We decided to meet up early Friday morning since we were going to head to Julai’a for our Starbucks stop and enjoy the ride the whole way there. It was around 9:00 am when we got started and we headed for the gas station, there weren’t too many cars on the road, and this was the second time for my friend to come out to some place this far.
We were taking it easy on the turns since he isn’t completely familiar with all the roads. We headed out as soon as we filled up our tanks at the Bayan Gas Station. The roads were relatively empty except for the micro-buses and large trucks on the road. There were a few people on the way to the beach house, but as we were riding we got rhythm to our ride so much so that we flowed through the traffic that was in front of us.
As soon as we got to the beach house area at Mina Abdulla we were really enjoying the inside roads except for those damn bumps. There are some parts which are really nice and some which are annoying. The problem I have is that there are some bumps that people build and they don’t paint them. I can understand that they want people to slow down, but not painting the bumps is hazardous to cars and especially bikes.
After finishing up in Julai’a we headed out from there back to Marina to meet up with some friends for breakfast, it seems they were their for a while but we were enjoying our ride too much to head their early. My friend has improved a huge amount since he first started riding, he has got confidence is riding but he is cautious and I could see it in his riding. You can really read people from their riding, and he is confident but he knows he needs experience so he isn’t pushing his luck with is a good thing.
At a 140 bhp this machine packs a punch, they have really pulled all the punches for this machine. HP stands for High Performance and 2 is for the second version. It has a dry weight of 178 Kgs which is pretty good for boxer and the Bavarian firm.
The HP2 Sport gets a six-speed close-ratio gearbox, and there’s also a quickshifter there to keep racer-types happy. Other fancy bits are Öhlins suspension, forged wheels, various carbonfibre parts, Brembo monoblock brakes with radially mounted four-piston calipers at the front, and a MotoGP-style digital dashboard. ABS is optional.
This bike is bound to make the Japanese and Italians take notice, it isn’t afraid to chew at all the super sports on the road. With this whole package comes a hefty price, its supposed to sell in 2008 for 14’500 British Pounds.
Link: WebBikeWorld
Rules to riding on the road are simple, number one obey the speed limit. The fact is that this rule is applied when the people on the road themselves are sane and considerate which isn’t the case. Everyone speeds – especially motorcyclists. Speeding is equated to breaking the law, but there isn’t an intrinsic link. The main aspect is to be able to speed with a clear mind and judge your situation.
The thrill of riding a motorcycle is far more involving than driving any other vehicle and it naturally requires more skill and judgment. Sticking to the speed limit on every road is impractical and defeats the purpose of having a bike, each road is different and there isn’t one speed for all the roads, a rider has to exercise their judgment as to what speed is effective and maintain margin of safety. Riding at full throttle in a residential area or next to a school is stupid and dangerous but it isn’t reckless to ride at 160 kph on a wide open straight road with no side roads.
This was a ride I have been looking forward to for a few days, I didn’t get a chance to ride during the weekend since traveling for work. So I contacted a few people and told them the idea about a night ride and they were up for it.
I got a few riders together and I thought one of my friends could ride but that was a major mistake and he couldn’t ride. I had to ride the other motorcycle back home since it would be too dangerous for him to go with us. The worst thing a rider can do is overestimate his skills, so instead of four riders and a car, we were three riders and a car, it was one hell of cramped car we were laughing our heads off.
We filled up gas at the Bayan gas station around 8:10 pm, then we rode off from there to Julai’a to go to Starbucks and it started lightly raining. I haven’t ridden in the rain in two years other then the time it rained hail and I got soaked and beat up from the hail. It was a nice light right and I was wearing my full leather jacket so I was feeling good about the ride and we were riding in formation with the car trailing behind us.
We got Starbucks and ordered our drinks, we got sandwiches, and then one of the guys went to the supermarket across the hall and got some glass cheese and bread. It was one of the funniest times we have had, since we were the only ones at Starbucks we didn’t care and we were enjoying ourselves. When we headed out it started raining a little harder but we were all pumped up to ride in the rain, and I just told them take it easy and they will be fine, I do enjoy riding the rain, but it was only a light drizzle for a bout 5 minutes. It was a good night of riding, and this will be repeated with a few more riders and little bit more planning.
I have been dealing with TriStar for exactly two years now since the first time I bought my motorcycle from them, and I have always been happy about the service that I receive from them. They are the representatives of KTM, BMW, and Ducati, so they represent these brands in Kuwait. This is the first time I see a dealership get into an argument with the main vendor and fail complaints for your case as well as replace the parts without an ounce of complaints from my self.
The issue I have had is that my racing clutch was acting strange, and it was very aggressive which is abnormal for a racing clutch which is supposed to make shifting smoother. The gear change from first was so rough at times that my bike would literally jump from under me, this was the case about four weeks ago and I called them to tell them the issue. They took my bike the next afternoon and they said they would get back to me.
They called me the next day telling me they test drove the bike, and something is definitely not right but Ducati is saying this shifting is normal. After they failed a complaint that this isn’t the case they usually wait for the vendor to warranty the part to change it, but Ducati didn’t get back to them. Instead they contacted me and gave me the update of what they think and what Ducati thinks. I let them be since I knew they were making an effort to make sure things were getting done, then I get a call the week after telling me they are disappointed with the engineer at Ducati and they filed a complaint regarding that engineer since he was very slow giving feedback, and they warrantied the part from them and replaced it. They said they would deal with the factory to get the part warrantied.
I have not seen this happen in the US let alone for it to happen in Kuwait, I don’t think I will be riding bikes other then what TriStar sells, I just hope they keep getting beautiful bikes as they do, I can’t wait for the KTM RC8.
KTM is one of the most successful motorcycle manufacturers in Europe, and recently they have jumped into the Sports Bike Arena. After a long amount of research they have came up with an amazing creation which is the RC8.
