Now this turned out to be an interesting ride, it wasn’t anything that I expected except that almost nobody showed up but I thought to post it up anyways. I planned for about 6 people based on some feedback but that didn’t work out, Adrenaline couldn’t make it until 7 pm, Vampire got caught up with the night shift at work, another guy was in the states, and Monichum was late. AM texted me that he is on the way and Monichum did the same but he would be running a bit late. It was interesting to be visiting that Starbucks at that time, I sat next to the fan spraying water because it was perfectly cool, and the crowd kept increasing as time went by. I felt so out of place since I haven’t been to Starbucks or sat in one at night in a very long time, but I had my bottle of cool water and waited. AM showed up, we talked and got to understanding of each other’s riding skills, Monichum showed up 15 mins later and so we headed out.
Since it was a bit on the windy side we decided not to go to Julai’a instead we headed towards the Starbucks in the Freezone, and we knew it would be a nice ride. I’m leading the pack, Monichum running the rear, and AM in the middle. We explained our riding technique in a group in a few steps, and we got it clear that we will be keeping a fast pace, we started it off steady and built it up from there. Monichum and myself have been riding for three years together so we have a rhythm going, and AM was picking it up and hopefully with more rides he will pick up how we ride and a few tips and techniques to improve his own riding. We had a lot of fun riding there, we kept in tight formation giving each other the right amount of space, and kept the pace between 120 to 140 kph to whole way. I didn’t realize how packed the Free Zone area would be, we got caught in some annoying traffic but made it there. When we got to Starbucks and the whole place was packed, we saw a pack of Ducatis there, two Mosnter 696 and one 1098 which was fun to see. We sat there and chatted for about an hour about riding, riding in Kuwait, and a few other things. Then we got up and headed home, Monichum got on 4th Ring Road, AM and myself got on the 6th Ring Road to head home. It was very nice ride, and the weather keeps getting cooler, I’m enjoying these rides.
So for a while now I get emails about people wanting organized group rides, usually I refer them to the BMW Motorcycle Club since they are a good group and take everyone under their wing. This time around I’m doing this a little differently, I’m usually only riding with a few friends in Kuwait. This time around its an open invitation to those who would like to ride, its just a simple outing for anyone who wants to try a group ride for once, I don’t think I will be doing this often since I usually don’t ride around this time but I thought I might try organizing it. This is a night ride starting at Bida all the way to Julai’a Starbucks and back to Miseela gas station.
Meet Up:
Location: Starbucks Bida’a Strip
Date: Oct 4th
Time: 6:00 pm (Meet Up Time) – 6:30 pm (We Leave Bida’a to head to gas station and then Julai’a)
*I will be on the Ducati 1098 or KTM RC8, easy bikes to find in a crowd
One note, if you are a novice rider I don’t recommend that you try a night ride in this group. We aren’t a bunch of professionals such as the people from Tristar or Harley Davidson. We are going to keep it as safe as possible, but let it be noted we keep a fast pace.
It has been too long since I have taken a ride out at any point in time, the heat came with those sand storms and very strange weather. It made riding nearly impossible with zero visibility, and lucky for me I came back to the perfect weather, or the beginning of it at least. I can’t believe how nice the weather is early in the morning or after sunset. I came back from work a little annoyed with a few things on my plate and I decided to get a shave and take a ride to unwind.
Before taking my impromptu trip I called up TriStar and asked them to service all the machines, after I took off they came a few days later took the KTM RC8, Ducati 1098s, and BMW K1200R for a full service and check up. They changed the from discs and pads on the RC8 under warranty, they changed the rear tire of the K1200R, changed the oil and filters of all the machines, they changed the battery of the RC8 and 1098s, the chains were adjusted, cleaned and oiled. All three machines were run on the dyno to test it out. Got them all ready for riding season.
I changed from my dishdasha to my riding gear, and damn that felt really good, I’m just a little over weight and that requires adjustment. I had my playlist ready with music topped up on my iPod Nano. And I took off to Salmiya and later on drove down the GulfRoad to Miseela and then back home. It was just the perfect ride, I was in sync with my machine but I have to get my skills back up to par, I felt something was a little off with me and not the Ducati. I need to regain my sense of balance with this machine, I was one very happy rider, I caught myself a few times smiling while riding and listening to the music. The cool breeze was perfect even with the engine boiling my leg a little bit, these Italians knew what they were doing when they built this machine, so much passion, I felt like it was an animal that is happy to be out of its cage. I’m really happy that the weather is cooling down earlier this year, I will be doing some late night or early morning riding for the next couple of weeks, damn I missed riding.
