Went up ACH with a few freinds on Saturday 6/26. It was blazing hot.
About the photos above…
Just in case you were wondering about the photos above, one of them is me (the left) and the other one is of a fellow Ducati SportClassic racer – ThunderDuc Racing.
My photo was taken by photographer Rob Zaleski as part of a motorsports portfolio he is creating during his off-time. Excellent work and very nice guy.
The right side photo is of ThunderDuc Racing’s Chris Gorel’s Ducati SportClassic. It’s the actual bike he races. This photo was used in the 2008 Rev’it Motorcycle catalogue.
Another Raven Gets Schooled.
This time it is a Yamaha R1 Raven. This one is pretty funny.
So I rode my bike to work and in my rear view mirrors I can see a motorcycle coming pretty fast up to the stop light. …So I move over to make some room.
Light turns green and Tool-boy rides a wheelie for about a hundred feet. This guy was the typical squid – jeans, tennis shoes, t-shirt, and easily about 240 lbs. His ass was so big it was swallowing the poor bike.
SO this tool speeds down the street over 70 mph to the next light and gets into the left turn lane.
I’m thinking that the people in cars are probably saying to themselves that motorcycle riders are jerks. I just take my sweet time to the red light where tool-boy is waiting for the green arrow.
We wait….we wait…we wait for the green light.
Light turns green for me and the oncoming traffic. Left turn arrow stays RED! HAHA!
Raven gets schooled by the left turn arrow!
I killed a Raven
Not the Yamaha R1 Raven. A real raven.
Fathers Day. June 21 at approximately 9am heading eastbound on Ortega Highway. A beautiful day, too.
Just minding my own business when on the right side of my vision I see a black bird coming right at me. In a millisecond *WHAM!* it slams the the right side of my helmet – partially on the visor.
I look in my mirrors to see if it fell or flew away. Nothing.
My riding buddy, Larry, following me is probably laughing real hard or scared that I got hurt. I give him a thumbs-up that I’m OK and we keep going to Hell’s Kitchen.
At the stop, he tells me that he saw the bird swoop down on me from above and when it hit, a huge explosion of plumage was everywhere and the raven flopped onto the pavement. A quick death.
I wish I had brought my camera for that.
Rain
Rode with my brother-in-law to the AAA Car Show in Costa Mesa on Saturday 6/20. All clear at home but once we hit the 405/605 interchange – rain. I was concerned about getting the electronics wet under the seat tray but the ventilation holes I made for the voltage regulator was not compromised.
The public was allowed to cast votes for their favorite cars. The car I voted for Best of Show was a 1978 Toyota Celica GT. In my opinion, it was the most well kept, most original parts, and quite unique. No, it’s not a ’57 Chevy but at this point, those cars are ubiquitous.
The car show was cool. Lots of food. Good times.
Italian Bike Night (Update)
It was a nice sunny day in Newport Beach. I saw the usual suspects at IBN. Calvin, Sam, a couple of Desmosedicis, and a huge line for that cupcake place next door. I brought my brother-in-law with me and gave him a heads-up on the (pretentious) Italian parking situation but – hey – that’s how we roll.
It was quite unusual to see a more than one (mine) Sport Classic out there. There were four of them. One Sport 1000, two GTs, and ’74 GT 750. Nice!
Next stop, Portillo’s Bike Night in Buena Park. It’s mostly a Yamaha V-Star Owners Club meeting.
…and I park at the end of the row away from the cruisers out of respect. 😛
Italian Bike Night
Tonight is Italian Bike Night in Newport Beach. It’s sunny outside and sunset at 8pm.
It’s gonna be a nice showing of bikes today. 🙂
Snakin’ the Crest
This video is my second attempt at recording some nice footage while riding up Angeles Crest Hwy to Wrightwood.
It was recorded on a GoPro Hero Wide camera and compiled Windows Movie Maker.
I met up with some Ducati buddies (mostly Hypermotards) and I noticed that my skills have improved dramatically since the last time I have been up there.
Enjoy.
Hello world!
I’m here! I got my bike! Ducati SportClassic 1000S.
I have modified the bike a bit since I bought it so I have a jump start on this blog. Not to worry, I’ll back-track some of the work I have done to document the changes.
Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy. Your mileage will vary.
Tales from the pilot seat of a Ducati SportClassic 