I have been looking forward to this ride for two weeks now, a lot of us didn’t get a chance to ride due to the weather and some busy schedules. This week we all agreed to meet early in the morning to head out to Julai’a and then meet up with the rest of the guys. I was up by 7:45 am and calling everyone before I got out of bed, the only person awake was vampire as usual.
We met up at Miseela Gas station by 8:45 am, we were a little late since one of our friend’s bikes’ battery was dead, he jumped and came over. We had a plan and we were going to execute on it. We took off to Julai’a and the weather was perfect, sunny and clear. We kept in our group the whole ride there, we even took off a few times enjoying the curves on the highway to Julai’a.
We got to our spot and relaxed for a little while. Around 9:50 am the wind kept picking up, 10:15 am it got dusty and 10 minutes after that it looked like a scene from The Mummy.
We decided to take off before it got worse, but even then it did. We kept the pack tight, in staggered formation in the right lane. We were getting blown around in the wind and getting wipped by the sand. We couldn’t go over 100 kph, for most of the ride we kept going at 80 kph so that we could react to anything on the road. At one point there was broken planks of wood on the road, then there was a tree across the highway we also managed to avoid that. It was a battle, and the one thing going through my head was all the Will Smith songs I had on my MP3 player.
By the time we got home we were all covered in layers of sand. My black rim was brown by the time we were done, and we all got home started playing Call of Duty 4 right away.
It was a bit of windy and cloudy morning, got up to a few phone calls around 8am. We were going to keep our ride in town since the wind could pick up, but we still wanted to ride.
As vampire said he had a surprise which was an upgraded Ducati, a very interesting one at that. He got a Monster S4R which is a very fun motorcycle, it handles better, more power, and a lot more fun then the regular Monster.
We took off down the road and this has turned into an interesting ride. Since now all the machines are quite capable of going fast and handling this turned out to be an interesting ride.
It was a fun day, the best was the sun was coming out as it got closer to the afternoon. The streets were empty which is the best part and we ran into a friend who was driving to the gym as we were riding down the road, we waved and kept going down the road.
The last weekend was a short ride since we were all caught up with social obligations and the weather didn’t help what so ever. It didn’t feel like a fulfilling weekend if I don’t get to go riding for a few hours, every time we go riding we have to finish at least one tank of gas because we ride around so much.
It was only me and Vampire riding since Monichum had to work on a presentation so we headed out, but we didn’t have so much time either. We just managed to go for a short ride, but at least we rode. It wasn’t completely satisfying since we didn’t get to go as far as we wanted, and there was too much traffic since we started late.
Riding is risky business but it doesn’t mean you can’t take precautions when you ride. One of these precautions is having the right type of protection, that lessens the affect of an impact during an accident. Knox is a specialty company that makes protection apparel for riding, and one these products is the new Chest protector. This Chest protector integrates with the Contour Back Protector so that you can wear both as a combination for front and back protection. There are very few companies that make this type of protection for the chest, and it is designed to spread the pressure from the point of impact. I think that this is a very important product to have with the back protector. I will be picking one up when I have a chance to try it with the back protector.
Price: $60
Link: STG
I think that the Hypermotard is one of the most entertaining and unique machines Ducati has come up with yet. I have been wanting to try this machine for some time yet, but it is hard to come by.
Like any other biker you always enjoy some good stunting, in the right enviroment, not the idiots you see on the roads in Kuwait. But getting full control of your machine like Ernie Vigil. I wish I just have 25% of his skill, if my front tire comes off the ground even 10 centimeters I got this strange sensation in my stomach, but what he does is amazing on such a fun bike.
Link: YouTube
Getting up early Friday morning is just one of those things I look forward to when I go riding, this time it was a little different. I think has been the coldest weather we have ridden, and you could feel the wind chill no matter how many layers of clothing we were wearing.
Filled up gas and headed straight to Julai’a, and I was happy as hell I was wearing my Polar Buff so that my neck would feel slightly warm and the wind wouldn’t be freezing my lips. We met up with some Harley riders who seemed ready to enjoy their day as well, this day was filled with riders all over the street it was great. As soon we started on our trip we noticed that the streets were very empty, it was fantastic. We got to Julai’a ordered some food and drinks to warm us up before heading back. It seemed like we were the only people there which is great for us, and we wouldn’t be harassed on the roads.
