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ducatistan
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has added a new journali like these bikes.... probably more reliable then the old machines. bigger engines too. me likey.
cyclopes
i think they def look cool, but i am gonna hang on to my monster... unless if i have a few gran just layin around :)
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has added a new journalI was wondering if anybody here owns a ducati monster... ive got a 620 and am not too happy with it. I thought bout buying an 800 or so, but ive also been thinking about Buell and i know Triumph makes a killer naked bike.
cyclopes
prineak, ur right , maintenance on ducatis is quite expensive, 500$ i think to adjust valves... i am actually thinkin about gettin a speed triple, i heard a lot of good things about them, excpet that they aint very comfy after like 20 or so miles...lol...i did ride my ducati from MN to chicago, about 400 miles, was comfy and def enjoyed the ride....
saadat
new speed triple is sick looking!!!! my nephew has the monster s2r, its a great bike as well, i'd pick ducati over triumph anyday, but thats cause i'm a duc nut... my buddy has a speed triple, he's a triumph nut, to each his own eh? i don't like beulls at all really. mv agusta brutalle is awesome!!!
Hey, I've got an older (96) Monster 900 and it's a sick bike when it wants to work haha. I've had a problem with mine...it keeps shutting off for some reason. I heard it could be as simple as changing the choke position to as big as having the valves adjusted, which is really expensive on these bikes. When it did ride properly, it drove reeally nice though, all the torque u could possibly want. i would say upgrade to the 800 for sure. though, if i didn't have this one, i'd definitely pick a triumph over a buell
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has added a new journalThere i was lads and lassie's, leaving atlanta going up route 400 at 8 in the morning, as all the worker bee's were filing in on congested highways, i was on the opposite side going to roads i did not know, having very little planning....... i remembered the day before -- i had gone for a drive after our studio session fell thru do to faulty equipment in the studio, after searching for some good roads i realized there were none to be found in the city of atlanta, then i came upon a bar called vortex where on thursday nights bikers hang out. the bar had a skull shaping the doorway and a old ww2 style bmw hanging off of the ceiling. i was one of 3 ducati's in a sea of beull's, harleys and japanese sportbikes. and as i drank my coke a guy walks up to my bike with a look of confusion and he looks over and says "saadat??? adams morgan???" turns out he is a fellow who moved three months previous to atlanta from washington dc and we had met in passing a few times. i had a bit of a sketch trying to remember him, but then my memory served me as i remembered he was the owner of a pristine older ducati 900 with the greatest sounding clutch i had ever heard.
at any rate, kieth (i remembered his name afterwards, his email address being the catylist) spoke of the tail of the dragon ride and gave me some penciled down directions towards it......
so that brings me back to friday morning and going against the rush. it was only a matter of hours and i was in northern georgia. i stopped for gas and met a gang of older yuppie harley drivers from north carolina, turns out they were headed the same was as i was...... route 129 on the north carolina/tennessee border just west of the smokey mountians. for those of you not familiar with the tail of the dragon, it is reverred by motorcyclists and sportscar enthusiasts as one of the best roads in the united states. 318 curves in 11 miles, but that is just those 11 miles, getting there is not a picnic either, as well as afterwards.
the first part of rte 129 gives you an ample taste of what lies ahead, so much so that i actually thought i had gone thru the tail already, i was a bit confused, because as gruelling as it was, it was pretty short, i had imagined a longer ride. turned out my instints were correct. turns out my intincts around a particular corner were also spot on, since there was a patrol car around the bend. i waved to the officer and kept going, while giving a sigh of relief for the curver before that one i was full on.
i got to the start of the 11 mile run thru deals gap, there is a gas station/motorcycle shop/repair shop/restaurant at the begining of the run and one at the end. this one was nicer, it even had pictures of various bikes wrecked and unwrecked and a police cruiser flipped in the forrest on sept 97 that had comments written around it. i fueled up and was on my way.
