DesmoDog

Given the concern regarding the warning stickers, I probably shouldn't go into detail on what effects the ECU reflash will have on the bike, especially in second gear.

For reasons that probably aren't too hard to figure out considering my username, the 270 degree crank was a big selling point to me. This bike is WAY off my normal buying habits, that was one detail that helped it make the cut.

I brought one of these home last week, just in time for ski season to start here in Michigan. It'll be about five months before I can ride it, so for now it's sitting in my basement shop looking for ways to spend my money. With 0.5 miles on the trip odometer (total miles still says 0) it's got a Quickshifter, upgraded front brake pads, Upmap unit & reflash, Swingarm spools, USB port, tail tidy, and various warning stickers removed. Oh sure, you shake your head at that one, but I've removed five so far and have four more to go. Not to mention various barcode labels and an incredible amount of yellow marks that indicate somebody gave that item attention at some point. It will have better tires put on it as soon as the seasonal sales start. Or maybe sooner if I get impatient. I even got to break out the 3d printer. In prep for trackdays I've printed a couple plates to capture the nuts on the mirrors so they can be removed without disturbing the fairing. I am also anxiously awaiting the release of an add-on wiring harness to move the front turn signals onto the headlight, like in other parts of the world. Because if I don't do that, I'll still have to remove that pesky panel to get access to the mounting bolts. Come on Aprilia, figure it out. You don't have to make attaching/removing things so piddly. I had an RS-R a few years back they used something like 37 long screws just to hold the airbox lid on. Annoying. It may also get an exhaust, another reflash, rear shock, and fork inserts too, but I think those will wait until I've actually ridden. Maybe not. In stock USA trim there are five warning labels visible from this angle alone. F'ing lawyers...

Eric didn't mention the fancy hotel was dog friendly. Americans spoil their dogs? Says who? By the middle of the trip I was a little nervous my tires weren't going to make it, especially the rear one. But I got home with a few hundred miles to spare on it. Well, sort of. Technically it wasn't to the wear bars but I replaced it anyway. There were signs. Before I left the bike had 2100 miles on it. Internet reports said these tires were good for 6500 miles and up. Well there were a couple reports of more like 3500 but some guys just can't have nice things. I figured I'd be at 4500 miles when I got home so no worries. This is at just under 4500 miles, I would have replaced them sooner had I been home. No, I could not recreate this photo with the new tire installed.

Um, er... My gosh can you believe it? I forgot I had an appointment to wash my dog, I guess I won't be able to meet you on Tuesday!

Redesign after redesign. I've been melting a lot of plastic around here lately, but I think I'm finally done - if this one needs to be stiffer it's got places to bolt braces to. Now to print it out in a decent material, but that's going to have to wait few days. I have way too many of these sitting around that became previous versions before the prints were even complete. Pay no mind to the yellow strap, it's just something I had sitting around. It'll be replaced before use.

Yes and no. Finicky little bastards if you ask me. I have them on my Super Light too, but also have a set of stock carbs under the bench for when I've finally had enough of their BS. Cold starts are an absolute bitch with them. I know it can be improved but fer cripe sakes a choke circuit would be nice. On a street bike anyway. They're easier to deal with on a track bike because you expect to be fiddling with one of those all the time. All that said, the way they "chirp" in use is kind of endearing, especially on a bike as unrefined as a 900ss... fits the character of the bike to a "T".

For various reasons I decided to remove the airbox on my trackbike and go with pod filters instead. That means I'd have to bend up a few plates to mount the coils and battery. A couple hours work once I went out and got the material and then figured out how/where to cut and bend it. But wait! How about using the 3D printer? Should only take a couple hours to draw something up and get it printing. And it did. For the first part. But the first part is never good enough. Long story short I've been doing numerous parts for the past few days and have ended up here. The demo part to prove the concept. Trash material, mock up only, not intended for actual use. The demo was sturdier than I expected, so I went further with it. Here's the modrl of the updated "final" design, awaiting details to hold the battery down. Can't do those until I put my Super Light away for the year and pull it's battery to use for mock up. That may happen today? So yeah, 3D printing parts that could be simple sheets of aluminum is what's been taking up way too much time today. And yesterday. And a day or two before that. Well, that and getting strapped down to a back board... I'm also doing medical training to be a ski patrol, and have been put on a back board about six times in the past few days. Fun times, fun times... the bitch of that is, it's only training to pass a test for certification - we don't actually use backboards in this county! Gotta know how to do it to be certified. Not done where I'll be patrolling. Alrighty then.

