OneWheelDrive.Net

The Monster 696 Test Blog – Ambitious Undertakings

Sometimes I wonder if I’ve bitten off more that I can chew. For our Monster 696 review, we’re attempting to do a proper video review. We’re not talking some guy who brings his helmet cam to a press launch, but something similar to what we do for the car side with OutDrive.ca. The thing is…

The Monster 696 Test Blog – One of Four

Our Monster 696 is one of four in North America, air freighted in for display and showcase it’s shocking that the folks at Ducati trust us with its care. True, certain threats on my life were made should anything go wrong, but I’m not out to abuse the privilege. Technically at this instant we’re ripping…

Gary Eagan and the 1098 S vs. Cannonball

OneWheelDrive.Net contributor and long distance rider Gary Eagan is at it again, and this time he’s taking on one of motorsport’s most notorious challenges, the Cannonball Run. If that isn’t intriguing enough Gary won’t be riding a soft continent crossing tourer, no it’s the Ducati 1098 S for him. Oh, and there’s a little matter…

OMG! A Monster!

We don’t normally do teasers, but we’re pretty excided here at OneWheelDrive.Net, we’re getting a chance to test one of the first Monster 696s in North America. We’re not talking about a guided and scheduled to the nines press launch either. This Monster 696 has been air-freighted from Italy and that gives us a unique…

2008 BMW F650GS – Exceeded Expectations

Worldwide BMW has engineered a moto-media furor over the upcoming F800GS, a bike that is flying off virtual showroom floors with a popularity matching air, or water, or coffee. In that hubbub the F800GS’s sibling, the F650GS, has been all but forgotten in the media’s glare. The thing is this unpretentious offering could be BMW’s main event.

2007 BMW R1200R – Bloody Gouts of Torque

Almost every bike has a one defining element, something that differentiates it in a crowded market place. Occasionally that’s luscious looks, cosseting comfort, prodigious power, outstanding handling (okay, I ran out of alliteration there); with the BMW R1200R you only have to dig as deep as that first good pull of the throttle. There it…

Horsepower and Happiness – The Wrong Equation?

At the Vancouver Motorcycle show, I glanced over the ZX-14, 2008 Hayabusa and B-King and set up a date with the Ducati 1098 R for later in the year. To a one the horsepower figures are astounding, driven upwards by a market with the “more is better” philosophy. I’ve some bad news for consumers and…

2007 Benelli TNT 1130 Cafe Racer – A Spartan Warrior’s Soul

The woman in the silver Nissan Xterra, swathed in west coast urban adventurer garb, looks on gape-jawed as the bike slides up parallel. The bike moves forward slightly and the Xterra edges alongside again blocking traffic. Consideration for a bike in Vancouver? No, this is something else. The driver’s window whirs down and the woman,…

A Life in 66.6 Mile Increments Part 5 – A Matter of Necessity

Will the marine layer ever relent? Into Crescent City the “jumps” have been lengthened to the 1098S’ maximum safe range, 120 miles, out of necessity. In response, my body is betraying me. That’s making it hard to keep a positive attitude.

A Life in 66.6 Mile Increments Part 4 – 80 Miles

I’ve made navigational errors before, tons of them, but this one feels profound. The fog is so dense I can hardly make out the cat’s eye reflectors on the road in the 1098S’s projectors and we’re reduced to near walking pace, down a road with no discernable name cloaked in 10 feet of visibility.

A Life in 66.6 Mile Increments Part 3 – Here There be Turkeys

L.A. … The 1098S slices northwards on the 405 out of Irvine between columns of traffic trudging forwards like workers in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Even with the Ventura luggage, I’m the widest thing on the bike – my shoulders inches from SUV mirrors as we split lanes. The 1098S is due in Portland 3-days from…

A Life in 66.6 Mile Increments Part 2 – The 1098GT

“They took my Allen keys from my at security,” on the phone photographer Kevin Miklossy sounds disgusted, “you need a 6mm and a 3mm. Does the Ducati toolkit have them?” I laugh, “You’re joking right.” The 1098S toolkit philosophy is one of insert gold card and swipe. Kevin is flying to meet me with another…