Ray
28-Jul-2023, 00:17
My 998r has gone to new owner after just over 20 years in my custody.:sniff: Some great memories of rides with friends and solo adventures in the UK and in Europe.:) Trips to WDW, the South of France, the TT, track days in the UK and a lap or two of the Misano circuit.
Ridden in all weathers including snow:eek: on the way to WDW going over the tops nears Val d’isere. Ignoring a road closed due to snow sign wasn’t a great idea, and after riding over some patches of snow 200 or so metres long, turning around and finding a different route seemed like a better idea.
Being welcomed to park up in all sorts of places that only a Ducati rider would in Italy and Monaco.:saint: Shared the roads and tracks with some great people and bikes, following an MV Augusta 500 round Donnington park getting bombarded by the exhaust sound was just one highlight.
Niall Mackenzie took the bike for a spin for TWO magazine, making far more use of it’s capabilities than I ever could.
The bike was far more at home and fun on long distance rides and track than it ever was around town or congested roads. Just over 800 miles in one day was the PB, Ashford (an overnight halt) to Nice, via the Eurotunnel.
Just short of 30k miles of riding in total, in some years nearly 6k miles, others zero miles. A good many a mile on DSC trackdays or regional rideouts in Yorkshire and beyond.
It got parked up for about 8 years, simply no time to use it, but just over two years ago it was woken up from its slumbers and recommissioned.
Had some great local rides out over the last two years or so with a mate who got himself a very inexpensive high mileage Ducati ST4. .
It was time to get something with a bit more upright riding position though. A Ducati UK provided monster S4rs was something I had ridden round cadwell park years ago and was a hoot to ride, the bike I told myself would perhaps one day be something that would replace the 998r as being for the more mature rider.:p But times change, the current top of the pile Ducati is a 240 bhp V4r,:astonished: but now the time has come, a Monster 1200 looks more attractive :cool: than an S4rs.
Not quite time yet to throw the towel in with Ducatis or motorbikes in general.
Ridden in all weathers including snow:eek: on the way to WDW going over the tops nears Val d’isere. Ignoring a road closed due to snow sign wasn’t a great idea, and after riding over some patches of snow 200 or so metres long, turning around and finding a different route seemed like a better idea.
Being welcomed to park up in all sorts of places that only a Ducati rider would in Italy and Monaco.:saint: Shared the roads and tracks with some great people and bikes, following an MV Augusta 500 round Donnington park getting bombarded by the exhaust sound was just one highlight.
Niall Mackenzie took the bike for a spin for TWO magazine, making far more use of it’s capabilities than I ever could.
The bike was far more at home and fun on long distance rides and track than it ever was around town or congested roads. Just over 800 miles in one day was the PB, Ashford (an overnight halt) to Nice, via the Eurotunnel.
Just short of 30k miles of riding in total, in some years nearly 6k miles, others zero miles. A good many a mile on DSC trackdays or regional rideouts in Yorkshire and beyond.
It got parked up for about 8 years, simply no time to use it, but just over two years ago it was woken up from its slumbers and recommissioned.
Had some great local rides out over the last two years or so with a mate who got himself a very inexpensive high mileage Ducati ST4. .
It was time to get something with a bit more upright riding position though. A Ducati UK provided monster S4rs was something I had ridden round cadwell park years ago and was a hoot to ride, the bike I told myself would perhaps one day be something that would replace the 998r as being for the more mature rider.:p But times change, the current top of the pile Ducati is a 240 bhp V4r,:astonished: but now the time has come, a Monster 1200 looks more attractive :cool: than an S4rs.
Not quite time yet to throw the towel in with Ducatis or motorbikes in general.