2/3/01 Went for a nice bike run with some friends on Ortega Highway in California. Nice day, although a bit crowded (traffic is not that much of a factor on a bike, fortunately ;). There is a side road near the summit where we sometimes play away from the majority of Toyota-driving citizenry. This time we shot some video (the file is 1.0M and is one of the less incriminating clips).

3/4/01 I've been experimenting with my new Sony digital camcorder in various vehicles. It's tough to devise camera mounts that isolate vibration - I'm not quite done with the development yet. Below is a test clip (3.7M) from the Ducati in California:

8/22/01 Even though I've had the 900 the longest of all my vehicles, it had never been on a track - until now. A month earlier some dimwit in an SUV ran over it in a parking lot, so the bike was being fixed and it wasn't clear if it was going to be ready in time. After a lot of hassles with figuring out a tow vehicle a U-Haul truck was procured, and I picked up the just-completed bike at the dealer on the way up to Laguna Seca in Monterey.

Following a very long drive and a sleepless night (this is getting to be an unfortunate pattern), a cold and drizzly morning awaited. The weather soon started to cooperate, however. I started out slow but as the day progressed the bike felt more comfortable and I was able to pick up speed a bit. Still nothing spectacular, with times just over the 2-minute mark (about 10-15 seconds off the pace that might be considered good for the 900). But a LOT of fun! the track is very challenging and entertaining, with a lot of elevation changes. A video (18M) shows one of the laps.

Since the bike was being repainted as part of the repairs, I decided to change the graphics a bit, to make the look a little cleaner. A couple things didn't get done quite right and it's going back in a week or so to finish up. Overall, I'm quite happy though (not so happy with having to pay $500 insurance deductible, but that is another story).

2/10/02 Just because I'm 1000 miles away from this bike doesn't mean I can't tinker with it.... Was playing around in Photoshop and decided that I want to have the seat redone in two colors, like this:

(compare with original picture above). The idea is to have the rear section of the seat match the bodywork color. The main thing that prompted this is the fact that after almost 6 years of ownership the seat material is starting to crack. So I contacted a guy who had helped me put leather on the Elise door panels (Jon at LeatherZ.com), and he agreed to take on the project. The seat was shipped to him and I am now awaiting the outcome.... Should be interesting and hopefully very cool

06/10/02 Well, some things take a little longer than planned and turn out differently... Finally got the seat done. It arrived on my birthday, and happily coincided with my first trip to California since January. Which is good. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to match the red color and the whole seat was done in black. Also, leather stretches differently than vinyl that was on there, so there are some wrinkles. It's not necessarily bad, but I haven't decided if I prefer the wrinkled or the smooth look. Perhaps I'll get it redone later.

7/29/02 Another visit to Orange County. It's great to have the bike sitting here waiting for me. Every time I ride it I'm surprised how much I enjoy it. The character is completely different from the 748. Whereas the 748 always wants to go faster and laughs at me every time I take a corner at less than 8/10ths (which means it laughs a LOT on the street), the 900 is content to just cruise around with occasional bursts of fun, whether waving front wheel in the air or skimming footpegs half-inch from the ground. Also, lane splitting being legal in California the bike is awesome in traffic, threading effortlessly through the countless traffic jams. There are way too many people in SoCal, but the Ducati makes dealing with them more bearable. Still, after a few days, time to quit being part of the problem, become part of the solution and head on out. Nice place to visit but I'm glad I no longer live there.

09/20/02 Another California visit. Only used the 900 for commuting, but every time I get on it I'm reminded of what a cool machine it is. No, it's not the fastest out there but it is immensely enjoyable. And it renders traffic irrelevant, for the most part. Seeing the sea of cars backed up for half a mile in three lanes, and then just slicing through it like I'm a VIP with a get-out-of-traffic-jam-free card is very satisfying. My stated goal in life is to deal with the world on my own terms. The Duc is an excellent tool for that :)