A piece of art on two wheels, I’m one person that loves my 1098s, there is a connection between man and machine. This beautiful creation is landing in Kuwait soon, I think there are a lot of people who are excited to see it, and I’m one who is excited to ride it. The picture have slowly been popping up online, I really want to see it on the Tristar show room floor and I know its probably going to disappear very quickly off the showroom floor because of people’s interest in it and I can’t say I blame them.
193 bhp that is all that needs to be said about this machine. I honestly don’t know how this is supposed to handle but BMW have been taking bold steps for the past couple of years and now they have the Japanese in their cross-hairs with this beast. I was a bit annoyed with the bland colors but thankfully they are coming out with the BMW have announced they will be making a version with the official BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team colors;Alpine White Non-Metallic, Magma Red Non-Metallic, and Lupin Blue Metallic, with the swingarm finished in eloxy silver and the wheels in high-gloss black.
Link: Asphalt&Rubber
One day I’m sitting at my computer just doing your basic multi-tasking and surfing the web and I suddenly decided that I wanted to ride. I didn’t care if it was hot outside or not, all I knew is that I wanted to ride and clear my head. When you have too much on your mind, riding is the best so solution it requires so much mental concentration that you can’t think of anything else. The Nano was decently charged but I updated the playlist while I changed into some armored jeans, and a tshirt. Went down stairs put on the boots, jacket, helmet, and gloves (in that order). Warmed up the bike for about 3 minutes and headed out, I didn’t have a destination but I knew I wanted to ride without anyone annoying me.
Turned out I didn’t have enough gas so I went to the Miseela gas station and filled up, took the gulf road to Bida’a round about, took the fifth ring round to the airport road and headed to Sabhaan airport or Sheikh Saad Airport. I stopped for about 5 minutes drank some water and checked my phone, then headed back home. All in all it took about an hour or so, when I got home, I jumped in the shower and felt very relaxed after that. The RC8 is a hell of a lot of fun to ride, and having the right playlist makes a world of a difference.
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The Ducati Streetfighter is a work of art in my opinion, Ducati is going the right way. I love riding my 1098s, so I’m assuming there are going to be similar riding characterisitics with this bike. Then there is the DTC system which is the new traction control system. I really like it in red and I’m assuming a few people are going to get them in Kuwait. I like how they made the youtube video which looks very raw, just like the bike.Â
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Link: Youtube
I guess it’s two fold. For starters, 2008 saw some of the strongest new bikes for years escape from manufacturers’ R&D departments, inspiring otherwise happy bikers to shun their garage-wife, and buy a new one.
Secondly, our addiction to bikes isn’t about economic stability, the prosperity of the country, or the state of the banking industry. In fact, it couldn’t be much more off a reaction against the status quo. Bikes are the escape, the freedom, the hedonism that give us the antidote to the real world that we need to function. We need more then than ever right now, and with the veritable flange of stunners we have heading our way this year, there’s every reason to keep bucking the trend.
Our bikes, and the way we modify and use them, defines who we are. It’s a lifestyle choice, not a fashion statement, and they’ve never boon so good.
This is a statement from the editor of FastBikes, Richard ‘Moby’ Newland, and I couldn’t have said it any better about the feeling of riders to their machines.
C2D went with a normal Hypermotard and turned into a work of art through hard effort and carefully picking the right parts and design of this machine. I like the matte black and glossy wheel combination and all the additives of the engine components from Speedymoto, he also went with the Quat-D ex-box exhaust which looks a bit stumpy but fits the design perfectly and has an interesting exhaust tone to it.
Link: Desmoworks
 
“Same Hooligan Thrills, Newfound Polish”
That pretty much sums up the new Monster 1100, a jump up from the 696 which has been a successful successor of the 695. Ducati has taken the right steps in the best direction even in these tough times. For this machine they went with the usual air cooled engine which produces a lot of power and torque for all those riders who are going to enjoy its rev. Based on the review it does have a unique feeling to the ride, but like any monster its going to have lots of parts that can be modified to make it such a personal motorcycle. I can’t wait to see what customized version of this machine is going to look like since I know lots of people are going to enjoy this machine and will want to start customizing.
Link: PM
