-jaune.tumblr.com/
http://fuckyeahcamaro.tumblr.com/
http://gearsandmonkeys.tumblr.com/
http://autoappropriation.tumblr.com/
http://holdinganexplosion.tumblr.com/
http://hollywooddesmo.tumblr.com/
http://motorcycleporn.tumblr.com/
http://photofinish.tumblr.com/
http://fuckyeahvans.tumblr.com/
http://highvelocity.tumblr.com/
http://open24hours.tumblr.com/
http://fuckyeahautos.tumblr.com/
http://deja-visite.tumblr.com/
Dude, thanks for the #2 spot on the list, I am currently browsing alot of these.
Robert Maynard Pirsig (b. Sep. 6, 1928) is an American writer and philosopher, mainly known as the author of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974), which has sold over five million copies around the world. Bob is 81 today!
Quotes:
“One geometry cannot be more true than another; it can only be more convenient. Geometry is not true, it is advantageous.”
“Quality is a direct experience independent of and prior to intellectual abstractions.”
“The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.”
“The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands.”
Last year’s post: 1
Photo from Pirsig and his family’s motorcycle trip in 1968 which provided much of the setting and narrative structure of his book (Source)
Kids today! We’ve all heard the exclamation made just before the recitation of a time-honored list of character flaws; lazy, irresponsible, always partying, no motivation etc. As evidenced by the sleek work of eco-vehicular art pictured above, apparently there’s at least one young man you can’t pin any of those attributes on. Fresh out of Appalachian State University where he left with a BS in Industrial Design tucked in his pocket, Tom Miceli showed off his ION electric motorcycle at the recently held Southern Energy and Environment Expo 2009. We suspect he needed someone standing by with a bucket and mop to keep the floor drool-free.
The ION was conceived, designed, modeled and constructed in a single semester with a “minimal budget” rendering results that are most impressive indeed. The 84 volt, lithium battery-powered bike uses an AC motor that yields 105 lb feet of torque, 46 hp and allows for regenerative braking. Top speed is estimated at about 80 mph with a range of 60 miles while the waiting time for a full charge using a typical household plug is six hours. Performance characteristics are probably best summed up by Tom on the video after the break. Conferring with someone off camera after driving the bike from its exhibition booth across the waiting pavement outside, you can hear him say, “it doesn’t need to pull any harder than that. It’s kinda scary.” If you know anyone who could make good use of Tom’s talents, better contact this employment seeker quickly before he realizes he could start his own company. Kids today, indeed.
This is an awesome looking bike and I am really proud that this bike is created by a recent college grad. Also if you go to the original posting on Autoblog Green he posted pics in the gallery of the cad drawings with a hot model in them.
New Shinko's
My Yellowstone trip just about cleaned my rear tire of rubber and I poked a hole in it a few days after I returned. My front had a flat spot and too lacked enough tread to be deemed safe.
Due to this blistering economy the idea of dropping $300 on a on a pair of soft TKC 80’s which I so badly desire but would last maybe 3,000 miles or 90-10 Tourances, the fav of the middle-age Beemer-GS-set did not make me at all happy. So the search began for a cost affective alternative.
Introducing the Shinko E705’s.
These are some pretty wicked looking tires, relativly new to market but have been getting pretty favorible reviews on ADVRider since March-ish. What’s most best? $150 installed- for the set!! That’s right $105 from Chaparral and $50 for Woody’s wheel works to mount them.
So I upped my life insurance, ordered a set and just put them on.
My next helmet (since my present one may or may not have been compressed between my head and a rock on Cottonwood Pass, I’ll explain in a later post)
Arai Calls it Motard Silver. I call it…
Master Chief
Nice, this guy rode the route from easy rider and blogged it. What a great idea!
Thoughts on the Ducati 748. Warning, moto-nerd speak ahead, proceed with caution.
Thanks to the fine gentlemen at Tony’s Track Days, I got some excellent saddle time with my new duck at New Jersey Motorsport Park’s quite fast Thunderbolt Raceway. Given a short week to prepare, it was a rush to get the suspension setup, oil changed and a crash course in safety wiring. Here’s a few other new-to-me factors of the day:
- First time riding with GP shift
- First time riding on race slicks
- First time riding with Tony’s
After Tony’s rider’s meeting, most of my worries about #3 were put to rest. It was clear that the other track clubs I’ve ridden with are more race oriented. Great, because the last thing I needed was an inside block pass by Johnny Racer while I’m learning the new beast. So I got suited up.
Heading to staging it was definitely clear the 748 is no R6. Its taxiing manners are rather primitive with a bus-like turning radius, chattering dry clutch and tall first gear that just starts walking at 20mph. With a wave from the staging officer, I banged the shifter down, dropped the clutch and mashed my personal bits into the gas tank as the bike coughed and stalled. Fuck, #1 bit me already. I sheepishly toed the sifter back to neutral, restarted, and I’m off.
