Ducatis

[xs650mike]

Loho, Diver Ray and Uncle Spot will remember meeting my good friend Ducati Tim. One of the many advantages to being his good friend is the opportunity to ride his bikes. I have riden his yellow 916 (since sold alas), his ST2 and now his latest acquisition, a '92 907 IE Paso. All of these bikes have been a blast to ride but my favorite is the Paso. When we switched bikes in a gas station for my first ride on the Paso, I had the distinct pleasure to see the heads snap around when I thumbed the starter button. One guy ran over to ask what the heck it was. The sound of the engine starting reminds me of the big radial aircraft engines I worked with in the Navy. Awesome. At a future date I'll post a sound file.

Here's a shot of the bike at the top of Hopland Grade on California 175 looking down into Lake County. The mountain in the background is the ancient volcano, Mt. Konocti. That's ol' Rusty the rear forground.



Here's another shot taken on my street as we were returning from our ride.



Here's one of Rusty and me.

[xs650mike]

Ducs continued

In the photo of me and Rusty you'll note the snow on the mountain in the background. Snow in my neighborhood had melted but the temps were still in the low 40s Faharenheit hence the bundled up look I'm sporting.

Here's a couple more Ducati shots...



Notice how the rear view mirrors are integrated into the turn signals, beautiful! The paint is something like Yamaha's "Black Gold" but with more gold flake...looks like crude oil. Riding position is actually quite comfortable as the bars aren't too low and the footpegs aren't too high. I had the bike up to about 128mph indicated and it felt like about 70mph...smooth as silk.

Tim shipped his ST2 to Europe last fall and visited Ireland, England, Holland, France, Switzerland and Italy. He is planning to return there.

The ST2 and ol' Rusty...



A tired looking Tim in Ireland...



The leprechaun's swimming hole...



Tim in Switzerland...intermittant showers...



Looking down from the same spot...check out THAT road, note the snow shed over it...



Here's a really cool jacket in Marlboro Ducati colors he bought for around $100 in Italy:



Back in Lake County on the 907...