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January 26, 2008
Madrid and Back
The weather looked as nice as forecast (mid-50's) this morning, so I thought I would go for a short ride up to Madrid. The twisties up there some of my favorites and I like the coffee at the Mad Hatter. Another reason Madrid appealed was that it offered an easy exit strategy. If it got too snowy or cold, I could turn tail and quickly return to Albuquerque. I reckoned on the way back I could stop by PJ's and take a second glance at an 888 that PJ scored at a recent auction.
I checked the air in the 851's tires and was glad I did, because the pressures were a little low. I fueled her up and was once more amazed by how that bike can still make the hair on the back of my neck stand up, even sitting still. I wheeled her out of the garage and took a quick picture with the bike; the last one I took of the bike and me together was while she was still wearing the modified Ducati cans. The Conti's look oh-so-much more sweet, even if they have that fine print stamped on them that they are for closed course use only.
The ride to Madrid was cold but pretty uneventful. And I was reminded of how much more the 851 has that I do not take advantage of when I wound her up to about 120 mph and wasn't even in top gear. Once in Madrid I parked on the old freight scale and had an Earl Grey at the Mad Hatter, where a surprisingly-good-sounding bluegrass band was performing. Despite the music, I wanted to drink my tea in the sunlight outside. And of course the best sunlight was on the scale next to the Ducati.
The ride back down the hill was just as lovely. I noticed distinctly more motorcycles out and about as the day warmed up. Below Cedar Crest, I observed that a Sheriff's patrol car was several cars ahead of me, another motorcycle in front of him. In an abundance of caution, I slowed up and pulled into the right hand lane. Several more motorcycles approached coming up the hill. Just as I rounded the corner, one of the motorcycles flipped right over, end over end. Cartwheeling up NM 14.
I pulled over, as did the po-po and the three other motorcycles. The young rider wore a leather jacket that had "ARMY" embroidered across the back. He appeared to be OK; I am sure adrenaline was coursing through his veins in prodigious proportion. One of the trailing riders said that "there was no reason why he should have crashed: the road was clear, there was no sharp lean angle, he wasn't out of control." The rider who tossed his ride offered only that a car ahead appeared to be slowing suddenly and he grabbed a hand full of brake. We all walked over to the bike; it was totaled. It appears to have been a Suzuki Boulevard, a "muscle-cruiser" in blue. One of the other riders picked the guy's cell phone, which seemed to have survived intact.
Back at PJ's, we discussed what likely happened. Mike offered that he probably locked up the front wheel, which in turn pushed the forks sideways. Once that happened, the rear of the bike effectively launched itself over the front. While I am not about to give up riding (and the three motorcyclists seemed content to go on with their ride), bearing witness to such action hammers home the commandment to stay within one's limits with these machines.
Posted by Underblog at 3:42 PM | TrackBack
January 16, 2008
Ducati Nerddom, Part II
If I come up with too many more of these posts, I may have to start a new category for all the geekery that is Ducati. Or at least that small portion of which that I find sufficiently interesting.
Roomie bought me this video for Xmas. Pretty fun stuff, but watching it one is reminded just how difficult it must be to try to hold the attention of a motorcyclist. The interviews with Ducati racers, and senior staff from design, marketing, race development (Ducati Corsa) are entertaining. The video zigs and zags through various topics. alternating between history, project design and development, racing, the "idea" of Ducati, etc. And then the cycle is repeated. Evidently, we want to hear the sounds and see the factory, but only when interrupted by many short scenes of sportbikes vrooming through Italian hills.
One of the highlights is Federico Minoli, the former Chair of Ducati, discussing how the "cool factor" is measured. They drive to the bike to a local bar (the bars in Italy are more like cafe's) for an aperitif, and if folks come streaming out to check it out, then it passes the test. They have a similar driveability test, where they ride the motorcycle over the hills to Modena (if I recall correctly), to see how it feels. From the marketing side of things, they admit that the typical Ducatista has a "Peter Pan Complex." While not exactly a revelation, it was interesting to hearing them acknowledge the fact in what is essentially a marketing film for the company. The assembly process is also reviewed with the American Director of Production leading a tour of the various operations at Borgo Panigale.
I was also impressed with how much the factory has been improved since I took a tour there in 1989. Also, they have opened up the factory to anyone during business hours. The average age of the workers on the floor is 27, and they are instructed to talk with fellow Ducatisti on the clock. This is a far cry from the treatment my departed friend Lawrence Gill received when he an Morinista Pam showed up the gate and were turned away in the mid-80's. Certainly, those were dark years for the factory.
On the downside, some of the music used is made to appeal to a younger generation than my own. Or perhaps to a deafer generation of my own. Around 45 minutes into the video it begins to grate.
The timing of the video's release was less than ideal, since Minoli and Terreblanche have both been sacked since, and also because the Ducati marque captured the 2007 World GP title with Stoner just after it was released. But taken as a whole, the video is a 60 minute love song to Ducati and a must-see during these long and bitterly cold winter months.