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september 2005, near Lyon (France). I did a 3000 kms/5 days trip on the Ghezzi and LOVED IT so much I couldn't bear ride the year following...This pic was taken by a friend (he currently rides a 998s and you can all go vomit now as he has put down a deposit on a Ducati RR...) there's just something magic about the long sweeping turns of the french motorways near Montpellier...

i guess "son" is (one of the) logical way to go ?

LOL. My spaminator blood was rushing like crazy when I saw the first line welcome Dan !

it's really hard to compare, unless you're sticking to the bone of air-cooled twin clylinders italian motorbikes...The engines aren't responding the same way, the way it deals with turns, the designs aren't there to please the same memories or feelings, the amount of maintenance isn't the same either The new 1000 engine is fast indeed and the introduction of IE in Ducatis DID solution the dreadful ice carbing problem but the ferocity (and the sublime sound) of 41mm Dell Ortos is no more.. I love ducati's, I had two, and i will get a cheapo 999 once the 1098 is out there and all the people with latest generations' Bologna stallions part with them

that puts the level of danger on a race track in a much different perspective ! doesn't it go wrong sometimes ?

this is insane, but i'm afraid many politicians/security freaks do and will want even more control on their "sheeps" whereabouts...

Maybe...But still I'm surprised at the lack of "market aggressivity" of Piaggio when you see that Ducati is selling its (all sold out already..) 1098 a mere 3.000 €uros less in the US than in Europe. I'm pretty sure if Piaggio had "half the balls the Bologna factory has"*, the MGS02 would already be a reality, the 1200 S would be already gracing the US roads and "x" more riders would have been buying a Geese... * it might be only a "break or pass" move from Bologna. Heck, they even have their workers on strike for the moment..

welcome ! Nice bike, and your friends' with his Quat D isn't bad either !

last day of testing at PI: >1. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 29.52 secs 2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 29.72 secs 3. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (Brid) 1min 30.15 secs 4. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (Brid) 1min 30.21 secs 5. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac d'Antin MotoGP (Brid) 1min 30.21 secs 6. Alex Barros BRA Pramac d'Antin MotoGP (Brid) 1min 30.43 secs 7. Carlos Checa SPA Honda LCR (M) 1min 30.46 secs 8. Toni Elias SPA Gresini Honda (Brid)) 1min 30.50 secs 9. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (Brid))1min 30.72 secs 10. Marco Melandri ITA Gresini Honda (Brid) 1min 30.80 secs 11. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (Brid) 1min 30.80 secs 12. Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda (M) 1min 30.97 secs 13. Kenny Roberts USA Team Roberts (M) 1min 31.10 secs

Paul, there are some really interesting calculations and infos and mind blowing theories on http://www.kropotkinthinks.com/ but basically these were some of the times: >Hayden: Race FP2: 1:30.471 Test day 2(yesterday): 1:30.610 Capirossi: Race FP2: 1:30.310 Test day 2: 1:30.340 Hopkins: Race FP2: 1:31.719 Test day 2: 1:31.650 Vermeulen: Race FP2: 1:31.846 Test day 2: 1:31.190 It looks like the deck has really been shuffled, and that's exciting: the HRC (who wanted the cc of the bikes to be dropped) hasn't got the edge they thought they would have, but then again they are the only ones to radically change their bike (from V5 to V4). I read a quite "funny" quote of Capirex, saying (it was in Sepang) set-up work was hard and make even harder cos the testers (Guareschi and some othe guys) were much slower than them so datas weren't complete enough now, i'm not a really fast rider but i know some very good ones, and I did a few track days with racers, and I was passed in places i thought you can't pass, and at speeds I thought were'nt safe in that spot. But they did it and it looked like business as usual where I was just battling to stay up I just can' imagine how much faster you can go when you're Ducati factory test rider, but it seems like, yes, there's a world of difference (in this case, Capirex said it was 1,5 sec slower on a lop. He was pissed )

well, she stroke during our European night or else I would have smithereen her to pieces

lol. She DOES covers many bases, sure

No, i haven't try the Griso altho i would love to ride, and probably own, a 850 (which looks better imho). As for wheelies, well, I did a few on my Calif T3, all you need is a few U-joints in stock, the desire to make something really silly and a few spectators. Back early Nineties, the brit' mag Fast Bikes had elevated the wheelie to some kind of Ultimate Bike Experience... But just like guns, it's a discussion I won't get into

yes, got me wondering too...And it does look like "powerweelies" ! ...Maybe these 1200 Sport have already the soon-to-come racing bits promessed ? it's look vaguely similar to the Spluga Pass, north of the Como lake.

on a Guzzi scale, this video is pure hoologanism ! Now, how long will it take the Piaggio big guys to put it down ? nice vid, strange late apexes sometimes, and one of the rider nearly did us a Max Biaggi whelling on its second one, but it's cool to see something else than the usual BMW crowd oriented marketing remashed offering.

just out of curiosity: is that a free option ? Here, it costs +/- 600 $ to have a personalized plate, and the choice is small: bikes can only have 3 letters (W or M as first letter) and 3 numbers.... Mind you, i wouldn't mind a MGU 850 or WOT 916 ?

take me to your leaderrrrr great ride report, thanx a lot for sharing !

everything about music channels on TV is surreal...

here's an extract from French F2 Television news. The first two minutes are about the wreckage. (of course, it's in french)

it's here: in the Guardian

thanx Pierre. this is going to be such an exciting season there's an excellent blog made on a nearly day-by-day basis by an american mechanic working for the Pramac Team. It's fun and full of inside infos. His name is Liam and his blog is http://www.motoliam.com/

we passed three posts so allow me to sliiiide but the new Christopher Nolan movie (The Prestige) is awesome and features...David Bowie as Tesla.

i went to the Brussels Motorbike show and was hugely disappointed as the new models were few and far between... There was a small Guzzi area, with 6 or 7 bikes: Norge, 2 x Sport, a couple of Griso (yes, she looks very good in orange), a Breva and a Vintage. But no 8 valves altho it was said to me the Griso 8V will come out later this spring and no MGS01 on the stand altho you can buy one if you want. But no plans for an MGS02 altho it seems itoopid the factory won't make a sportier bike than usual if they got the engine for it...What's interesting: the MGS01 isn't mention in the brand new, and quite luxurious, MG booklet. On the contrary, the emphasis is on the Norge more than anything else. While the motto on the cover is "Una Storia Importante", the word "racing" isn't mentionned once in the book ...Seems like the Piaggio guys have make up their mind about how they want to present Mandello... Except that, the 1098 is splendid and is very small indeed, the Triumph 675 is a gorgeous bike, the Voxan Black Magic just does that to me, the HD XR 1200 looks good. Most of the other bikes are just plain boring to me, with the exception of the ZX6R The coreans and the chinese are coming up stronger every year, and they are learning a bit more every year. They are now fine with the small capacity bikes, they start now with the medium size ones and ne day soon, they'll unveil a multi 1000 cc for a mere 5.000 €uros and everybody will suddenly wake up... oh, the Cagiva 500 Mono will be out on the streets from June. Now, that's a sexy proposal...

funny you mention that, some collector in France wants to trade my ghezzi for a Ducati 851 SP3 or a Senna he has. i won't ply.

Georges: -"here's the deal, Romano: Silvio used to go all the way ! Romano, come back, come baaaack"