[Ducati] Newbie

Wed Aug 1 08:18:46 EDT 2007

Hi John, thats an interesting collection you got there. I used to  
race fzr400's before moving on to racing my 748 in prothunder years  
back, they certainly are fun on the track, I am still trying to sell  
off the bikes I accumulated during that period of moto-madness. What  
part of texas are you from?

Paul
On Jul 30, 2007, at 10:38 PM, John Whiting wrote:

> Well, I have only one Ducati: a 1993 Superlite, yellow with Marvic  
> 2 pc rims.  41 flatslides, V2 cams, a little headwork; I ditched  
> the airbox and run UNI filters, made it run cleaner in the middle  
> and top.  As far fast-ME???, that is a relative term:  I am a  
> perennial midpack novice in the 600 class in the CMRA, but my  
> partners at work asked me to lay off racing until we get our  
> present business plan up and running.  Maybe when I turn 55  
> (another year), I can cut loose and see what I can do in the F40  
> class.  I really go pretty slow on the road;  racing took away the  
> reasonable thrills available there, so I just tour on the roads.
>
> A couple of years ago, I got interested in going back to my dirt  
> bike roots, so I took my 16 acre back yard and built a 1.2 mile TT  
> style MX track and a couple of very short flat tracks suitable for  
> dirt mini's.  I have enjoyed getting back to riding something that  
> moves around a lot underneath me, and it has improved my riding on  
> pavement, IMO.  I have been working with the motorcycle club at  
> Texas A&M, too, trying to get them onto the world of dirt training  
> and avoidance of higher output bikes for the street until they are  
> really capable of riding them.   Got a slew of dirt mini's: CRF  
> 150R's and TTR 125's, some with knobbies, some with street rubber  
> for the flat tracks.  I have 2-3 gatherings per year to ride, burn  
> wood and drink beer with those so inclined....but summer is pretty  
> brutal and I usually go for fall, spring and winter as my chosen  
> seasons. Most of the riders that come out get all of the  
> satisfaction of a track day and more for no cost.  And a bunch of  
> the kids at A&M have taken their bikes off the street to do track  
> days and bought mini's to start racing TMGP, as it is affordable  
> with lower speeds.
>
> I have several small displacement street bikes that are fun to  
> ride, because you can basically wring their necks:  a 92' VFR 400  
> and a 95' RVF 400, both little jewellike, V4 four hundreds, they  
> weigh a little less than a modern 1000 I-4 now, but they are sweet  
> track day bikes and twistie road fun.  I also stole the 316 2  
> stroke out of my Aprilia RS 250 race bike and put it in a 95'  
> Biaggi Replica, which is another lite, sweet handling track bike  
> that I occasionally take out on street rides, as it has lights,  
> turn sigs, and 'looks' legal, FWIW.
>
> I have a couple of Woods Rotax 676 road racers:  a friend and I  
> just made the No 1 frame street legal, so it is going out for the  
> next hill country ride.  They are tiny chassis, vibrate like mad (I  
> am designing a protoype Loctite livery for the bodywork), weigh  
> under 260 pounds, and make big torque, so I am looking forward to  
> riding mine in some canyons.  The other race bike (frame 15 or 16?)  
> was campaigned by a competant rider (not me, for sure: a veteran  
> racer I sponsored) and was amazingly fast, but expensive to race,  
> and it is about to become a museum piece for my house.  There were  
> only 16 made, so at least I am keeping one running like it was  
> meant to be.  I have enjoyed working with Ron Wood in Costa  
> Mesa...he was a big help on putting #1 back together.
>
> My sickness gets much worse, but I will stop here.  The rest of my  
> stuff is production bikes that I have just made handle right for my  
> weight....some 450cc motards, modern Triumphs, an MV, a YB8, etc.
>
> When I go out on the 900 SL, I realize what a great machine it is:  
> visceral, fast enough, handles well at street pace, sounds GOOD,  
> beautiful to my eye, functional to an engineers eye, simple and  
> doesn't break.  I'll have it when I'm ninety. Oh, and I saw New  
> Blue at Laguna:  I shredded my credit card before I added another  
> hole to my head.  It may be bling to some, but it blows my skirt  
> up, and you know it would rail in a canyon....but I don't do that  
> anymore.  Much.  If ever.
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: ducati-bounces at ducati.net on behalf of Peter
> Sent: Sun 7/29/2007 12:57 PM
> To: ducati at ducati.net
> Subject: RE: [Ducati] New to Ducati.net
>
>
>
> Welcome John!
>
> John has a bunch of bikes for sure, and he is a fast rider (and  
> racer with
> CMRA), as I have seen in several Hill Country rides we have gone  
> on. Altho I
> have yet to visit him in College Station, TX where he lives, but  
> hopefully
> will do so this fall.
>
> C'mon John, tell us about just a few of your neat bikes!!!!
>
> Peter
>
>
>
>
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