Motorcycles

[VaderDave]

We can ride year-round here (Sierra Foothills) but lately all the smoke from the wildfires has made going outside less than appealing.

 

[gnatty8]

Suck it up bro. You need to get out early in the morning and get home by early afternoon. I'm in San Antonio so it does get humid here but nothing like south east Texas. Are you in the valley?

Worse, Houston.

 

[gnatty8]

We can ride year-round here (Sierra Foothills) but lately all the smoke from the wildfires has made going outside less than appealing.

Yeah, I envy that for sure. I found riding year round at least possible in Tennessee, since there was always at least a few days even in winter months, that were warm enough to ride. I still do get out a few days a month, but almost never for more than 30 minutes at a time, since that's about the length of time it takes for me to be caught in a traffic jam, sweating ****** off, wondering why in the **** did I ever move back here.

 

[michaellosauro]

Worse, Houston.

I'm slated to move to Houston from upstate NY soon... This worries me.

 

[John Doe]

It should . . .

 

[gnatty8]

I'm slated to move to Houston from upstate NY soon... This worries me.

Good and bad. Probably more "cultural" opportunities like museums, art galleries, music, food, etc. in Houston than in upstate NY and to be fair, you won't miss the winters. Summers you will find pretty damned oppressive. If you like the outdoors, Hill Country will be a pretty poor substitute for the wilds you see where you are now.

 

[gnatty8]

So after a 3 year hiatus, adding a Triumph back into the garage. Bought a 22' Goldline Speedmaster. Beautiful and classic bike. Plan to throw some bags and a windscreen on this one and make it our long haul ride. We have been wanting to ride out to West Texas for years now, and I suspect this is the year..

 

[VaderDave]

It looks like Ducati will be revealing the Desert X tomorrow. If it's like the prototype and the pictures I've seen, it looks like a good contender in the midsize ADV segment.

 

[gnatty8]

So after a 3 year hiatus, adding a Triumph back into the garage. Bought a 22' Goldline Speedmaster. Beautiful and classic bike. Plan to throw some bags and a windscreen on this one and make it our long haul ride. We have been wanting to ride out to West Texas for years now, and I suspect this is the year..

So update on this one. Last minute BS with dealer adding unagreed upon fees (basically just more Covid-driven gouging blamed on supply chain/shortages) and markup on extras rubbed me the wrong way, and I walked. The goods news is I test rode an R-Nine-T Scrambler, loved it so much, picking it up today. Definitely a bit of a detour from the bikes I've ridden all these years - which have been exclusively Harley Davidson and Triumph, but man, that bike was a thing of beauty.

 

[michaellosauro]

So update on this one. Last minute BS with dealer adding unagreed upon fees (basically just more Covid-driven gouging blamed on supply chain/shortages) and markup on extras rubbed me the wrong way, and I walked. The goods news is I test rode an R-Nine-T Scrambler, loved it so much, picking it up today. Definitely a bit of a detour from the bikes I've ridden all these years - which have been exclusively Harley Davidson and Triumph, but man, that bike was a thing of beauty.

Those scramblers look incredible.

 

[gnatty8]

Those scramblers look incredible.

They sure do. Here is a pic of the bike I took at the dealership on Saturday. Can't wait to get this thing out on the road though!

 

[VaderDave]

Congrats! We have a Ducati Scrambler that we like a lot. The R Nine T seems like a great bike as well.

Any thoughts on the newly announced Ducati Desert X? It looks like Ducati is actually going to get serious about having a decent adventure bike.

 

[gnatty8]

Congrats! We have a Ducati Scrambler that we like a lot. The R Nine T seems like a great bike as well.

Any thoughts on the newly announced Ducati Desert X? It looks like Ducati is actually going to get serious about having a decent adventure bike.

Thanks! Hadn't heard of the Desert X, but not a major fan of adventure bikes. Then again, I wasn't a major fan of the Scrambler until I rode it, so I'll take a look see lol

 

[VaderDave]

Thanks! Hadn't heard of the Desert X, but not a major fan of adventure bikes. Then again, I wasn't a major fan of the Scrambler until I rode it, so I'll take a look see lol

Yeah, it definitely depends on the kind of riding you want to do. ADV bikes are great if you want to do long distance rides mixed in with some dirt roads, but if you only ride on the street there are lots of better options. I have a three-day ride through Death Valley scheduled for late February, so an ADV bike is a good option for that.

 

[brokencycle]

The guys I ride with mostly ride adventure bikes. One has a KTM Super Adventure and a couple others have Africa Twins. I ride a 2005 Buell Lightning, so they don't mind going on the occasional gravel road. They have traction control, ABS, etc, etc.

I ******* hate them.