[hypermattard]

I just picked up my new white ss on Saturday and took a few rides, now I'm headed down to Ducati Island at the WSBK races at laguna this weekend. My plan is to travel down the coast, maybe spend tonight in the fortuna area, then be in salinas for the race by friday. I fittted an old tailbag i had for my triumph speed triple, it's not perfect, but it fits pretty good and looks good on the bike. I also have a fanny pack i'm wearing, but not much storage at all, mostly just socks and underwear.

 

[psyopper]

Ride smart, make good decisions, and keep the rubber side down.

 

[MasterMind]

Now I'm not familiar with these distances, so how long of a ride will that be?

 

[psyopper]

Saw your Red Room photo, I missed that it was a white bike! Extra congrats! And you can ignore my TBR comments.

 

[hypermattard]

Well i made it to Fort Bragg CA before i decided to stop for the night. Good news, my 600 mile run-in period is over with. I have an oil change scheduled for tomorrow at Marin Speed Shop. I fell in with a couple of guys from BC headed to ducati island too, and rode with them for a while, they wanted to keep going, but i was getting sore and tired. We too CA rt 1 from leggett over to the coast, wow that was a fun section of road. lots of dust in the downhill lane, but still, lots of fun, i highly recommend. im not really a stop and take pictures guy, but we stopped when we hit the ocean again, one of them too pictures, said he would email them. The bike ran great, no problems, as it should be.

 

[hypermattard]

Well, I made it to my hotel in Salinas. The pacific coast highway is absolutely incredible, worth the trip just for the ride. I promise, i'll take pictures from the island over the next couple of days. How do i post them here, not just the thumbnail like i did above? Had my first oil change from Marin Speed Shop, in and out in about an hour, no complaints. Also had my shift lever lowered a little, as i was getting a lot of false neutrals. I am kind of looking forward to not having a long day in the saddle tomorrow, i'm tall and my legs are kind of sore. I can't complain though, one of the guys i was riding with is on an 1198, his wrists must be killing him.

 

[Ventura17SS]

Well, I made it to my hotel in Salinas. The pacific coast highway is absolutely incredible, worth the trip just for the ride. I promise, i'll take pictures from the island over the next couple of days. How do i post them here, not just the thumbnail like i did above? Had my first oil change from Marin Speed Shop, in and out in about an hour, no complaints. Also had my shift lever lowered a little, as i was getting a lot of false neutrals. I am kind of looking forward to not having a long day in the saddle tomorrow, i'm tall and my legs are kind of sore. I can't complain though, one of the guys i was riding with is on an 1198, his wrists must be killing him.

Glad to hear your experience has been good so far. I was hoping to ride up the coast to Monterey this weekend, but have to work Saturday. Forza Ducati!

 

[psyopper]

I meant to mention - while you're down there you should check out Laureless Grade Drive, it's a neat little road across the street from Laguna Seca, and maybe 1/2 mile East on 68. It's where the locals go to have fun, and where I got some of my best lessons when I was learning how to ride.

 

[hypermattard]

I meant to mention - while you're down there you should check out Laureless Grade Drive, it's a neat little road across the street from Laguna Seca, and maybe 1/2 mile East on 68. It's where the locals go to have fun, and where I got some of my best lessons when I was learning how to ride.

Thanks for the tip, i def saw a sign for that, will check it out.

Friday at the races was cool, Ducati atop the time sheets!!! Overall, it was not too crowded, i mostly wandered around trying to find good places to watch from. At one point, i was at the exit to one of the turns, guys were getting very squirrely coming out in the afternoon session. I got a picture of this old ducati on the island, somebody told me it was a '58, i think.

 

[Ventura17SS]

A fine day for Ducati fans at Laguna Seca. Here's hoping Chaz can pull off the double tomorrow!

 

[hypermattard]

A fine day for Ducati fans at Laguna Seca. Here's hoping Chaz can pull off the double tomorrow!

H3ll's yeah! Some pictures for you guys. If one of the mods knows how to properly post these...

Also, I did get a chance to ride laurel's grade, it was good, lots of traffic on raceday, but i got a pretty clean run up the back, heading back to the track.

 

[hypermattard]

Sorry for the double post,but i forgot one...

 

[psyopper]

Sorry for the double post,but i forgot one...

No apologies necessary. Sharing is caring!

 

[hypermattard]

Well, i start my trip back up to the pnw this morning. I'm thinking im going to take the slab up to petaluma, then cut over to rt 1, that road was too much fun!!! Ducati isand was a lot of fun. I met some cool people, actually got a chance to sit and eat lunch with a bunch of Ducati NA guys, they have lots of good advice to offer on bikes, and you can tell they are all enthusiastic about riding motorcycles. Too bad sundays race turned out to be a kawi parade, but i think they were pretty pissed to get beat on saturday. The ducs are down on power compared to some of the other bikes, but Chaz put in a h3ll of a ride, you can tell he really wanted it. Have to think his injuries held him back a little on Sunday. Anyway, one more picture, most important of the weekend.

 

[Ventura17SS]

Well, i start my trip back up to the pnw this morning. I'm thinking im going to take the slab up to petaluma, then cut over to rt 1, that road was too much fun!!! Ducati isand was a lot of fun. I met some cool people, actually got a chance to sit and eat lunch with a bunch of Ducati NA guys, they have lots of good advice to offer on bikes, and you can tell they are all enthusiastic about riding motorcycles. Too bad sundays race turned out to be a kawi parade, but i think they were pretty pissed to get beat on saturday. The ducs are down on power compared to some of the other bikes, but Chaz put in a h3ll of a ride, you can tell he really wanted it. Have to think his injuries held him back a little on Sunday. Anyway, one more picture, most important of the weekend.

Have a great ride north. If you haven't already hit the road, I suggest the 101 to the 85 west, to the 280 north, which ends and dumps onto 19th Ave. thru SF to the Golden Gate. Much better than staying on the 101 and the long slog through downtown.