good god, ladies and gentlemen, if you get a straight as long as your living room you are lucky, i don't think i got to third more than a handful of times. and by the end my legs were feeling it. i stopped at the top and talked to a guy on a bmw, he told me that down by the water he had seen a speedtrap. so i went down full on and then i saw the cop and decided to go into the same parking lot, i got off and walked to the water's edge by the boat landing and an older lady was there with her son and a cute pup named jesse. i talked with them a bit and mentioned how i'd love to jump in the water, but i didn't have a towel, so she gave me one of hers, since it had a tea stain on it, and so i jumped in the water in my boxer's. the lake was absolutely beatiful, reminded me of the lakes i swam in, in sweden. green clear water, so much so that i saw a fish swim right up to me, as the lady warned me "he'll suck on your leg, but he won't bite don't worry.", and the lake was surrounded by beautiful green trees on mountians on all sides. breathtaking. as i started getting comfortable in the lake, the lady's son warned me "there's a snake in the water" and i at first did not get phased, since i had dealt with garter snakes growing up and didn't have an immediate fear of them. but then i saw a big head stick out of the water and stare me down about 10 feet away. at this point i realized an exit out of the water in a calm and swift way was in order, too bad the floor of the river was not very cooperative, so i splashed a bit but made it. i told the lady "it was probably not poisonous", but she told me the name of the snake and that it was 5-6 feet long and brown and very poisonous." that was the first time that day that my life would be in danger, there were more to come......
so i got my clothes back on and finished route 129 and at the other motorcyle "pit stop" i consulted a kind old man with a map, and realized which way i should go. it was still early, before noon. he sent me back to the lake and i took a left on to the foothills parkway thru the smokey mountians. very twitsy and picturesque driving, it did take a while before i saw any other car or bike.. as i got to the center though, there were alot more vacationers, the tubing on the river by the side of the road was to blame. but then i got past all of the family fun and in cherokee county i got onto the blue ridge parkway. and started a long twisty drive.
i climbed to 6053 sq ft and stopped at the lot on top. i had been driving for about 7 hours after the snake incident at this point. it was the highest point in the blue ridge mtns. it was quite majestic. eerily quiet. the clouds were crsting up the side of the mountian and flowing right over me, and a brown eagle was circling around me. as i saw the sun decending i realized that i had not seen much in other traffic for the last 3-4 hours. two thought, its getting dark and do i have gas? my neutral light was malfuntioning by staying on the whole time, this had just started, so i thought what if my gas light is also malfunctioning. uh oh. so i got on my bike and started driving. i would start going down and then back up another mountian all the while making this crazy turns, seemed like one u turn after the other. then i passed a sign at about 5600 feet it said "ASHVILLE WETLANDS DO NOT STOP..... DO NOT BLAH BLAH BLAH" i drove by it not being able to finnish reading, for i had to get to the bottom. i was dealing with alot of fog, basica;;y driving thru clouds so thick that i didn't even notice some tunnels that came up. and they would be wet on the inside and one curvey one almost got the best of me. then it started raining i stopped on the side and put the rain covers on my saddle bags and got a move on it. there was rock about 3 stories high on my left and a drop on the right with no barrier and a steep drop, so much so i couldn't see the grade. and the rain was so hard there were waterfalls down the rock, flooding the roadway. seemed i was driving thru a thundercloud related to hurricane dennis. all i could do was tell my self, that sign said don't stop so as long as i can see the yellow lines keep going. i would hit huge puddle that would splash all ove, i remember one in particular that got my left shoe sompletely drenched, as though it wasn't bad enough. as i drove by the "leaving ashville wetlands" sign, it stopped raining. and i remebered my gas situation. so i turned off my bike and the lights, it was about 8 and still light enough, barely.... and i coated down the mountian for 4 miles on no power.
