clocks/bandit/racing/nklr

[robertlmorgan@worldnet.att.net]

Hi gang, I just returned from 3 weeks in Italy. I had a blast. I strongly encourage anyone who has not gone there to do so now. The Euro is at rock bottom and everything is cheap. I will forgo the usual tourist rap about ancient Rome, The Vatican, the food and the wine (all fabulous) and get to the good stuff. The WOMEN and the MOTORCYCLES.(One can only look at so many stone butts and churches). Everything moves on two wheels in Rome. It is a major turn on to see all these beautiful women dressed to the nines blazing around on motor scooters...high heels, mini dresses, you name it, scooters rule. The motorcycles and scooters are parked 4 deep at the curb everywhere you go. I did not see one KLR the entire time. Lots of Transalps, Africa Twins, numerous large Yamaha dual sports I have never seen and Suzuki's also. I saw a DR 800 single in Milan. Biggest thumper I have ever seen (I know how that sounded, don't go there!). Lots of BMW's of all types and not as many Guzzi's as I expected. And yes the Varadero. As you might have suspected I stopped into several motorcycle shops as I traveled. With my one semester of Italian I found out lots of info. First off I was unable to ride one but did sit on a couple. Fits me perfectly at 6'4.5" tall. I am even more inclined to purchase one now. I spoke with two dealers, one in Milan and one in Bologna who would sell it out the door (no Italian Tax) for right at $9000. American dollars. The dealer in Milan said the Varadero is sold in Canada for 2001 which might make U.S. importation easier. I have not been able to varify this, maybe one of you knows? The Varadero and Africa Twin are both made in Japan. The Transalp and Dominator are both made in Italy, and were not regarded as highly by the Honda shop where I was, who even though they sold Aprilia's and Benelli's liked the Japanese stuff much better than their own. The Dominator is a 650 air cooled Dual Sport very similar to the KLR. I did not see the Capo Nord anywhere, but I returned with 2 issues of "Motociclissmo" magazine. This mag is very popular in Italy. It is the equivilant of "Italian Vogue" magazine for the biker crowd. One issue has a huge cover article on the Capo Nord and as I attempt to translate it I will post info. The other issue had a photo and small write up of the Diesel KLR, I will scan and post it as the jet lag wears off. While in Bologna we were blessed with a tour of the Ducati factory. They were very open to Americans touring there as the company is owned by Americans now. This was totally cool and free of charge. We walked the entire assembly line and engine assembly facility. In the engine shop we watched them assembling the engines for the super bike team. As you might suspect these units are different from the production units. Different case castings, different alloys, etc. They would not allow any photos in the plant but in the FABULOUS MUSEAM I shot about 70 photo,s, including some of the Ducati Elephant they sucessfully campaigned at Dakar some years back. Of course all of Fogarty's bikes were there. The other cool motorcycle event we witnessed (beside the fashion models on scooters...I'll never forget that) was the finish of the "Motogiro di Italia". This is a famous 6 day road rally that starts and finishes in Bologna, winding through the hills of Tuscany. This race had not been run for 44 years and Ducati has revived it in style. About a third of the hundred or so riders were riding new bikes, the rest were vintage Italian bikes mostly old racers. This race rolled through the countryside like the Tour de France bike race with people cheering on the side of the road and the police clearing the way. It was great! Unfortunately the camera was in the hotel room for this. We spoke with a woman rider in the race whose name we did not get. She was from Fort Lauderdale Fl. and riding a beat up Ducati 125 ( I think...could have been a 250) probably early 60's vintage. This lady was SO HIGH on the experience I could not believe it. She was not only the only female to ever finish this race she was the only female to ever ride in it. My helmet comes off to her. Speaking of chicks...the Budweiser Bikini girls can't hold a candle to the Ducati Girls in those leather pants WOWSER! gotta go for now Morgan

[InWoods13@aol.com]

In a message dated 6/16/01 12:14:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time, richardm@... writes: << Every time I read a review of the B600, the bike gets slammed for Suzuki forgetting to install the torque. All fingers point to the [uglier] ZR-7S. What makes the B600 the better bike? RM <-- in the market for a streetbike, sooner or later >> Sorry Richard, that Lunge I was talking about was of the Bandit 1200S. I've heard the same complaints about the 600, kindof buzzy & not the torque king of 600s for sure. Scott Sorrento, Fl