Usually Mark and I meet up for Friday and keep our ride in and around the city. This time I thought to take him some where different since he is getting a bit bored of the usual route and he is more capable of his bike at this point! I decided to head out to Mina Abdulla and take the internal roads from there! I wish there was an internal road starting from Fahaheel but damn refinery is in the way.
When starting in Mina Abdulla we had a few curves and things were getting interesting, lots of beautiful comfortable curves on the internal roads and I’m happy most of it has been repaved. There weren’t a lot of people on the road since it was a little early on a Friday morning. I love taking those sweeping curves trying to drop my bike as much as possible, and at first Mark would be way behind, but after a little while he was getting the hang of it. It was comfortable sweeps on these nice two lane roads.
When we got to Julai’a we had to go through the Naval Base security check point, I wasn’t sure if they were going to let us through. Last year they didn’t let me through, but the guy waved us through when we were on the bikes. As we got towards the end you can really see all the equipment and presence of the American military, then we hit the second check point and he let us out this road. We continued our ride until we reached the end of Bnaider and decided to head back at that point, refueling at the Al Zoor gas station before riding back since we did a decent amount of riding.
On the way back we were cruising at 140 kph and at times we were holding at 160 kph and Mark was still passing me! The roads were great, and Marks’ riding improved drasticly which was fantastic! By the time we got back on the Gulf road starting at Salwa our bodies were slightly sore, but it was one hell of ride!
I have been trying to take some photographs at night, but when on the bike I can only take my point and shoot camera with me since I can’t carry any equipment. I do have two good cameras to take night shots with, especially the Canon Rebel XT would do an amazing job. I want to get the light reflecting off the red, to give it that mysterious look at night.
I wish I could do a better job with these night shot, this camera doesn’t do this machine justice. With the light hitting the parked Ducati, it gives off this feeling of evil and mystery. I will try setting it up so that I could take some pictures at night at the right spot with the right camera. I just have to carry the gear.
I was looking forward to riding this thursday since I wanted to get some more milage on the bike. The weather was beautiful but it was feeling a bit hot if I wasn’t constantly moving, I love riding in the morning and at night, but during the afternoon it was getting a bit hot.
I wanted to pass by The One at Marina and I have to say that it was packed full of people and I just wanted to take a quick look. Then I left and continued my ride until I got home. After all this riding the only thing that made sense was to take a shower, but then I continued riding over to my brothers pad to get a bite to eat! I napped a bit on his couch and woke up to my nephew saying “Ball Ball Ball Ball” and that made me laugh!
Alot of people keep asking me the question so I would make a short post about the difference between the two machines to justify the financial difference, just so you know what your getting:
1098:
- Showa Suspension
- Showa Steering Dampener
- Cast Marchesini Rims
1098s:
- Ohlins Suspension
- Ohlins Steering Dampner
- Forged Marchesini Rims (Lighter)
- Carbon Fiber Front End
Same Engine for both machines.
Difference:
With the lighter rims and carbon fiber front end the unsprung weight is reduced, and with the superior Ohlins suspension it handles better, that is why it is designated as the “S” model for sport.
If you go these upgrades for the 1098 as the components as already included in the 1098S, it would definately be more expensive.
1098 Cost: 6000KD
1098S Cost: 8200KD
Seperatly the Ohlins shocks on their own would cost 2000KD without installation and the forged Marchesini rims cost 1000KD a piece which would amount for a total of 4000 KD. So the 2200 KD between the standard model and the “S” model is very much justified.
I would also throw in a full Termignoni System into as well since it t is a nice 12 bhp bump and has all the pieces to complement the motorcycle.
I have been riding this machine for days now, trying to ride as much as possible whenever I can. I try to take inside roads instead of highways, curved roads instead of straight, road with no stop lights, roads with the least amount of possible traffic. It is impossible to ride this machine slow, it etches to rip the ground beneath you apart. This machine brings out the demon in me, I haven’t ridden a support sport V-Twin in a long time, and it makes things seems so easy. It feels like I’m going into battle with this machine as my shield. Even when riding next to Al Koot, I was flying around the round about when it was empty getting pretty low, and reaching my destination, every time I feel that I have gone as low as possible it goes lower, my skills are no way close enough to reach the limits of this machine, I want to hone my skills and improve them just to ride this machine right, I want to take to a track. My blood is still pumping from it!
The Names I have came up with:
- Spartan
- Jet Fire
- Demon
- Hellion
Any other recommendations?
People just don’t realize how fast these machines can accelerate. Check out these videos.
I wanted to ride to break-in the bike completely that friday morning, but I think I was being overly ambitious since I didn’t realize I had so much work and I would get so tired. I met up with Mark to go for a little ride around the gulf road and it was going to be a nice day as long as we are moving. I have to say that Mark‘s bike sounds pretty damn good, my bike has a deep V-Twin rumble to it, but I keep hear Mark’s bike as well. Overall I think his bike is looking pretty good, and thats the best thing about customizing.
Odometer at Start of Day: 350 KMs
Odometer at End of Day: 538 KMs
I think I can have the bike broken in some point this week, but my problem is that I have a lot of work. I really just want to ride this week, but things just keep on popping up. I met up earlier with the BMW Motorcycle club, but I didn’t want to stop so I kept riding until I met up with Mark. We were riding until we reached the end of the gulf road where we stopped for a bit for some refreshments, I got the KDD rasberry ice cream and I have to say that I loved it. It hit the spot because it was pretty hot just standing there, I wanted more but I also wanted to keep moving. Mark’s riding has improved and you can see it in the way he rides, I just hope he keeps on improving.
Then I kept on riding for a bit on my own, and I have to say this bike is amazing to ride, its just hard holding back.
This K1200R went with the flat black look, and it does look damn good! My K1200R is Silver/Black, while this one is Black/Silver, and I just think he needs an exhaust upgrade and then he will complete the look. Nice looking bike!
I will be waking up early morning to go riding this Friday.
This first thing I did after organizing a few things in my room is head straight to the basement. This is the first time I start both bikes and I have to say that it was hard as hell not getting on the bikes and riding throughout the night. I started up both bikes and it really was music to my ears. I know I will be riding the Ducati in the morning but its hard not riding Robo since he is fun as hell to be riding. While the Ducati is getting its first service this week I will be riding Robo in and around town.
I can’t wait to start the modifications of the Ducati, since Robo has had some work done and more on the way. I will be posting about that later though.
I had a few pictures that I didn’t put for that day I was out, since everyone seems to like the motorcycle a lot I thought I would put up all the pictures I had. No matter how well I photograph this motorcycle pictures just do not do it justice. It is a work of art and they did an amazing job with it. I just want to break it in as fast as possible, I think as soon as I am done with the work travel I will be riding as much as possible before work the next day.
I was up Friday morning at 7am to go riding and my friend want to go do a few things so I went on the bike and he helped me with some pictures as I was riding.
The Wind strength was insane, I am trying to break-in the motorcycle while taking some pictures, it was an insane ride since the wind was knocking me about. I got tired just trying to keep the bike on track, but it was an enjoyable experience.
There were a few insane people on the road, but I managed to avoid them and then after leaving the Bnaider I went back down Malik Fahad Highway and then to Sixth Ring Road to the Gulf Road to ride for a little while longer. Then I caught the BMW, Ducati group at Marina so I joined them for a fun ride and I headed back when they stopped since I wanted to ride more.
Nelly Song Say It Right, gets me going and I just want to go faster, really beautiful and I felt fantastic.
Odometer: 355KM