Once the tires warmed up things really started to fall into place. The absurd riding position, made worse by my Woodcraft clip-ons and Ducati Corse rearsets, began to make sense. The motorcycle accentuates and encourages proper body position. Hanging off the saddle in a corner rests your forearm beautifully in a well-placed recess of the gas tank, neutral riding position places your head exactly where it should be behind the windscreen.
This is truly a bike that when ridden hard, it asks to be ridden harder. It may sound like something an uninspired moto-journalist would say but It’s true. The chassis, even with my hacked suspension settings, is unflappable. Throw it down into a corner and the 748 settles itself and utters a quick chatter from the clutch on throttle transition as if to say, “yeah, and?”.
Well that’s it for track days this year. It’s going to be a long winter. At least I have some timing belt changes and desmo-valve checks to keep me busy.
Image - Victory Motorcycle Breaks Speed Record at Bonneville - autoevolution
Ridden by Gregor Moe, a Victory Kingpin motorcycle managed to set a new national speed run record of 165.8 mph during the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The record was set for the 2000-M-AG class, which includes bikes of up to 2,000cc with modified frames that are gas-powered but do not use turbochargers or superchargers.
Thanks for the hat tip!
Hey guys!
Here’s some good stuff from tumblr
http://blog.whisperoftheshot.com/
http://rolling-jet-thunder.tumblr.com/
http://voiture-jaune.tumblr.com/
http://fuckyeahcamaro.tumblr.com/
http://gearsandmonkeys.tumblr.com/
http://autoappropriation.tumblr.com/
http://holdinganexplosion.tumblr.com/
http://hollywooddesmo.tumblr.com/
http://motorcycleporn.tumblr.com/
http://photofinish.tumblr.com/
http://fuckyeahvans.tumblr.com/
http://highvelocity.tumblr.com/
http://open24hours.tumblr.com/
http://fuckyeahautos.tumblr.com/
http://deja-visite.tumblr.com/
Dude, thanks for the #2 spot on the list, I am currently browsing alot of these.
Robert Maynard Pirsig (b. Sep. 6, 1928) is an American writer and philosopher, mainly known as the author of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974), which has sold over five million copies around the world. Bob is 81 today!
Quotes:
“One geometry cannot be more true than another; it can only be more convenient. Geometry is not true, it is advantageous.”
“Quality is a direct experience independent of and prior to intellectual abstractions.”“The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.”
“The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands.”Last year’s post: 1
Photo from Pirsig and his family’s motorcycle trip in 1968 which provided much of the setting and narrative structure of his book (Source)
Kids today! We’ve all heard the exclamation made just before the recitation of a time-honored list of character flaws; lazy, irresponsible, always partying, no motivation etc. As evidenced by the sleek work of eco-vehicular art pictured above, apparently there’s at least one young man you can’t pin any of those attributes on. Fresh out of Appalachian State University where he left with a BS in Industrial Design tucked in his pocket, Tom Miceli showed off his ION electric motorcycle at the recently held Southern Energy and Environment Expo 2009. We suspect he needed someone standing by with a bucket and mop to keep the floor drool-free.
The ION was conceived, designed, modeled and constructed in a single semester with a “minimal budget” rendering results that are most impressive indeed. The 84 volt, lithium battery-powered bike uses an AC motor that yields 105 lb feet of torque, 46 hp and allows for regenerative braking. Top speed is estimated at about 80 mph with a range of 60 miles while the waiting time for a full charge using a typical household plug is six hours. Performance characteristics are probably best summed up by Tom on the video after the break. Conferring with someone off camera after driving the bike from its exhibition booth across the waiting pavement outside, you can hear him say, “it doesn’t need to pull any harder than that. It’s kinda scary.” If you know anyone who could make good use of Tom’s talents, better contact this employment seeker quickly before he realizes he could start his own company. Kids today, indeed.This is an awesome looking bike and I am really proud that this bike is created by a recent college grad. Also if you go to the original posting on Autoblog Green he posted pics in the gallery of the cad drawings with a hot model in them.
New Shinko's
My Yellowstone trip just about cleaned my rear tire of rubber and I poked a hole in it a few days after I returned. My front had a flat spot and too lacked enough tread to be deemed safe.
Due to this blistering economy the idea of dropping $300 on a on a pair of soft TKC 80’s which I so badly desire but would last maybe 3,000 miles or 90-10 Tourances, the fav of the middle-age Beemer-GS-set did not make me at all happy. So the search began for a cost affective alternative.
Introducing the Shinko E705’s.
These are some pretty wicked looking tires, relativly new to market but have been getting pretty favorible reviews on ADVRider since March-ish. What’s most best? $150 installed- for the set!! That’s right $105 from Chaparral and $50 for Woody’s wheel works to mount them.
So I upped my life insurance, ordered a set and just put them on.
My next helmet (since my present one may or may not have been compressed between my head and a rock on Cottonwood Pass, I’ll explain in a later post)
Arai Calls it Motard Silver. I call it…
Master Chief
