One of the most beautiful machines that I have seen in a long time. Ducati do know how to design their machines, I think most Italians do, its rare to see an ugly machine out of an Italian firm and this case the 1199 Panigale is the top of the breed. I have had my eye on this machine for so long, thinking about it, always crossing my mind whenever I see the color red or hear a v-twin engine revving in the background.

I had my chance to try out the Ducati 1199 Panigale when I was in California, it was the best possible setting to try this beautiful machine, and a ride in the mountains and just by the ocean to cool after a long fun ride. I thought they couldn’t make the 1098/1198 ride any better, I was wrong, it takes precision input, gives you the ride feedback and claws on the group like it’s life depended on it. I took every corner with confidence and even when I didn’t know what was coming around the corner and I went in a little too fast, this bike would just keep on gripping, I had few moments when I was almost paralyzed with fear but luckily years of practice and an amazing machine got me out of a possible bad situation.

I have to say that having an 1199 is like having a relationship with a feisty Italian woman, you just don’t know what your going to get out of it. When I rode this bike, its the same exhilarating feeling that I got the first time I rode the Diavel, excitement just shoots through my spine, they did everything right. I thought this is the machine of my dreams, but sometimes dreams are just too good to be true, there was just one fault, one damn thing that Ducati screwed up and for us living in the Middle East, its going to be a little hard to ride this machine, well for me at least. Even when riding in relatively cool weather in California, I would get a little hot under the legs, and especially the right leg, turns out all the heat is being emitted from the engine block, specifically from the piston head area which is devastating. If its getting hot here, how will be in Kuwait, seriously, at every stop light my legs would get hot, and I wasn’t too happy about it, if you are moving, and this machine moves fast then your fine, but if you are stopping then you are going to be in trouble, it gets a little too hot down there.

I for one loved the 1199 and everything about it, if it wasn’t for that one fault I would get one as soon as possible. For now I don’t want to park a motorcycle in my living room just to enjoy staring it, but if I’m going to to do that then the 1199 would be at the top of the list. Don’t get me wrong, it is probably one of the best machines I have ever ridden, but they made just one mistake, I hope somehow they can correct in the next iteration of this beautiful machine.

Only serious speed junkies need apply. The BMW HP4 is a freak of nature, the S1000RR destroyed so many machines, people were not expecting such a beast, and now they topped it off with HP4. The lightest 4-cylinder supersports bike in the 1000cc class, the HP4 has 193 horsepower, and weighs under 440 pounds with its tank 90% full. I love the color scheme of this machine, I would love to add it to my collection, I’m already imagining the things I would do with this machine. BMW has gone all the way with so many options for this machine, and you can turn it into a racing beast or a weekend monster.

Link: Autoblog

It was just one of those moments, I have been wanting to ride for some time now and it just popped up to go on Friday night. Meeting up at midnight for a quick bite before going on our little adventure around town. We knew it was going to be a little risky but still we wanted to ride, and its been getting a little cooler in the evenings but still pretty hot.

We went out in full gear, no question about that, armored up top to bottom. Whenever I’m wearing my motorcycle gear it feels like I’m wearing battle armor, I’m ready for anything, but I know that isn’t the case but I was just excited to get on the bike. The plan was simple to ride just before fajer prayer so we could drink some water before passing out.

Heading down the 6th ring road to the airport then to Sabhan, and on the way we encountered a few nut cases on the way. We were supposed to be three but the other guy bailed out on us and so we were two. It was a bit more crowded then I expected and the roads were a bit dusty, we had a few moments where it felt like I might slip. So we were taking it easier and going a bit slower then we usually do and honestly I didn’t want to push my luck I wanted to enjoy myself so pushing the bike after its been stationary since May but still the Diavel is a beast. At any traffic light my tire would slip a bit because of the dust.

The crowds started thinning out around 2:00 am so there was less cars on the road and we were enjoying ourselves even more. I was getting bit tired so around 2:40 am we called it a night and started heading home. Parked and indoors by 3am, and I realized how much I missed riding, I love that bike.

Taking advantage of the final days of riding in Kuwait, I keep hearing people hitting the beach or going sailing while I’m still riding. I honestly never get tired of riding, its just such a rush and I want to ride as much as possible. This ride was very intense, we had a group of dedicated riders, arriving on time sticking to the route. I almost made no stops throughout the ride and kept everyone on their toes.

We try to find the best curves we can around town and there are some nice roads in Kuwait, but still we need some more curvy and banked roads around Kuwait. The more I ride the Ducati Diavel the more I love the machine, I don’t even know if that is possible, it seriously a fantastic machine. I go into corner just as fast as these superbikes and I love it, if they did this with the Diavel, I don’t know what to expect from the 1199. The first bunch of Ducati Panigales 1199 have been paid for, the next bunch arrives the end of the year, I can’t wait to see one. Seriously not enough time to ride in Kuwait. One of the things I enjoy is when I hear the exhaust of the MV Agusta 312 R passing me, it is music to my ears, Italians know how to build their machines. Ending our great ride at Q Cafe in the Village, amazing place to get a tasty bite to eat before going home.

