2004 Suzuki Burgman AN-400: Hello Kitty, Goodbye Dignity

I wind the throttle wide open as I round the corner, leaning my shoulders off for all I’m worth. The bike bucks and wallows a bit under me as I catch a compression bump, but the grip holds. The execution is near perfect, I slingshot around my prey in a questionably legal pass and rejoin…

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The NCR Millona – Quicksilver Beauty at a Standstill

It’s sublime. Even standing still it has the look of mercury in motion. At its heart a Ducati engine, the 1000 DS to be precise, the same engine that motivates the Multi-Strada, and that is where the resemblance pretty much ends. Because where the Multi-Strata is meant for “many roads”, this bike, the NCR Millona,…

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Ducati 999 – Learning Curve

I’m getting to live a dream, and at the moment it doesn’t matter.  Why?  Because when I last looked I was going 270kph down the front straightaway of Portland International Raceway.  And I, being a bit daft, didn’t keep an eye on the braking markers the last three times through – I got caught up…

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DNW2004 – A Day of Pompone and House

Dance and house music pump out across the vendor area, and in that alone you know this is a different type of motorcycle gathering.  Then, it starts, what was house is given a new beat, and then drown out completely by the “pompone”.  The thunderous cadence of L-Twins firing up on the “starting grid”.  This…

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2004 Ducati 999 – Hello God… Can I Borrow Your Bike?

I’ve just been through a series of corners on the Ducati 999, and I’m searching for words to describe it; heady, exhilarating, enthusiastic, invigorating, enlivening and inspired all leap to mind. Then I hit on it – it’s rapture.  The 999 is a quasi-religious experience, which makes sense; this bike was designed by the Italians…

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Road Fitness

There is the crunch of gravel under rubber, but this time it’s different.  I’m travelling under my own power and the rubber… it’s the sole of my runners and not a front tire as you might have expected.  It’s an experience I’m thankful for. Almost a year ago I had an accident that had the…

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Thunder and Lightning – the Buell XB12S and XB9S

The fuel injection light flicks off giving me the OK to fire up the Buell XB12S Lightning.  I thumb the ignition button and it shudders to life.  Which answers the first question people ask about the Buell, “Does it really shake as much as everyone says?”  The answer is, “Yes”.  At idle the Lightning XB12S…

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Shieldsak – Spare Shield Holster – Trick!

Sometimes I get the munchies, and those munchies demand to be satisfied. Every now and then it’s french fries I fancy. Occasionally it’s chips. Quite often I crave chocolate. More recently I find my stomach pining for pizza. All very well if you’re on foot, or in a car, but not so convenient for the…

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2004 BMW R1200GS – Taking the Streets

Who am I to turn down the offer to ride the newest BMW offering, the ground-up reworking of the GS theme, the R1200GS.  Especially when that offer involves cavorting about the streets of San Francisco in a riot of location shots and twisty roads.  Right off the top I can tell you this; there is…

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R1200GS – Beautifully Teutonic or Ungainly?

I was jazzed at the opportunity to test the new 2005 BMW R 1200 GS, but not particularly impressed by the choice of venue: Las Vegas.  I don’t really gamble and have a hard time sitting still through a stage show, though that last Siegfried and Roy show may have been interesting.  More importantly, I…

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