For those enjoying sport bikes in FIRE

[serie1926]

What an awesome machine!

Ducati unveils the exotic - and stunningly beautiful - 1299 Superleggera | Sport Rider

 

[eytonxav]

While certainly not a drag bike, wonder what it does the 1/4mile in (8-9 sec)?

The electronics and stability controls look impressive.

 

[Ronstar]

Very nice! My nephew has the 1299 Panigale. He loves it - puts more miles on the bike than on his car.

 

[sengsational]

If it weren't for having to deal with cars, I might like to ride. But I had a graphic reminder on the way back from Florida a couple of days ago of how bad it could get....a guy being loaded on a stretcher in the median and his machine was a quarter of a mile down on the right shoulder. Really scary to think of how that might have happened.

 

[travelover]

If it weren't for having to deal with cars, I might like to ride. But I had a graphic reminder on the way back from Florida a couple of days ago of how bad it could get....a guy being loaded on a stretcher in the median and his machine was a quarter of a mile down on the right shoulder. Really scary to think of how that might have happened.

I agree, I rode until I married my first wife, who was an ER nurse. She had some rather unpleasant stories to convey.

 

[Dawg52]

As they say....no guts no glory. Give me one of these.

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

Beautiful bike. Whenever I get the urge to buy another bike (which happens regularly), I force myself to go to Youtube and search for "motorcycle crash gopro", and watch for 30 minutes. Having been in my share of bike accidents in the long distant past, this usually helps me tamp down the urge, at least for a while. Ah, the memories. I didn't die, but I'm sure my bones would not be so forgiving these days.

 

[Bamaman]

I was talking to a cycle enthusiast yesterday at my daughter's house. He put 38K on one bike, 48K on another and 36K miles on another.

And he had 2 operations on his legs last year--4 years after the big accident. He is finally able to walk--at about 50%.

The truth is that there are very, very few people in the world that are capable of handling the Ducati 1299 mentally or physically. They're just a work of art--no compromise machine in every way.

 

[Walt34]

I agree, I rode until I married my first wife, who was an ER nurse. She had some rather unpleasant stories to convey.

DW's sister is a retired nurse, although she didn't work in the ER. When I bought my bike seven years ago (since sold) she told me they called them "donorcycles".

I did a lot of reading about motorcycle riding safety. One of the more impressive books was David Hough's Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well. In the book he gives a lot of coverage to the Hurt Report, a highly detailed study of motorcycle accidents. Some of the finding are surprising, such as that fully 50% of fatal single-vehicle motorcycle accidents involved alcohol. Even in high school I had better sense than that!

There are a lot of little things that a rider can do to lessen the odds of an accident, such as never staying in a car's blind spot, hanging back from the car in front so an oncoming left-turning vehicle has time to see you and the like.

I enjoyed having the bike and have the memories, but at this stage I won't heal as quickly as I did at 17, so that's the main reason I sold it. That and nutjobs on their cell phones.

 

[bld999]

The truth is that there are very, very few people in the world that are capable of handling the Ducati 1299 mentally or physically. They're just a work of art--no compromise machine in every way.

If by that you mean ride it to 100% of it's capability, I agree. Very few enthusiasts do that with any bike, but we don't let that stop our enjoying the machine in the myriad ways they can be enjoyed. Many purchasers of the bike in question will turn it into a garage queen, but that's their business. Others will have the chicken strips off the back tire in the first 100 miles of ownership.

 

[H2ODude]

Gave mine up about 6 years ago. Don't really miss it. Also don't ride bicycle on roads much. There are far too many people weaving and texting.

My primary safety rule when on motorcycle was to remember that EVERY other person out there had the sole goal to figure out how to kill me. Defensive driving extreme. Actually, worst scare was when in country and a big buck jumped across our path about 5-10 yards in front of us (DW on back) while doing 55 or so.

 

[travelover]

.........
I enjoyed having the bike and have the memories, but at this stage I won't heal as quickly as I did at 17, so that's the main reason I sold it. That and nutjobs on their cell phones.

I agree. I always rode like I was invisible and it helped a lot, but the problem is crazy, careless drivers that can be unpredictable.

 

[RobbieB]

Never owned a sport bike and never wanted to. Have had lots of "standards", one cruiser, 2 sport-tourers and a couple of dual purpose street-dirt bikes.

That Duc would scare me to death!

 

[Just_Steve]

That Ducati looks like a fun ride but I may need a step ladder to get on and off.

 

[Bamaman]

I had one sport tour bike for many years, but the family demanded I be grounded after our daughter was born at my age 38.

Now, my jollies come from a Waverunner and a couple of ATV's. It's not the rush a hot road bike brings, but it's all we have.

 

[Walt34]

That Duc would scare me to death!

Same here. That's a flat-out racing bike with street-legal lights and a license plate holder.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I wonder if it'll be like the 1199 with a custom-sized rear wheel that can easily need replaced at 2800-3200 miles.

Beautiful bikes. I love that dry clutch sound.

I've got Ducati tastes on a Triumph budget.