Subject: Re: [Ducati] Longest, First

[Justin]

I have fully embraced the safety gear philosophy, I've had plenty of  
other hobbies and jobs where having the right kit saved me injury and  
inconvenience so I don't hesitate not just to buy gear, but to buy the  
best I can find.  In this case, I ended up going with mostly Dainese  
stuff, the Wave-V-1 Neck armor jacket, and the delta pelle perforated  
pants, along with the torque out air boots.  I was wearing an older  
AGV helmet when I was tooling around earlier, but I'm picking up a  
Shoei Multitec later this week, assuming it fits well.  The best- 
fitting sport riding gloves at the local shop were Suzukis so that's  
what I got.

I thought the MSF class was excellent.  The instructors were great to  
deal with, and frankly considering the relatively low cost, it would  
have been a fun way to kill a weekend even if one had no intention of  
riding on a regular basis.  We had one guy fail, when he dumped the  
bike on the abrupt stop part of the test at the end.

Justin

On May 13, 2008, at 13:07 , <capo at carolina.rr.com>  
<capo at carolina.rr.com> wrote:

> Hey Justin
>
> Congratulations on your new toy and good on you for taking the MSF  
> course.  Do not skimp on riding gear.  You hope to never need it but  
> as someone who has tested it several times it can literally save  
> your A**.  Do try to go slow and then taking track day instructions  
> is also a great idea.
>
> Have fun
>
> Jim
> ---- Justin <shadow at darksideresearch.com> wrote:
>> Hahaha, with everyone talking about how they've been writing since  
>> the
>> Fillmore administration, I can't help but say I bought my first bike
>> about three weeks ago!  I just rode it for the first time about a  
>> half
>> hour ago.  The last time I rode anything motorized was 20 years ago
>> when we had dirt bikes at summer camp, so I took the MSF class last
>> fall and spent most of the winter looking for a 748 and bought a
>> yellow 2001 748S in late April.  I was out of town at the time so my
>> brother picked it up for me and it's just been waiting for me in the
>> garage.  It's obviously well maintained, and the previous owner did a
>> clean install of a manual switch for the cooling fans which was
>> basically the only modification I had any interest in.
>>
>> I took it out for a spin since the weather is nice today and it's
>> going to rain most of the week.  I didn't leave the neighborhood  
>> since
>> it's not tagged yet, but got it up to about 35-40 on a couple short
>> turns of the wrist.  Goddamn, this thing is a rocket!  I didn't even
>> let it get into the real power band from about 7k to 10k rpm and it
>> was pulling like w00t!  I can already tell this is going to be a hell
>> of a lot of fun once I get it registered and get some practice in.  I
>> imagine it's going to take some time being careful but I had that in
>> mind when I decided to get a sport bike for my first throw.  I'm
>> hoping that around the end of the summer I'll be comfortable enough  
>> to
>> try some track instruction.  It's been a hoot in cars all these years
>> and this just seems like it will be fantastic.
>>
>> It seems like most of the motorcycle class stuck, I am very glad I
>> took it.  I had no problem riding it, turning it, and stopping it
>> though I barely dented the bike's envelope in any respect and had no
>> desire to attempt such.  I did manage to honk the horn a few times
>> when trying to turn off the turn signal.  Braking is extremely
>> aggressive compared to the bikes from the class and I found myself
>> moderately surprised every time by how much load I had to soak up  
>> with
>> just moderate squeezes of the brake lever and pedal.  Handling is
>> extremely crisp, and the bike was nothing but confidence inspiring in
>> the turns - even if my low speed u turns at the dead ends left
>> something to be desired in terms of elegance.  I need to get used to
>> the clutch and shifting, none of my shifts were very smooth, though I
>> managed to avoid anything terribly ugly as well.
>>
>> As I anticipated from finding one to sit on in a local shop and
>> reading about it online, the riding position is completely, totally,
>> and in all other ways uncompromising.  Trying to ride it semi-upright
>> rather than completely hunched over it applies a ton of pressure to
>> your forearms.  My forearms are weak enough after about 15 minutes of
>> tooling around that my typing is suffering.  Too bad I lost an  
>> auction
>> for risers last night, I suspect that would have made upright  
>> riding a
>> lot more survivable.
>>
>> Previous owner left me with a set of stock pipes, but the ones on the
>> bike are cored out stock.  It sounds glorious.
>>
>> *****
>>
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