I get anxious these days to ride and enjoy going out with the few remaining days of cool weather. Saturday late afternoon just before sunset is the perfect time to ride other then waking up at the break of dawn. I enjoy riding at dawn the most because of the empty streets but these days I have been so busy I take what ever sleep I can get. I put my gear on, with the new playlist which is perfect on a decent ride so I can listen through it. I always have my songs on playlist repeat and shuffled songs so I don’t know what to expect, some songs get me energized so I got faster and ride harder and some songs make me want to stand on the pegs and dance. I used to do that in the US, dance to the songs, tap the tank and enjoy myself, but in Kuwait I don’t do too much of that so they won’t think I’m insane and so they won’t run me over.

The cool weather is a perfect 26C as I’m riding, and the best thing about the K1200R is that it doesn’t cook your legs when its warmed up. A fun ride around town and a ton of torque at my control. Song after song I was enjoying getting through traffic and enjoying the roads, at sunset there is some traffic but not too much. One thing that I noticed recently is that over the years a lot of people are more considerate to drivers, they move slightly to the side giving you the inside lane to get through knowing the bike is faster. It was a fun ride, after taking a fun route to my cousins house we chilled and watched BSG before heading home around 10:00 pm and I was riding fast to get home, your mind just gets into a precise zone when riding at night, it felt like I was flowing through, precision riding, judging cars, corners, distance, and speed, its a fantastic feeling when riding.

(Pics with Canon G11)

I have been wanting to ride for a few weeks now, I have had a strange build up of energy and I needed to ride. I haven’t had a chance, things keep popping up and I kept making excuses. After work I told my family I’m heading out changed, got on the Ducati and took off like a bat out of hell. I didn’t care that it was a bit hot, but it was cool enough that I could keep my legs from burning if I’m on the move. I had an updated iPod and some good music to listen too, I took the seaside from Bida’a all the way to the first ring road.

I was riding a bit aggressively and I knew it, I just had this hunger for riding and I wanted to feel every rev and I could feel every time I was pushing my luck and my heart would thump hard. I tried to calm down and be sensible but there isn’t too much sensibility with powerful V-Twin and thrill hungry rider. After a while I got most of it out of my system and I was enjoying the smooth curves and traffic was picking up. I headed to Shuweikh for a quick test drive but that’s another story but that was a lot of fun. Riding is like rediscovering a side of you, something focused, fast thinking, and I was really concentrating. I wanted to ride by myself so I could ride the way I wanted, slow when I wanted and insanely fast at other times. I got home relaxed and happy I got it out of me, but I want to ride again and soon, this heat is creeping up on us very quickly.

(All pictures taken with the Google Nexus One)

This guy is enjoying his ride around the hills, looking at those curves I would be doing the same thing, but the what was waiting for him at the end was a surprise. That Kawasaki was craving for more curves and the guy was enjoying it, but he had a little crash just in front of the CHP (California Highway Police). From his surprise he grabbed a handful of brake and low sided that machine right in front of him. You can tell he wasn’t expecting that around the corner, they always tuck around the corners to catch people.

I knew they were opening a new showroom in Shuweikh but wasn’t sure when, they got the shipment of bikes two weeks ago and other items being organized into their showroom. When I drove up even the signage change, now there is a big KTM sign out front. The usual assortment of Austrian orange machines inside the showroom is looking good, I was looking for the RC8 but they told me it was taken out for a test drive. Now for their first machine they took the RC8 and turned into a test bike, they brought the orange one over just like the rest of the machines.

I loved seeing a clean showroom like the new KTM Showroom, for those who want to check it out its behind City Center. They weren’t fully stocked yet for accessories but had a nice assortment, I’m just asking for a Akrapovic Exhaust system for my RC8 for a decent price. The only thing lacking from my RC8 is a little sound everything else is perfect with that lovely V-Twin. They are open from 8:30 am to 1:00pm and 4:00pm to 8:30pm, I was there are about 8:30pm and they stayed open with people passing by checking out some of the bikes.

Suzuki GSXR 1000
Price: 4500 KD
Warranty: No Warranty
Suzuki

Yamaha R1
Price: 4500 KD
Warranty: 3 Months
Yamaha Al Salem

Kawasaki ZX-10R
Price: 4200 KD
Warranty: 1 Year
ZED Motors

Ducati 1198
Price: 6400 KD
Warranty: 2 Years
Tristar

Aprilia RSV4 R
Price: 4990 KD
Warranty: 1 Year
Bike World

KTM RC8
Price: 5990 KD
Warranty: 2 Years
Bike World

BMW S1000RR
Price: 5640 KD
Warranty: 2 Years
TriStar

Right now in the market you have a lot of choices for machines, from Japanese, to Austrian, to Italian, they have all evolved into the creatures that they are today. This is probably the best selection of motorcycles available in the market period, with a choice of service providers. Some sell motorcycles with a passion and some churn them out like cattle. I have managed to get most of the prices of these machines with their warranty periods, and in my opinion warranty is very important. Out of the bunch Yamaha and Suzuki are the worst and they don’t really care because those machines sell themselves, but oddly enough they have gotten a lot more expensive then they were before. Who would have thought you can buy a full thorough bread Italian beauty for the same price of Japanese engineered machines. Each one of these bikes are suited for a different person, they are all far from the same but I’m still surprised when I was asking around. I’m a huge fan of Ducati and it is still one of my most favorite machines to ride, you feel like your riding a machine with an attitude of its own. KTM came out of the corner punching with the RC8, no one expected a machine such as this from the small Austrian firm. Now out of all of them the best value for riding machine is the Aprilia RSV4-R, everything about it is Italian, the engine, the look, and the attitude, it exemplifies the evolution of Aprilia and it has more meaning then the machine itself. Out of all of them I think the Aprilia is the best value for machine, why go for a Japanese with a bad service save for ZED Motors when you can go for an Italian for a 400 KD difference. When I buy my motorcycle I want it to be from the guy who sells motorcycles not a guy who sells a Corolla and a motorcycle, out of all of the companies I would honestly only approach Tristar, Bike World, and ZED Motors. But still what a lovely menu of machines.

