This is one of Ducati’s tradition. They have version which comes out looking like the Italian flag and they mix it up a little with the uniqueness of this motorcycle. I have to say that I think its sexy as hell. Beautiful piece of machinary, and filled with character! Its has the ohlin shocks, steering dampner, and the Termignoni racing exhaust which adds just the right amount of power. There is something about this bike that draws me to it, and it has some characteristics of the old 916 with the taste of the 999. Its extremely appealing.
Link: Ducati
With this weather Im always licking my lips, and if I put any chapstick Im always smearing all over the place to make my lips feel better. But the funny part is that the chapstick isnt completely clear it looks like dried milk all over your lips but damn it feels good. I dont know if anyone goes through this during this cool weather.
And especially when Im riding the motorcycle and the wind is hitting my mouth it gets really chapped in cold weather. So I stop for a drink to hydrate my lips before drying them again while riding. I need a riding mask under my helmet and that will complete the all black look with the black neck cover. By the time Im done I will look like a ninja. The best thing I do is put chapstick on before I sleep so the damage is repaired by morning.
I woke up to Mark‘s phone call regarding his gas tank, and just giving him an idea how to fill up the bike. I got up a little bit after that, showered and got on my bike. But I really took my time and by the time I got down Mark already reached home. When I started up the Duke the roads looked wet so it must have rained in the morning. So when I asked they told it did. So I got my gear together and I was looking forward to a little wet riding.
I got on the Duke and headed down the Gulf Road starting from Miseela, and it felt like a fantastic spunky bike. And it was looking a bit cloudy so I wasn’t going to be long on the bike. I love how the cool wind was hitting me, and it the rush I was getting. I headed over towards Marina mall around 11:30am to stop for quick hot drink to help warm me up. Marina was packed with people and for the first time I saw that motorcycle parking spots were almost full and I filled the last spot. For the first time I saw many BMW motorcycles of the same model, and Robo’s long lost brother. The parking lot was filled and it was 65% Harley Davidsons, 30% BMWs, and 5% KTM (me).
I decided to walk over to starbucks for a hot chocolate to warm me up a bit. And after finishing up my hot chocolate I went back to the Duke to continue my adventure for the day. It seemed that KtheKuwaiti spotted me, but I only found that out when I was on the blog later in the day.
As I was riding back it started drizzling a little bit and I thought it would be perfect to test the bike and its tires. Riding in the rain teaches you a few things, I could feel the rain drops hitting my legs, and I could see the rain on my screen its funny. Your getting wet slowly yet you dont feel wet. Its a fantastic feeling riding in the rain, and Im used to it from riding in San Francisco. It was funny seeing people’s faces that a guy on a motorcycle is riding in the rain. Im afraid of the rain in Kuwait during the beginning but not when the road is already wet, but I still very causious with my riding and not taking any chances. But overall it was a fantastic day.
This was one hell of fun day on the bikes. It was totally a bike day, I met with a friend who I took on the back of Robo for an hour and bit around the gulf road and other areas. And we were having blast, two people laughing their asses off with each one of us listening to music inside the helmet. I had my own DAP, and the other person had an Ipod. I was listening to HipHop/Rap/RnB and the latter to Techno/Dance/House. But we were having a blast and on the gulf road while we were on our way just for a quick pitstop in Marina around 2:30pm I ran into a really good friend who was laughing at the us they couldnt believe they spotted us. I got a text saying I had a nice jacket, which was a nice complement. Afterwards my friend had to go to meet up with family so I dropped them off back at our house and then I switched bikes.
I got on the Duke! Now what an amazing bike the Duke turned out to be. Its one hell of a fun bike and it takes the road differently, takes coners amazingly. Even though Duke is higher Robo I still felt the Duke was amazing on the turns and the engine was fantastic! This bike is an amazing motorcycle, I have to say that Im not a fan of the exhaust sound but that can be changed, but the everything else the bike surpassed my expectations. What a hell of ride, I went from Bida’a all the way to Shuweikh on the Gulf Road then down the 2nd ring road to Malik Fahad to ride home since I had a few things to check up on.
I have to say that everytime I saw a guy on bike with gear on it made me smile, and I was happy! It gives us riders a degree of credibility and keeps some people off our back. People rarely bother me except when they are idiots, which happens sometimes. And then if I see a guy riding a motorcycle without gear honestly it really pisses me off! The weather was amazing, and it felt fantastic listening to the right type of music and seeing so many people out and about in this beautiful weather with their families! Honestly it just makes the whole day feel so damn nice when everyone is in a good mood. And in days like these what I love the most is when Im riding and seeing kids in cars waving at me or giving me the thumbs up, and I have to at least wave! They are so true to their feelings its fantastic. I cant wait to ride on Friday as well.
