Returning to Mecca

Not that Mecca, the annual motorcycle show in Long Beach. I missed Laguna Seca twice this year so going to the motorcycle show is a must. I am starting the plans now for the Dec 5 - 7 show this year.
http://www.motorcycleshows.com/motorcycleshows/static/staticHtml.jsp?id=358892
Maybe the trip will help me make my decision as to what bike is next. Usually I just get more confused but this year could be the one. Perhaps the perfect bike will be on display and I can go home knowing exactly which bike I will be riding for the next couple of years.
Oh the excitement !


More to follow...

4 Wheel Interuption

My brother Pete and I took the opportunity to go out and play with our 4 wheel toys. We have participated in driving schools together several times. Neither one of us has ever grown out of the "teenage hot-rod" phase. A company called Driving Concepts ( www.drivingconcepts.com )is one of our favorite driving schools. They put on events at several tracks around California. This one just happened to be at Willow Springs in Rosamond, CA. One of our favorite events that they put on is the New Years Eve Day event at Laguna Seca Raceway near Monterey, CA.
We both had a good day at Willow Springs. Me in my 997 GT3 and he in his CTS-V on steriods. This was my first time at a big track in the Porsche. I had a lot of fun and quickly found that the Porsche was more car than I was driver. This will change, oh yes this will change. The change will come somewhat in part to my increased confidence but mostly due to the excellant instruction from the DrivingConcepts people. Shameless plug but true.
I hope to be shopping for a new bike soon. Not much action on my 2005 R1200GS. Since I am not in a big hurry and I really do like researching new bikes I can't say that I am disappointed as yet. Even if I sell it soon I will probably wait until the motorcycle show in December to make my final decision. I do love looking at the new bikes each year. Maybe I will write a "wayback" post soon to tell you just how much I enjoy shopping for wheeled vehicles.

More to follow...

What next?

Before I continue with how I got to where I am I need help with where I should go next. Not so much with where but on what.
Here is my dilemma. I like speed and handling. Preferably in the same bike. I am kind of funny that way. So as I said earlier I am selling my R1200GS but I don't know what to replace it with as yet. I was at the BMW store today and they of course would like me to trade it in on a new BMW.
I like the K1200GT but not enough to take that leap. It has most of the attributes that I am looking for but it just doesn't knock my socks off. So then what? I have read most of the articles, looked at the pictures and here is where I am.




Aprilia Shiver
Love the looks. Understand the handling is quite good. The biggest knock on the bike is top end power. This is important but from all indications the low and mid range is good so top end is not critical.









Aprilia Tuono
This bike has pretty much everything. Gobs of power. Handles like it is on rails. Particularly in the Factory version. It wins the head to head competitions almost every time. My only problem with it is I hate the headlight setup. I much preferred the previous version. This bike is definitely on the "A" list.










Ducati 848
Beauty, power, grace. It has it all. If I didn't have to worry about killing myself on it or not being able to stand up right after riding it it would be in the garage right now. I love this bike. It is appropriate that it is red. Every time I think about buying this bike all I can think of is the picture of the angel and devil sitting on my shoulders, one of the saying "buy it buy it" and the other one saying "do you like the look and smell of hospital rooms?". I can't help it I must have some Italian blood somewhere in my heritage or past lives.










This next one requires some patients on the readers part.
Harley-Davidson Ultra-Classic
No it is not fast, and no it does not handle anything like the others listed above but it does have an enormous amount of "wah". I can't help it if I love Harleys. As soon as you tell people you ride the ask if you ride a Harley.
The other big advantage to buying a Harley is I still would need a fun fast bike so the other bikes listed above might just have to wait a few months before one of them got a spot in the garage. That's it. Buy the Harley and then mope around the house until Jill says OK go get a fun bike to go with the cruiser.
I'm glad I had this talk with you. You are a wise and perceptive listener.

More to follow...
unless of course Jill veto's the above plan...........

The Ride

When I think about the one ride that got me hooked on riding in other places it was north Africa. Yes I said north Africa. 63 Harley-Davidson's riding through the desert.
We had met a German couple in New Zealand and had become good friends. They were Harley riders and traveled with their local chapter. A few years after we met they mentioned that they were going to take a ride with their HOG group and asked if we were interested in joining the group. The ride was set for May 2001 so the 9/11 attack on America had not happened yet. But it was still in a part of the world that was questionable. We decided that it was just too cool to pass up so we signed up to go.

The trip was completely planned out by the leader of the German HOG group. They had done the trip 6 times already and had it down. We stayed in nice places except for one and it was the "best" place in town. Rats in the sink in one room, a turd in the shower in our room and roaches dropped from the ceiling just as we were walking into the dining area. Yea it was that bad. The good news was we saw some of the best preserved Roman ruins that I have ever seen. They have a Colosseum exactly like the one in Rome except it is much better preserved. We were able to walk down under the exhibition floor where the participants and animals were once kept. Parts of the old elevator system were on display showing how they brought the contestants up into the arena.
In one area that we visited they were still allowing people to walk around on the 2000 year old mosaic floors. We were very uncomfortable in this area knowing that someday they would realize the error of the their ways.
Sitting in one of our better hotels we could see a Bedouin camp across the valley. Tents, goats, sheep, horses and of course a Mercedes sedan.
We took camel rides, got caught in a real sand storm and were treated to an evening dinner complete with horse and rider show. Then we spent the last few days cruising back along the Mediterranean sea. Great resort hotels and nice people. At the time it was the low cost Mediterranean holiday spot.
The only bad part was the return ride from Italy to Germany. In late May you never know what the weather will be like in the Alps. We hit two days of rain and 40 degree weather. Quite a change from north Africa.

More to follow...