Any 2 wheeled enthusiast here?

I'm a huge Ducati fan, I have 5. I run a motorcycle club here in Deland Fl. with roughly 550 members nation wide. This car thing is fairly new to me, I got hooked on it in Oct 2006 when I went to that damn challenge. I know a lot of car guys are also into motorcycles. Anybody ever needs help 2 wheel related don't hesitate to ask. I know I will be looking for 4 wheeled advice and answers in the up coming months. I'm mostly familiar with European bikes but my club can pretty much figure out any 2 wheeled problems anyone might have.

Welcome. Love your club's motto. The drinking club with a motorcycle problem

Plenty of two wheel freaks here, you'll fit right in. I lean toward the off road end of the two wheeled spectrum. 'If'n it aint got knobbies and 12 inches of travel, stick it back in the garage.'

Yup, tons of bike guys on here too...if you see titles or posts with "Sprockets" being mentioned, those are motorcycle related ones.

Bryce

ducati? Any idea if you can get parts for an old 350 scrambler? My grandfather has one thats been sitting in his garage for years. Dont know when it ran last but it sure is a good looking bike and is all in one piece.

yeah loads of bike guys here, I've got a lil Buell Blast that is my cafe bike and a old Aermacchi basket case I need to rebuild that was a race bike.

I so want to get an old ducati.. but honestly, I have too many problems with other drivers when in a car, it makes me far too paranoid to ride a cycle

GlennS wrote: ducati? Any idea if you can get parts for an old 350 scrambler? My grandfather has one thats been sitting in his garage for years. Dont know when it ran last but it sure is a good looking bike and is all in one piece.

oh yeah, we have plenty of vintage racers and collectors on the board. 350 is a great vintage race bike. best thing to do is sign up on the board and ask away. We have a guy that races one in AHRMA and does really well.

mad_machine wrote: I so want to get an old ducati.. but honestly, I have too many problems with other drivers when in a car, it makes me far too paranoid to ride a cycle

couldn't agree more, thats why most of our outings are at the track either racing or doing track days. The safest $200 you'll ever spend.

I love my bike, and am not afraid to kick a car that enters my lane. Plenty of us on the board ride. Heck, my Miata has been sitting idle for over a year. Yes, I said it.

Me too!

I ride a Sportster and I'm planning a pseudo-cafe racer build for it. Quarter fairing, rearsets, clubman bars, dirt tracker style pipes, and some suspension bits. Just need to save the money and get to it.

CrackMonkey wrote: Me too! I ride a Sportster and I'm planning a pseudo-cafe racer build for it. Quarter fairing, rearsets, clubman bars, dirt tracker style pipes, and some suspension bits. Just need to save the money and get to it.

dirt track racing is awesome,

mistanfo wrote: I love my bike, and am not afraid to kick a car that enters my lane. Plenty of us on the board ride. Heck, my Miata has been sitting idle for over a year. Yes, I said it.

Can't you get banned for that around here?

Yep, I ride a Suzuki GS500F myself.

Count me in as well. I've got a 85 Honda Interceptor 500. It runs great, but I've been putting off giving it some love. (oil change, tires, tune-up)

Maybe this weekend...

J.G. just bought a new Ninja 250 to commute in. Pretty cool bike.

J.G. just bought a new Ninja 250 to commute in. Pretty cool bike.

And he's totally slackin' on the ride reports...

billy3esq wrote:

mistanfo wrote: I love my bike, and am not afraid to kick a car that enters my lane. Plenty of us on the board ride. Heck, my Miata has been sitting idle for over a year. Yes, I said it.

Can't you get banned for that around here?

I'm buying a second Miata, so that should keep the ban from taking effect. The '97 will become something of a track rat. It sort of is at this point anyways.

Back to bikes though. I'm going to look at an Enfield in early August. Yeah, slow, old, simple, but it should be interesting to ride on the nearby Skyline Drive and Blueridge Parkway.

billy3esq wrote:

mistanfo wrote: I love my bike, and am not afraid to kick a car that enters my lane. Plenty of us on the board ride. Heck, my Miata has been sitting idle for over a year. Yes, I said it.

Can't you get banned for that around here?

we don't ban members for not taking care of their bikes either but sometimes we give em a good ole fashioned internet beating. you know the type.

I have an '83 GS650G that is a project, but now I finally have money, so I might just finally get it running. I miss being round Ducatis, I pray to the desmo gods

neon4891 wrote: I have an '83 GS650G that is a project, but now I finally have money, so I might just finally get it running. I miss being round Ducatis, I pray to the desmo gods

you are welcome to come hang around anytime. Just bring your sense of humor, some of my guys are a little rough around the edges with their vocabulary.

http://www.coastalducaticlub.org/forum/

Gearhead_42 wrote:

J.G. just bought a new Ninja 250 to commute in. Pretty cool bike.

And he's totally slackin' on the ride reports...

Yeah, well... sorry.

After about 400 miles I'm stll quite pleased. I got a set of Nelson Rigg saddle bags for it which greatly increase its usefulness without dorking it out too much. I put a set of 1" bar risers on which put me into as close to a perfect riding position as I've ever had on a bike. Honestly, ergonomically speaking this is by far the best bike I've ever had.

The engine continues to break in nicely. Every ride feels a little snappier, and the midrange between about 5 and 9000rpm is just a delight. There's enough response where even if you get caught a gear too high you don't instantly become a hazard.

For a 320lb bike, it also goes down the freeway in a very stable manner. The light weight and sporty demeanor give the chassis an urgency, but it's not what I'd consider nervous. It's incredibly maneuverable and easy to place. Honestly, I would feel comfortable being a novice at a track day on this bike, which is something I couldn't have said about any of my previous bikes.

My only complaint so far—and it's mostly specific to my situation—is the gearing. For someone who lives in town, it's near perfect. But my commute is 10 miles on open surface highway (65-75mph), 5 miles on slightly more crowded surface highway (45-55) and 5 miles in town. For my ride, I think it could benefit from slightly longer legs, so I've ordered a 15T front sprocket to replace the stock 14T. For someone who doesn't see much highway, though, I wouldn't touch a thing.

First fill up was just over 60mpg, and that was break-in mileage (on and off the throttle), so I'm expecting pretty good economy overall.

I saw a guy on another one yesterday with a TBR pipe and it sounded seriously cool. That may have to get added to the short list.

jg

JG Pasterjak wrote: I saw a guy on another one yesterday with a TBR pipe and it sounded seriously cool. That may have to get added to the short list. jg

Told you

You are hereby forgiven for any slackitude... great ride report! Sounds like my commute, but I have an extra 10 miles of highway- so a 15T is definitely in the cards. The other item I'm figuring on is a set of adjustable levers to fix the ridiculous clutch pull. I also understand that the Galfer stainless brake line upgrade is hugely effective.

Keep it rubber side down! Dan

I actually don't mind the clutch pull. It's gotten better with time (it was a little rough when it was brand new). Actually, it's nearly identical to the KX250F, so it's kind of cool having two bikes with similar control feel.

The front brake lever is a minor annoyance. The pull seems needlessly long. Response is good (honestly, this bike has the best brakes I've ever used on a two-wheeler), but the lever seems to travel further than it really needs to. I'd settle for a little harder pull for less travel. Honestly, it's a very minor gripe, though. An adjustable lever would probably largely solve the problem.

jg

try bleeding the brakes if you haven't already. That usually eliminates a lot of travel on the levers.

i ride a 94 yamaha street fighter contraption.