Waking up this morning was fantastic since I was going to ride to work, and I had some choices to make. After showering and changing I went to the basement, I had to choose between Robo and the SuperDuke, but the Duke was low on gas so I decided to go on Robo and I didnt feel like trying something new on the ride to work. It was fantastic I was having a blast riding even though I knew I had a pile of tasks to take care of, and I had a few problems to deal with. Riding just makes everything so sweet, and I was looking forward to riding the SuperDuke later in the day, I really didnt know what to expect! All I knew that it was going to be good!
I would like to thank Tristar for giving me the chance to try out the KTM SuperDuke since I really like this motorcycle, so I will be comparing the bikes for the different feel and just writing the feel of th bike not specification comparison. But Im happy as hell I get to ride this bike, and the addition looks oh so good. Its one hell of a temptation. Now this is service, they value there customers and know who is addicted to their products.
I just think that these two look like siblings next to each other an they are two different machines that arent comparable since they both have different applications on the road, and I adore my Robo, and SuperDuke would be a nice addition. I know he isnt to everyone’s taste, but I usually just go by my own taste and feel.
This is the new 2007 Ducati 1098 that they have kept quite about! Its an amazing and fearsome looking bike! This the most powerful Twin-Cynlinder bike out there right now! I have to say that I like this bike a lot, and Im impressed with what Ducati has done with it! This is a 160 bhp and 90.4lbs/ft of torque engine! They also kept the weight really low. The aggressive look is very enticing, and I have to say that I like it more then the 999. They just took the old Ducati formula and worked with it.
They have 3 models coming out for this year
- Ducati 1098 ($15’000)
- Ducati 1098 S ($20’000)
- Ducati 1098 S Tri-Colore ($25’000)
I went riding the other week, and I felt like sleeping in a bit. So before heading over to my cousins’ place I got on my bike for an hour or two of riding. And the roads were relatively empty so I head over to Marina Cresent to stop for a bit to get something to quinch my thirst. I took the gulf road all the way to Marina Cresent and the place was packed with people and load music all over the place, not music from cars but from speakers.
I saw the NBK sign with the Lamborghinis sitting under it. It seemed like it was the day they were going to do the draw for the vehicles. And there were two other covered vehicles, and the from the body of them I could tell they were Aston Martins but which one I wasnt sure. And now these days they have the Ad saying Yabeela Aston Martin. After taking a look at the cars I kept walking to Starbucks to get my stopover drink and keep on riding. As I was walking someone was calling my name but I couldnt figure out who it was from the whole damn crowd so I kept walking and I got a phone call. Turned out all those bikes were from the BMW/Ducati riders and I saw them sitting at Costa so I stopped by and said hello. Turned out the person who owns the Ducati Paul Smart 1000 was a friend, and I didnt even know. From there I went to back home to pick up the Dvds I was burning and headover to my cousins’ place.
This is me on the Daytona 675 and Eric on my Yamaha FZ6. Its fun as hell riding with a friend, and after a while of riding with me we figured out each other’s comfort zones, but sometimes Im afraid he is too close! hehehe! We had a fun time that day starting off on Highway 9 in Los Gatos taking it all the way up and stopping for a break at Alice’s cafe then taking the other highway in the mountain back to highway 92 so we can get back on 280. And boy were we going nuts! The Daytona is such an agile bike turning at the flick of the wrist. It was non-stop and Eric was riding one the best learning bikes around. I think the FZ6 is a great bike, but its lacking some suspension modification and the brakes are bit spongy, but its a great bike and I changed the tires because the stock tires sucked. We had a good time that day, and we were having fun on 280 since its a 4-5 lane highway with beautiful sweeping curves!
More pictures below
I wanted to go riding thursday and didnt feel like just sitting at home. The weather was great and I needed to get out. I wanted to push my limits a bit. I wanted to clear my head of everything! I knew I had to fill up gas, and I was tired after work but I felt like just going for it. It was such nice weather that I wanted to keep riding for a while. I went through the highways to beginning of the Gulf Road from Shuweikh to start from their and go down. There were a few nutcases on the road, but I was happy that I passed a few bikers who were wearing full gear as well, it felt good that they were wearing full gear at least. When the road was empty and the right song came on I felt like pushing it a bit and damn it felt good to have your blood pumping and this rush of energy just coming through. So this is how superman feels when he is catching up with a jet plane. I just needed that after that thursday of work. It just felt fantastic when I was riding and the sun was hitting my back and I could see my shadow on the ground. Just great! I hope everyone had a good thursday too, I have a feeling Im in for a storm at work this week.
Im making professional photographers out of the guys at the gas station!
I parked next to a Buell Firebolt, first time I’ve seen one on the road, and its not the best bike Buell has but it is original! Never tried one, but curious to try one.