i finally go to a junction, i pulled right off, had to decide 16 miles to burnsville or 17 miles to marion, i thought "burnsville sounds bigger, let's go. i started the bike again and went for a couple miles, i hadn't seen any civilition or person for hours and then my worst fear happened, my bike started choking and i went from 4th to 3rd to 2nd to 1st and it died on me. as i realized my plight -- completely wet, its raining again and its dark now and i'm out of gas in the mountains of western north carolina. i tryed not to freak out, and as i crested over a brdge over a small stream i cleared my visor with my glove and barel could see a white bar, didn't look like a tree, "YES!!! GOOD GOD I THINK ITS A BP!!!!" i ran my bike along, for i knew if it stopped, i was to exhausted to pull it over the bridge, my legs and neck and body were feeling the effects of 12 hours of twisty mountian driving. i coasted into the gas station and this guy in a pick up pulled in at the same time, and said "nice bike, you don't see to many ah dem dookateez" i told him i ran out of gas and was in the ashville wetlands, he knew what to say to make me feel better "damn boy, if you'd a run out of gas up'per, you'd a bone up'per all night, nobody up there at night." so i got gas and tried firing her up, she didn't start, now i'm worried, i go inside tell the guy whats up he give me alot of unwanted advice about places to eat about town and bed and breakfasts. tells me his buddy will come pick my bike up if needed, i'm now freaked. i go outside and try her again, she starts!!!!!! i leave her on pay for the gas to mom out of mom and pop's, the place was a throw back in time, but thank god they are still there. i actually had to go out and read how much the gas was since it wasn't that technologically advanced, the still function on the honor system. i paid, jumped on the bike and headed for town looking for a motel. it took an hour and a half before i hit a town. i asked about motels at a grocery store and they told me the only option was the blue rigde motel "kinda divey" or drive 20 minutes and get to where the chain motels are. i drove. and as i reached the foot of a mountian surrounded in thunder i said bring it on and went for it. but then a loud lightning stike came down to the right of me, i said you win. i turned around, thought once in a day is enough, i'm soal=ked already. i went to the blue ridge motel and got to my room at ten. (it wasn't that easy, i needed cash no cards, yikes, i thought it woule never end). so 14 hours of driving in one day, i hadn't eaten all day. no breakfast lunch, snacks or dinner.
as i sat there on my bed aching and wet, although my great mtn hardwear jacket kept my t-shirt tatally dry, heheheh best 300 bucks i ever spent, i turned on the weather channel. the first national story? "A LANDSLADE TOOK PLACE IN ASHVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA TONIGHT DUE TO THE TORRENTIAL RAIN RELATED TO HURRICANE DENNIS" i was a bit freaked that i could have died up there.
i woke up the next day and found a highway after 2 hours of driving that took me to i-81 and i high tailed it home, took 10 hours total and i was in centreville at my brother's place at 6 in the evening.
took a day off on sunday and then i drove on monday to ocean city but less than an hour away from ocean city it happened again same deal as it was at the bottom of the mtns. but this time she wouldn't start up. my bro came out with a trailer and fetched me. the next day i took her down and dropped her off at ducati richmond, turns out a torrential downpour of that magnitude can get water into the connections for the regulator and jump the ampage and cause it to fry. so i got her back on thursday and friday morning went to the beach. its a mere 6.5 hrs round trip, hehhehe. but i tell you my legs and everything is fine, but my neck still ache's a bit, i need a massage soooo bad!!!! any ladies out there offering? hehehhe i wish.
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has added a new journalI recently bought a 96 Ducati Monster 900. For some reason, it shuts off by itself. After revving it in first gear, the oil light goes on. Do you
think that just because it doesn't have enough oil that it would shut off by itself? Otherwise, what else could it be?
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has added a new journalnice machine, wow you front wheel is coming up on that pic. good camera work, whoever took the pic. do you find it hard to keep the front wheel down? i've heard that about the bigger ducati's, thats part of the reason why i am still on my 748. but lately i have been itching for a new bike, and the only way up for me is a 998 (i don't like the 999's much at all, sorry guys, its just a taste thing, i'm sure they are great and all).