Update: Updated the price of Ducati and included the S1000RR, now thats a full menu.

These days the weather has been near perfect, sunny during the day and cooler in the afternoon. Just a little too hot at noon but still great for riding, I’m out when I can be but this was a special ride. I got a call from Ahmed at Bike World which I visited last time and he told me he has something special for me, I asked him whats special he said to pass by and I will see. I was expecting a Moto GP Machine capable of breaking the sound barrier with futuristic technology. When I got there he had for me a scooter, not any scooter but a scooter on steroids and that is something I wasn’t expecting, the Gilera GP800.

He told me to take it for a few days to try it out and let me know what I think, I told him it better not sound like one of those whiny motorcycles which has a whistle for an exhaust. Oddly enough I have never driven a scooter before, driven a few Harleys, lots of supersports but never a scooter and not one like this either. He told me has a customer that goes to Saudi in it, now that would be a site. I got it, I felt I like was a high end delivery guy, meant to deliver gourmet food and I was wearing my bike gear so it felt like I was in racing gear on a scooter, I was laughing to myself as soon as I got on. Switched it on and it had a growl to it, this is wimpy machine, it had more umph then I expected. I took off for a little tour around Kuwait before heading home. This little beast can do 180 kph, well thats what I reached in it, it felt funny that I was trying to control it like a bike.

This is probably one of the most comfortable ride I have had, now its a little different since it had an automatic gearbox which felt strange to me and my seating position is that of a seat. My whole form didn’t feel like I was sitting in the position I’m used to on a two wheel machine. It had a great turning radius and its comfortable around town, very comfortable, zipping around everywhere in it. The brakes felt odd because I have to squeeze both levers when I’m used to a pedal and the right lever, no clutch just felt alien to me. It took some getting used to but this is great for someone who wants to have some fun, with good transportation and it had a big storage area under the seat which I was using for a few days. But I’m used to the braking of a Ducati and KTM, the maneuverability of those machines too so any scooter can’t match up to that and I learned that quickly. But the funny part is that I was laughing like giddy school boy under the helmet while driving this scooter on steroids around town.

Arai is one the best quality helmets and always at the forefront of design and technology with their helmets. Now they just released a new helmet called the RX-7 RC, it has the shape of the new RX-7 GP but constructed from the Arai’s Formula One-spec race helmet, the GP-6 RC.

No official details have been released for this helmet but carbon fiber helmet is made the same way as the Formula One spec helmet. Its called RX-7 RC for Racing Carbon, same as the GP-6 RC with all the nifty features. Based on factory rumors it takes about 22 hours to make one helmet, and its priced right around the GP-6 RC, so expect the RX-7 RC to be around £2590. I love when Arai takes these risks in design with the highest quality in mind.

I know BMW have been using and abusing this machine to prove how insane they made it with everything they have been doing to it, and I’m loving everything they are doing. It’s hilarious the extent these guys have gone to so they could come up with these elaborate stunts with the S1000 RR. Its a ridiculous machine with tremendous amount of power but I do love this stunt.

Thanks Tartoob

BMW Motorcycles have been trying for the longest time to reinvent their image from being an oldies bike to an off the wall machine for any place or time, and I think with their current line up I think they have it covered, its no secret that I am fan of the K1200R but they have other interesting machines and one of them is the 1000RR. But what the BMW Engineers have done is insane, making custom made tires with studs and testing out the machine. I’ve never seen an ice burn out but there is a first for everything, then he is flying down the ice lake. I was curious to see him take turns with the machine, and those stubs look like the Beemer is ready to go to battle.

The weather has been near perfect the last few weeks, a little bit chilly in the morning then cool and sunny in the afternoon. Perfect for riding and for some reason the streets seem to be emptier then usual so it was to be taken advantage of. Nawaf wanted to ride as well and he just upgrade from a Ducati Monster to a Ducati 999, and in all black that machine looks pretty good.

As usual our point of contact was Starbuck Bida’a since it nice place to start and a good location to choose the route from. This time around we wanted to take the sea side to the free zone, then the airport road, then to Sabhan and back again. The weather started out cool but as the day went by it got hot and hotter, and I wore my air jacket but a light sweater under it and I was boiling.

We took to the seaside first and Nawaf was behing me with Monichum at the rear. Staggered formation as usual, sounds a bit like a military line up but not that rigid. We were flying out of the lights and cruising on the road and taking turns hard and fast, I love open high speed curves that you can take smoothly. Nawaf was falling back a bit since the machine is new to him and he has only been riding for a year. So we just observed how he reacted to our riding and how he ws riding, that is what we do with first time riders. Then we sit down and give him pointers and things to remember, and practice makes perfect. The one thing to keep in mind when riding is the smoother you are the better the ride will be, the better the bike will react when riding, even when you want to brake hard it can be done smoothly with great results. We always have new people riding with us and learning, sometimes they ride with us for a while and sometimes they join us at a later point, not everyone is willing to wake up at 7am on the weekend to go riding.