This is an 1190 CC engine which outputs 155 bhp, and with its futuristic design it looks like it goes even faster. It comes in either orange/black and white/black, but I prefer the orange since its KTM’s color. This will be available in 2008 and I bet it looks fierce in real life.
Link: WebBikeWorld
I woke to my friends call asking if I want to ride, I was feeling tired but there is no way I would miss on riding on a Saturday morning. As soon as I got up, I showered and loaded my mp3 player with new music that I ripped from all the CDs I bought, so my mp3 player is 70% Hip Hop & RnB, 20% Dance & House, and 10% Rock. I wanted to change the line up of music since I have gotten tired of what I have on it, and I have a large selection so recently I have been ripping all my CDs to the computer.
We decided to meet up at Costa in Bide’a by 9:00 am, so I headed downstairs and the bike just looked ready to roll, I started up the bike to warm it up while I put on my gear, within minutes I was flying down the road. I found two bikes there, and we were waiting for the fourth rider. Whats great about riding is that when you really get into it you are bonded by the spirit of riding which goes beyond normal bonds. We just started discussing all the different riding, types of gear, situations, what usually goes through our head, and it was a lot of fun.
As soon as the fourth rider showed up we headed to the Miseela gas station to fill up and head out. Then we were on the road getting used to the group, it seems they put me as the ride leader and some of the guys have experience riding, and we formed into a group on the road in staggered formation. From there we headed down the gulf road and enjoying the ride, we were taking it at a very comfortable pace and we would speed at certain times, it was enjoyable and we were laughing at one rider who we shall name “The Stig”, lets just say its fun to watch him ride.
After a while one of the bikes had to fill up gas, but before that we stopped by KPC and had some KDD ice cream while we relaxed. Then we went back down the GulfRoad to go to Marina for some Coffee, I don’t drink Coffee but some of the other guys do. At Marina I saw some family and chatted with them a bit before heading back home and it looked like it was going to rain so I hurried back.
I got a text from the MV Agusta manager telling me about a group ride in the morning on Friday. We were going to go riding between two or three of us in the first place and thought to join them.
We met up with the group and I have ridden with a few of these guys before, they are nice bunch but they are all experienced. I came with two guys and one of my friends has just started riding so it was a steep learning curve for him. I told him to keep up but don’t push it. In the beginning it was ok from traffic light to traffic light, but when we got on the highways it was bit fast. We were around 15 – 18 motorcycles in total, many different kinds: Ducatis, MV Agustas, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and BMWs. It was a diverse group with a different range of skills.
We started off from Miseela Gas Station and rode out from there, we were in formation but there were some riders who were a bit over active but still fun. We ran into the BMW Motorcycle Club on the road coming out of SAS, it was nice greeting them and we continued on our ride. We were taking up a large part of the road and trying to keep things together so that we don’t lose anyone and nobody bothers us. Whats good about traveling in larger group is that cars stay away, but sometimes there are people who don’t know how to react and they just bull through the group as if they aren’t even there and that is frustrating. We had a few incidents but nothing happened, next time I have an idea to go somewhere else for our ride and away from traffic.
After taking a long ride around the city we head towards Marina to get something to drink, and some of us split from the group to go meet with our friends who were already there. It was really nice weather, cool and nice being outside, I was hungry so I ordered a BBQ Steak Sandwich. Just after 1:00pm I decided to head home but I went for a quick ride before going home, it was a good day of riding.
The 2nd day was an open session for all vehicles and there were some GulfRun vehicles as well as some RUF modified Porsches which looked nothing short of scary. Some of us were enrolled in this track day, but I felt completely beat up after the long day on the track the day before.
It was amazing seeing those machines, and there were three Z06s there and one very modified Z06. They looked nothing short of monstrous, the one driver of the Z06 is a formula 3 driver and the Z06 has the fastest track time from the open sessions, that is just insane.
Then after that was the motorcycle session which got my blood going!! I so wanted to be riding on the track, but I was bikeless and gearless! I really want to get my bike on the track, and we have already talked to some peopel about setting up a GulfRun for bikes, which will be amazing. I know a lot of people who would like to go and ride on this track.
Some of those bikes were going so fast my camera wasn’t able to capture them! I really want to get on the track, it would be amazing to ride this beautiful track.
When I usually ride with someone I usually ride at only 40 to 50 percent of my urge and capabilities because I don’t want to put the person I’m riding with in a position that he/she might want to keep up. When that person pushes their limit just to keep up they might make a huge mistake so I might push little but I would hold back, but that doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying the ride immensely.
Now after riding all summer and during this period vampire’s riding skills have improved vastly, but like anyone else he has a lot of room for improvement and so do I. What is great is that I can tell he has the feeling for his bike, he knows what are the bikes limits and what he can do with it. I have only one friend in the states that I ride at a 100 % because I know he knows where is comfort zone is in riding and when he wants to push and we respect each others limits. Vampire has reached a very high point where he rides with respect to his partner, and this mutual respect in riding is what keeps us safe. Even when we ride like bats out of hell we know what we are doing and keeping errors to a minimum. Its a great thing when you see someone’s skill keep improving.
We had a great ride this Friday it was a bit short but very enjoyable, we saw at least 30 to 40 motorcycles that day. Motorcycle season is starting up so you will be seeing a lot motorcycles on the road. The funny part was when we were looking for a gas station with Ultra in it and I thought I remember one of them around Shuweikh but I couldn’t remember exactly where until later in the the day, but before that we had to go Mansouriya gas station to fill up with the Ultra Gas, it was hilarious just riding around looking. Then we just kept meeting with friend after friend, as a spontatious day we all managed to meet up in Marina Crescent they wanted breakfast when I just wanted something to eat.