This is probably one of the more interesting rides we have had this season, we started off as five ended up being 11 machines on this little outing. We are trying to ride as much as possible these days because its getting hotter and hotter. That morning I felt pretty crappy because of a Flu that was on its way, I pretty much ignored the feeling, took Dayquil, drank some fizzy Vitamin C and headed out. I know it wasn’t the smartest decision, but I have one Friday and I have to ride at any chance that I get.

As soon as I was on the bike the fresh air cleared my lungs, I honestly felt more attentive to the details around me, more alive with the rush of air and the sound of my exhaust. We went around town as much as possible with a stop in Doha which you can see from the video below, and this doesn’t always happen but we had a request for the BMW S1000RR and MV Agusta Brutale to go head to head, and they are both lovely and amazing machines.

We also ended up going to Wataniya Airport just off Sabhan highway and it was faling apart, the roof was coming off, nobody was using it or maintaining it. The one time I think the government should have stepped in is to bring that company back. They left Kuwait Airways to fall apart over the years and the one time we had something to be proud of it launched during a difficult financial time. We kept on riding until it hit about 31 Degrees while we were outside, as long as we were moving it was cool, but you can feel that summer is here, and its going to get hotter.

I have been riding for 11 years now, and I can’t believe that its been this long. The first time I really feared a machine was the Yamaha YZF-R1, it was a machine to be feared, the raw power and insane control were not forgiving any mistake on it would have a bad result but I took it slowly on that machine. Now I have to see that the BMW S1000RR gives me that same feeling, I have ridden a lot of machines over the last decade and crashed in a few but for some reason I get this feeling that under that cover is a machine that is you have to respect or else it won’t forgive you.

Some people call it an assassin, the Germans set out to be build machine to destroy anyone and everyone on the street and the track, and they did. Its a precision built machine with no-nonsense attitude yet it is surprisingly easy to handle with all that power and pure agility its an amazing feat that they packed so much all into these two wheels.

After riding the S1000RR for the last few days I can’t blame people for loving this machine, and I especially love that ugly front face, it looks like its eyeing you waiting to be ridden. The side air vents remind of shark gils, open to breath in and take off, it really does remind me of the Tiger Shark the way its aggressive and has that menacing look. My favorite color is always going to be the special white, blue and red BMW colors, its a classic.

These days its getting a bit warmer but still there is a lot of riding left, I’m trying to get in as much as I can at this point. This past weekend we rode about 350 Km around town, from Bida’a to Doha to Subhan and back to Bida’a for something to drink. It was an intense ride since we wanted to ride as much as possible during that amazingly cool morning, and the dust lifted from the night before.

This time around we were a bit more organized with the riding since we had plan, and a few different routes which made things interesting. The 1st ring road has turned into one amazing corner, at least the new part is, its the perfect curve, I hope they don’t install a camera there any time soon. Recently I have modified both the Diavel and 1098 so that my license plate is somewhat hidden.

After a nice long ride we had a nice cool drink, we thirsty as hell and I didn’t let anyone stop for a drink the whole day since I wanted to enjoy the ride as much as we could. There are a few surprises in the pictures below since we had a lovely machine join us in the previous ride I had to put the pictures up.

Driving on normal roads takes skill, so I have no clue how they are controlling these machines on ice even if they bike had spikes I would still be freaked out and they are going at it at high speed. I want to try riding a bike on ice at one point in my life, I get chills just looking at the video.

This was probably one of the longer rides we have had in a while and the weather was just perfect, a lot of riders came out and this was probably the largest group of riders we have had together in a while, with an interesting mix of riders and machines.

We were out riding from 7 am and didn’t stop until 3:30 pm all over Kuwait in different routes, its been a while since I had to fill up twice in one ride but it was fun and we did have our shenanigans on our little adventure.

I honestly can’t get enough of the Diavel, it is such a fun machine to ride and amazing around the corners. No Sport Cruiser can compare to it, its on par with most sport bikes and you just can’t wipe that grin off your face when you are pushing it as much as you can. These days its getting a bit warm so I’m trying to ride as much as I can before the hot season comes in, sometimes I wish I could take my Diavel with me on the plane to Europe and ride around for a while from town to town.

A Sandstorm came in just as the weekend was about to start, and I was hoping it would clear up just before Friday morning. I woke up around 5:45 AM to see that it was still hanging in the air, I was hoping it would clear up and by 7 AM it cleared up a bit and I headed out. We were just a few riders heading out and the roads were empty, as if we have been invaded by Zombies, nobody was out on the street, it seems the dust kept people in.

We were 3 vetren riders and one new guy to join the group so we were a bit slow in the beginning but we started pushing on the corners, but we tried to take it easy because of the dust, we didn’t want to slip while riding but still we were enjoying ourselves and the empty roads. I just detailed my bike the other day so all this dust was driving me nuts, but it wasn’t going to stop me riding.