my new toy :)

[F1F3R]

hello
im a newbi to these forums but i managed too pass the DAS within 6 days and heres my new toy ...DUCATI 998
just far harder to ride than the 125 and cb 500 i learned on
first 100 miles on it :
1 aching wrists with leaning over tank .
2 roasted right ancle from exhaust .
3 loads off engine torque .. easily lock rear on change down.

BUT when i open garage doors it just puts a smile on my face when i see it .its just amazing .
F1F3R .

www.ascott1.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/duc11small.JPG

heres a small pic ..

[hertsbiker]

Haven't taken a look yet, but a 998 is a bit of an extreme machine for a newly passed rider.. just don't forget where the ignition kill switch is, if you have the sort of misfortune I had 5 years ago. Being new to bikes, I totally messed up a pullaway and went straight into a roundabout !!! had I hit the kill switch, I'd have been ok. WHY? not used to the power / throttle response... and couldn't back off because I was fighting to stay on. NOt nice.

Just remember that corners come up very fast on litre bikes.

rgds.

[plotloss]

You must be paying insurance equivalent to Tobago's national debt!

Matt.

[niggle]

Where abouts are you ?

I'm based over in dunfy... I know that insurance is quite reasonable up here, but thats still gonna be really expensive.

[F1F3R]

yea hertzbiker .. i have loads to learn yet, but slowly getting there .

lol @ mat .. yes its very high price to pay for insurance

niggle im 2mins from Leven . dunfy where is that near ?

[F1F3R]

oops matt (plotloss)
paying 1600/yr .

[niggle]

quote:
niggle im 2mins from Leven . dunfy where is that near ?

Dunfermline, 3-4 mins from Knockhill.

[rthierry]

F1F3R,

Congrats and enjoy your new toy. Please be careful these are extremely quite machine - probably far more than I can handle. There are seevral experienced bikers on this forum - and I am not one of them - listen to what they say.
Don't know whether you read Evo, but there is a scary article in there about mature people who can afford to buy straight on top of the bike ladder and wrap themselves around solid ojects.
To me, you've bought the best noise on 2 wheels - congrats!

[Nacnud]

Classic Biking Errors
* Forgetting to take the disc lock off. Advice to me was to clip something onto the handlebars whenever the disc-lock was on.
* Forgetting to raise the side stand (high-side on first left-hand corner). Ducatti should be alright though.

There are about four of these classic mistakes, and I wish I could remember the others.

BTW - I went DAS straight onto a Blackbird. Great fun, but total respect due at all times. Everybody thinks I was crazy/irresponsible but I'd do it again.

[Nacnud]

quote:
There are seevral experienced bikers on this forum - and I am not one of them - listen to what they say.

I'm not one of them either ! But I read everything I could lay my hands on and several people gave me top advice.

Almost doesn't need saying; Get the best protection -FULL STOP

[cazzo]

quote:
Classic Biking Errors
* Forgetting to raise the side stand (high-side on first left-hand corner). Ducatti should be alright though.

On the new 998 etc, engine will not even run with stand down (how cr@p is that?) personally I prefer the old Ducati way as on my 916 that is the "flip-up" stand; Engine will run and start with stand up, stand down, in gear, clutch out in fact anyhow - I've never had a problem with it!

Nice bike you've got there (and you can bypass the stand/engine cut-out if you want - Ducatis really need warming up to get the oil round the valve gear, particularly for the rear cylinder) but they don't really sound like Ducati's 'till you change the pipes.

Enjoy it and be careful that V-twin torque can "bite" you when exiting a bend but at least there's no viscous powerband to catch you (and even less so with race-cans as it smooths out the delivery) and there ain't no better handling (or looking) bike around IMO



>> Edited by cazzo on Monday 19th August 22:11

[sbyatt]

A piece of advice.

It's a bit pessimistic, but you *will* drop it as some point. For most people, it'll be low-speed on a gravel drive or something, but sometimes.... you never know.

MAKE SURE YOU GET THE BEST ARMOURED LEATHERS, HELMET and GLOVES THAT YOU CAN AFFORD! AND USE THEM!

I fell off a few weeks ago. Quite a stunning performance. I simply slid down the road, and my leathers stopped me getting slimed. The bike was totally destroyed. Because of the leathers I walked (ok, hobbled) away.

[Leadfoot]

& get a tinted visor in case you do the same as me:
Sunny day, lunchtime, packed pub garden. Me tries to pull away oh so quietly (ZX9, race can) with the 2 of us onboard. Not enough gas, stall, oh sh1t it's toppling, foot out, too late! THUD SPLINTER CRACK SCRAPE. Oh the embaresment.