Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > MotoGP and Helmet Advice Please

[luckywhiteheather]

For one reason or another I've pretty well not looked at this board for almost a year now but for some inexplicabe reason I started browsing again in the last week or so.

I have to say after getting over the initial indignation and surprise (not!) that ol' Vman had been banned I was soon once again consumed by the jolly old DSC banter.

In fact as I sit here and type this I have beside me the second reminder of my DSC membership renewal which to be honest I had more than half a mind to consign to the bin, but I have to say that the last few visits have convinced me to renew for another year and as of this moment in time my cheque is winging its way to Lizzie.

Anyway now that I've got that sentimenatl stuff out of the way I hoped perhaps I could draw on the collective brain-power of the DSC over two issues:

1. I'm looking to replace my 5yearold Arai Quantum F with a Tour-X model. Does anyone have any experience of one and know best price/place to buy one? 'BikersBargains web-site has them at a pretty attractive £239.99. Has anyone used this site and are they good/reliable?

2. I'm going to be in U.S. for most of July, California to be specific. Thinking about going to MotoGP at Laguna Seca. Has anyone here been and can give some pointers on the do's and dont's, etc, etc?

Cheers

LWH

[Felix]

Check the Race board for the Laguna Seca thread.

[JPM]

Well welcome back then firstly

Can't help you so much on the whole lid thing but can help on the Laguna thing...

Laguna Seca is based in a National Park from memory and lies near the coast of Monterey, I would guess that most of the hotels anywhere near the circuit would be fully booked by now, unless you're lucky enough to already have one sorted it'll be a drive in on the day.

When I went several years ago I luckily sorted a hotel out quite a while before hand and stayed somewhere between the circuit and the centre of Monterey, when we were checking into the hotel we got chatting with some American's obviously there for exactly the same reason we were and funnily enough they loved the stalker! getting back to the point they asked if we were going down to the wharf.... wharf I asked? Basically it's like going down to the centre of Douglas on TT week, thousands of bikes everywhere, really good atmosphere, well worth the trip in itself, they're all riding round like loons without any lids, gloves etc stupid but fun to watch them howl through the streets

Race day, well unlike the UK the queues weren't too bad maybe because we were close to the circuit, it was pretty foggy when we got there but soon the sun burns through, so firstly make sure you have enough goose fat to stop you cooking It's quite a big open circuit with good viewing from the open areas (start finish straight up on the banking, after the corkscrew going towards the start finish line). The corkscrew itself doesn't look as daunting in real life and viewing round there is fairly limited as all you can see is the corkscrew, plenty of tree cover though just in case it gets too hot.

The infield is great also, loads of shops and stalls, and plenty of bargains (UK/US Exchange rate etc), if you can get paddock passes they're well worth it simply because it's less crowded and you can get a good look at the bikes and have a few words with the riders (I expect this maybe different being a GP not WSB) there's no viewing area within the paddock though.

Food and drink are plentyful as you would expect.

We flew back the next day from SF and sat in the airport with BB, GSE and several others, sat on the plane chatting to Mrs Hodgson.

All I can really say in remember the goose fat! we drove down from SF in a convertible, by the time we got to Monterey we were toasted, nice drive back up highway 1 also

Enjoy

Oh forgot to add the yanks don't really seem to get into the whole swing of things that much, they all sit down and just watch the racing, no cheering or airhorns (thank god) but it is quite sedate compared to UK and Europe in that respect.

[Edited on 27-5-2005 by JPM]

[luckywhiteheather]

I confess that I've never looked at Race section but now I know at least you're going to Laguna Seca and it would appear have been many times before.
I've checked web-site and see that only 'general admission' tickets are currently available, everything else having been sold out months ago. Do you know if you can you get reasonable vantage points with these tickets particularly since I'll be taking along at least one of my three boys? Should I buy these in advance or am I certain to get in if I just pitch up on the day?
Sorry to bombard you with these queries but any help/pointers would be appreciated.

Cheers
LWH

PS Most of accommodation appears now fully booked in Carmel but I'm not checking out Monterey.

[domski]

Originally posted by luckywhiteheather
1. I'm looking to replace my 5yearold Arai Quantum F with a Tour-X model. Does anyone have any experience of one and know best price/place to buy one? 'BikersBargains web-site has them at a pretty attractive £239.99. Has anyone used this site and are they good/reliable?

I bought a brand new Quantum F in January from Banbury Motorcycles (I think) on Ebay for £189!!!! and RRP was £399 I believe.

May be worth a look.

[luckywhiteheather]

Thanks for that JPM.

As I said I'm now checking out accommodation in Monterey but from what you say about Wharf area that might be an ideal alternative to Carmel. Approx. how long does it take to get from SF to Monterey and then to race track? I've done drive as far as Montery/Carmel before but it was about 15years ago so my memory is slightly blurred.

Sounds like 'general admission' tickets might be OK too!

Ooohh it's all beginning to seem like a certainty now, middle son is definitely up for it, just have to break news to wife about slight interlude in the family holiday.

LWH

[luckywhiteheather]

Originally posted by domskidue

I bought a brand new Quantum F in January from Banbury Motorcycles (I think) on Ebay for £189!!!! and RRP was £399 I believe.

May be worth a look.

Had a look one-bay Domskidue but nothing doing there!

[JPM]

To be fair I got the paddock passes through a mate here in the UK he was and still is painting various WSB stars lids etc so it was all sorted before I got there.

Just been onto Laguna's site and downloaded a circuit map, you'll see a liberal sprinking of pink which should show you some good viewing areas, it's in it's own little bowl and the walk on the far side of the circuit up towards the corkscrew is a bit of a climb as you can see towards the middle are the stalls etc and the water feature, which may well be ducati island as it was for WSB. I never made it over to the last turn (11) which might also be a good spot to look from.

[JPM]

Originally posted by luckywhiteheather
Thanks for that JPM.

As I said I'm now checking out accommodation in Monterey but from what you say about Wharf area that might be an ideal alternative to Carmel. Approx. how long does it take to get from SF to Monterey and then to race track? I've done drive as far as Montery/Carmel before but it was about 15years ago so my memory is slightly blurred.

Sounds like 'general admission' tickets might be OK too!

Ooohh it's all beginning to seem like a certainty now, middle son is definitely up for it, just have to break news to wife about slight interlude in the family holiday.

LWH

From SF I'd give yourself about 3 hours, maybe more on the race day, I think it took us about 2-2 1/2 but that was mid afternoon the day before the races, by the time we passed the circuit towards Monterey there were more bikes coming out than going in. There are loads of small towns etc on Highway 1 or even off the main freeway in, although the whole Wharf thing really does add another element. I think our Hotel was about £100 for a night, not cheap but as with everywhere it's supply and demand

[Gizmo]

If you get stuck in Monterey for accomodation I'd try a bit further north, there is a Holiday Inn in Watsonville which is about 45 minutes away up that I use when I'm working in northern CA . Monterey has its own airport, America West or South West both fly into their AIR, you can also fly into San Jose to avoid hacking out of SF depending upon when and where you arrive in US and how long you wat to hire a car for. Its about 5 - 6 hours north of LA if you want to drive up from there.

Crowds will be much more reserved than UK.

Wharf is nice without the bikes too, we did our race team launch at the Aquarium during the Sea Otter MTB festival in 2001.

I was amazed when i ran out of cash one day at the circuit, found an ATM in the middle of a field