Persuaded the Super Light to fire up and headed out for a bimble with a friend on an 888 SPO. Back to the '90s! Beautiful weather and between the ride and a conversation we had I decided the SL is NOT going to get sold next spring. During this stop I got a text asking me to take some photos at a weddding that evening but before that my wife got us tickets to a show. So a busy day for me. Ok, fine, this all happened yesterday but I'm slow to post and who really cares when anyway?

It rides like a piece of history too! Put another 50+ miles on it this morning. Brought back memories. It made me start laughing at one point. Flatside carbs "chirp" under some conditions and they were at full chat in one corner. Between the rattles and clunks and then the chirping it just struck me as funny. No, really, it's SUPPOSED to sound like that. Not subtle, not refined, no excuses given. Loud and proud. Gotta love it.

At the start of last season I traded a basically new Moto Guzzi for a 30 year old Ducati. Long story. Anywhos, the Ducati had been sitting in a garage unused for 20 years and needed TLC. I jumped right in, hit a few roadbocks, and got it on the road just in time for the last "event" of the season. Truth be told, it has FCR flat slide carbs which are notorious for cold start issues, they have no choke. And this one had that issue in spades. If it sat for a week or so I'd dump raw gas into the airbox to get it to fire. Not all that convenient considering you have to remove the seat to lift the tank to get to the airbox... THIS year I was going to address that. I took it out of storage in the early spring, got it into the garage, and just never felt like screwing with it. I did get it to fire up without resorting to dumping raw fuel down it's gullet, but it was such a long involved process I didn't bother riding it. Cue much bitching about FCR carbs, arguing with FCR fanboys, and gathering info on what to do. Tore into the carbs once again, discovered one problem but so what I was already replacing that part anyway, and put it all back together. Fired it up. Looked like a success but ran out of time to test ride. Which brings me to my day today. Yeah I know it took me a while to get here. Trust me, that rambling only covers a small part of what went on along the way to get to today. So anyway, yeah, today. Today I took it on a 15 mile test ride and woo freaking hoo, it worked like a bike should. Well a 30 year old bike should anyway. This is my 4th Super Sport, I kinda like them. but I hadn't ridden one in years. A couple observations. After having only ridden a Street Fighter V2 these past two seasons the bike seemed very, um, how can I say it? Not refined. Holy crap nothing about this bike is subtle. The throttle response is immediate. Downshifts were fun. The exhaust doesn't sound as nice as I remember my earlier SS's sounding. I may have to start looking for a fake Termi system for it. (You can tell they're fake by the welds - they're too nice to be Termis...). The riding position isn't as bad as I remember - I must be thinking of my 996. I'm not going to tour on it any time soon but it wasn't ridiculous. The bike did everything it's supposed to do, about as well as a 30 year old bike will do it. A completely different ride than the Street Fighter. Dry clutch with the infamous rattle. Truly full floating brakes that clunk and rattle over bumps. Flat slides that chirp under the "right" conditions. A much more in your face sort of riding experience. No gear indicator, no traction control, no ABS, no gas gauge or cruise control... oh, wait... So yeah, I'm well chuffed as I think you fuzzy little foreigners say. Now of course the rain is coming but it will see more use soon. I put 75 miles on it last year. I'm shooting for 100 this year! It'll hit 8000 miles by 2025 at this rate! PS - that's a 1993 Ducati 900ss Super Light. A one year only model for the USA, only available in yellow. I've wanted one since I first saw one in the dealer back in '93.

My sister was concerned about getting to Denver for a concert tonight... but they were skiing 9" of powder at Copper Mountain this morning so there's that!

As a young kid I was trying to carve something with a dull knife. I pushed hard, the blade let go and I punched a rock or something. My reaction was to pull my hand back. At which point I stuck the blade in my eyebrow. Stopped the bleeding, cleaned it up, my eyebrow hid the cut so I never told anyone. Scared the crap out of me, I haven't tried to carve anything since. A few mm lower and it would have been lights out - in that eye anyway. Other stuff has happened over the years but that's the one that scared me the most. Probably because it was entirely self inflicted.

I'm sure you're doing it right. It's just that it won't vibrate like the Harley plugs do so you don't get the full treatment.

When I left Lincoln Nebraska Saturday morning last week it was below freezing. When I drove through there yesterday (afternoon) it was 80 degrees. In two weeks you'll probably be worrying about heat stroke on your way to Texas.