A Tangled Web

International Motorcycle Show in San Mateo

Last weekend I went to the motorcycle show with a bunch of my riding buddies. I had to wear my leg brace and use crutches to get around, but it was really fun to get out and hang with the guys. The show was quite good; I'd have to say the bike that took the show was the new Ducati 1098 - WOW! After Ducati's total flop, at least in customer appeal, with the 749/999, they got this one right. It's like they threw the classic 916/996/998 style in a blender with the Desmosedici and out popped the perfect hybrid of the two. The styling is another milestone, and you just can't beat the performance for the price - 160hp for just $14,999. Of course they also have the limited edition "tri-colore" version in Italian flag red/white/green, but to be quite honest, I liked the solid red much better. The white number plates from the tri-colore would be a nice touch but other than that I wouldn't change it at all. Nice job, Ducati!

 They did have one of the street-legal Desmosedicis there, and that was quite impressive. I love how the exhaust is routed out through two oval-shaped openings in the top of the tail section - yes, the top! Definitely a monoposto bike. I'd love to be behind one at night and see flames shoot out of the top of the tail section with a throttle chop.

 Aprilia had a lot of cool new stuff too, their super-moto and off-road bikes with the 450cc V-twin engine were quite nice. In fact, one of the guys I was there with just bought one of the super-motos. I hope I get the chance to take it for a spin sometime. The new Mille-R Factory looks really good, too. I'm still hanging on to my 2000 Mille-R, which I just can't part with...

Posted at 05:38PM Dec 22, 2006 by mwhite in Motorcycle Mania  |  Comments[0]

I've been tagged

Kevin Schmidt just tagged me so I must tag 5 others. First, 5 things most people don't know about me:

1. I'm originally from North Carolina, where I lived and worked until I moved to California at age 33.
   
2. When I was in high school and college, I was skinny as a rail and had shoulder-length hair. I was so skinny I had to run around in the shower to get wet.
   
3. In 1996, I won the titles of Mr. San Francisco and Mr. Sacramento in the masters division in bodybuilding competitions. I competed in the light-heavyweight class at 198lbs with about 4% body fat.
   
4. I learned to water ski when I was 8. By age 11 I was a slalom skier and by age 13 I was trick-skiing. This was back when trick skis had square ends.
   
5. In high school I competed in springboard diving for a club pool. I learned a lot of tricks from my Dad, who was a champion diver and trampolinist while in college at University of North Carolina. I used to practice for so many hours the bottoms of my feet would get raw from all the skin being worn off. Oh, and I learned that hitting the water face-first from the 3-meter board can give you a black eye!
   

I will now tag Ron, Mike, Suresh, Andi, and Chris.

Posted at 05:24PM Dec 22, 2006 by mwhite in Personal  |  Comments[0]