We were taking corners as fast as we want nobody to watch out for or be bothered with except the road. We got to the Bida’a and we were still enjoying the empty roads without anyone bothering us, we got to Marina Mall fairly quickly. We were at Marina it seemed like a ghost town, there was a person there at 10:45 am, and usually it would be packed. Maybe because it was cold and the government student vacations started, but it was a fun day on empty roads.
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I have been waiting for these Speedy Moto for a while, they are a specialized company that make high quality aftermarkert parts for Ducati & MV Agusta.
Parts:
- Anondized Gold Spring Caps
- Red Pressure Plate
- Black Clutch Cover
This will modify the look of the dry clutch, I’m really looking forward to this modification. All these changes to get it to the look that I want.
Link: SpeedyMoto
I have been riding the 1098S for around 10 months now, it has been one hell of an experience. This is one amazing machine and Ducati got everything right with this bike. I know personally that I don’t have half the skills needed to bring out its potential. I have gotten comfortable with this Ducati over the past 10 months, it has taken me some time since I had some issues with the racing slipper clutch, but since its back to the normal one I now know how this machine will react to my throttle input.
I feel confident around the corners and I feel that I could go faster and that it can handle more then what I can dish out, I love that feeling. I get this rush when I’m on this machine, and I even feel that I am getting better throttle control then I have before and I testing out a few different things to know how Pyro reacts. I do love this machine and everything about it, you can feel the attitude that it has. Now all I want to do is try this bike out on a track, time to see some of those tours in Italy.
This ride was new to some of us, we had somebody who has never ridden with us, Monichum has changed bikes and he is very happy about it, I knew it was going to be a very interesting ride.
The Plan:
- Julai’a
- Starbucks (Some Hot Drinks)
- Marina
- Breakfast (More Hot Drinks)
- Continue Riding until End Location
This was our simple plan and we met up at 8:30 am to begin our adventures, and the funny part most of us were up by 7:30 am, I was excited about this ride since we were more then the usual and there were some new machines so it was going to be interesting. The person who was joining us has a lot more experience then me and it was apparent from the moment we started riding, its good to ride with good riders so that you can learn from them.
This time it was a different combination of bikes, Ducati 1098s, Aprillia RSV Special Edition, Ducati 749 S, and the Ducati Monster 695. This was a true Italian riding ad, that is why I love Italian products you can see the passion they put into their products from these beautiful machines. We took off down the highway in formation and we started picking up speed, a lot of these machines are very fast but we tried keeping it in an orderly fashion, but there were times you could tell we were like kids in a candy store enjoying ourselves the whole time.
Saying that it was freezing cold is an understatement, when we first started it was around 7C and getting warmer but still after 20 minutes on the highway I couldn’t feel my hands, and neither could the other guys. It was an amazing day since half the roads were empty and we were flying as we please! As soon as we got to Starbucks we were all ordering our hot drinks to warm us up, and we relaxed there for a little while before heading out again to meet up with other people at Marina Crescent for breakfast.
We were riding like demons at some point since the roads were empty, and it was fun having a diverse group of motorcycles that gives you a feel for how different they are built. We were carving every corner, going in and feeling the rush and this is the perfect weather to ride in.
This was a long three day weekend which was filled with a lot of riding, I woke up from 6 calls in a row from Monichum since I was deep in sleep. Getting up in the morning and gearing up to go for a long day of riding didn’t take long since I was looking forward to it.
We went straight to the Miseela gas station to fill up before heading out, we started out just warming up the bikes just so it gets warmer. It also takes about 20 – 30 minutes of riding to warm up the tires since its really cold. We headed towards Fahaheel, I wanted to go take some pictures in that area and so we were enjoying the road. We entered from Manguf so that we can enjoy the inside road for a bit which we did.
There was one intersection which I launched quickly and suddenly I was on one wheel. It looked very professional yet I had no clue how to pull a wheeli so I got the bike back down quicker. The weather was just very nice, but it was still very cold. Then we headed on our way to Al Koot for a quick stop then headed to Marina Mall for a quick breakfast before heading out again. The best thing about the whole day was that streets were really empty and we were enjoying ourselves thoroughly all day long. The cold was perfect, but it got so cold to the point our bikes were dropping in temperature and it was the only thing keeping us warm.
