Let's see if I can get this right.  (And lunatic is accurate!)

Name: William
Location: between Richmond and Charlottesville.
Riding?: On and off, 50 years. 300,000+ miles. 8 Ducatis, 22 BMWs, a current Triumph T-100 EFi and assorted Maicos, Montesa trials, Rickman, etc.

Have been lurking a while and picking up useful tidbits and sending PM's to helpful members, especially "ducatiz" who appears to know where I'm coming from, (poor lad!).

Broke my shoulder 2+ years ago after retiring down here from Western NJ where I sold $$$ cars for 40 years, but from Georgia originally, so this countryside feels like "home", only better. The T-100 is a keeper but I've been missing my 600 Pantah as my arm and shoulder recover. As I can no longer bend that way nor have the endurance I once had, instead I started to check out new Monsters rather than a sport bike. (My last Ducati was one of the first 25 851s over here and was set up and chipped by Ferracci before he had the franchise.)

Rode a 696 at Duc Pond and got the general idea. Not for me, that one, but close enough to snag Donnie's next 796. Currently it is awaiting mods to ease the riding position for my shoulder and the dialing in the ride to be controlled but not jarring, given my left arm which gets tired if abused. All parts arrived today: Rizoma bar, Tech Spec pads, Ohlins DU 737, 14T, a custom Sargent seat, oh..., and did I mention, Pantah body kit from Bologna via DHL? 

Thanks for all the info so far!

In case you were wondering, this was my all-time fave!


And as you'll already know, Mark II should look roughly like this:


More later perhaps when Donnie can get around to it and I can haul my #%&# up there!

Welcome    I also ride a montesa trials bike in VA in addition to the street bikes.  I've been doing random MAVT and AMA D6 events as time permits (which isn't often) and am doing the ryan young class this coming weekend!

Are you going to the vintage days event at mid-ohio in a couple of weeks?  I'm thinking about heading up with the H1 and montesa...

Quote from: bikepilot on July 12, 2011, 04:28:54 PM
Welcome    I also ride a montesa trials bike in VA in addition to the street bikes.  I've been doing random MAVT and AMA D6 events as time permits (which isn't often) and am doing the ryan young class this coming weekend!

Are you going to the vintage days event at mid-ohio in a couple of weeks?  I'm thinking about heading up with the H1 and montesa...

Greetings!

Never competed in trials although I enjoyed a few Internationals when they were held in NY, RI or PA. My old job was a grind and hours for play were short. You might enjoy my son's eBay auction when my 348 was sold after moving down. http://www.wmsbrg.com/ebay/history/77montesacota348/

Sadly I have a medical issue which will keep me close for a few weeks but thanks for the suggestion. Maybe VIR sometime. Just don't expect me to keep most of you in sight anymore!  

If you are a dirt guy, follow my protege, Fred Hoess, who is headed to Finland next month, hoping to pick up his 16th ISDT/ISDE gold medal. For me he finished 2nd in Kalimantan on the 1996 Camel Trophy. Made of iron. He's a sweet guy until the flag drops. If you are in the way, you become the berm.  

Regards

Quote from: Curmudgeon on July 12, 2011, 03:20:04 PM
Let's see if I can get this right.  (And lunatic is accurate!)

Name: William
Location: between Richmond and Charlottesville.
Riding?: On and off, 50 years. 300,000+ miles. 8 Ducatis, 22 BMWs, a current Triumph T-100 EFi and assorted Maicos, Montesa trials, Rickman, etc.

Hello and Welcome.

It's good to see another Ducati in the area. Whereabouts are you located? I am in Midlothian, but like to ride around the backroads between Powhatan and Amelia. Every so often, I will wander around Goochland.

Sorry to hear about your shoulder.

Welcome - I'm another on of the VA folks - though one of the NoVA ones. There's a pretty big and active clutch of folks in CAM which is the local area section that, by default, would cover your area
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?board=20.0

Though it's centered around DC it's spread to VA Beach, up to Balto and there's some more westerly folks popping up recently too. So, welcome to that fold.

Sounds like you've had quite a collection - I'm sure if you collected up some photos of your bikes over the years you'll find an appreciate audience.

Quote from: ManaloEA on July 13, 2011, 05:25:46 AM
Hello and Welcome.

It's good to see another Ducati in the area. Whereabouts are you located? I am in Midlothian, but like to ride around the backroads between Powhatan and Amelia. Every so often, I will wander around Goochland.

Sorry to hear about your shoulder.

I'm in Goochland Court House but enjoy having lunch on the porch of the County Seat in Powhatan in nice weather. They do a decent Club. Send me a PM if you'd like to meet there any day but Sunday when they only do a buffet and are crowded.

My son, who lives in Bon Air, seems to know all the good roads out here. I'm a lot slower than he is these days. He's up and down 711 a lot. One of his faves is Cosby Rd. west of 522 all the way over to 45. Lots of options from there.

From here to Powhatan and back, I've been taking a fun 35 mile loop but usually try to stay within 10 MPH of the limit because I've noted a lot of Sheriffs cars at various times. Nice country around here for sure.

Recently I did a 170 mile loop out to http://dbbrewingcompany.com/ and back via Cumberland. That's near my max range for sure and by Cumberland, stopping for fuel, I needed a 1/2 break! Some terrific roads BTW and mostly empty!

I'm hoping I figured the set-up on this 796 right. Stock forward lean is 17 - 18 degrees and the Rizoma ought to get that to 12 which Donnie figures will be enough. My T-100 is at 7 and that's not a bother. The 18 on the stock 696 was painful. Worst (and expensive) case, a risrer would get it to 9 which is obvious no issue. Fingers crossed 12 is enough!!!

What do you ride, BTW?

Quote from: Sad Panda on July 13, 2011, 06:18:32 AM
Welcome - I'm another on of the VA folks - though one of the NoVA ones. There's a pretty big and active clutch of folks in CAM which is the local area section that, by default, would cover your area
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?board=20.0

Though it's centered around DC it's spread to VA Beach, up to Balto and there's some more westerly folks popping up recently too. So, welcome to that fold.

Sounds like you've had quite a collection - I'm sure if you collected up some photos of your bikes over the years you'll find an appreciate audience.

Thanks! Yes, ducatiz pointed out CAM to me but I rarely travel north of Frederickburg if I can help it. I do look at CAM occasionally. The Richmond thread seems pretty dead. Seems the local BMW club takes in most of the European marques.

On the 2nd Sunday of each month, weather permitting, there is "Bikes in the Bottom" at Poe's Pub ~ 9 - 12. Sometimes a large contingent of the Norfolk Ducati bunch appear. Not last Sunday however. At most ~ 5 Ducatis. Some really nice stuff though. You just never know.

As I'm used to Reno Leoni and FBF, only Duc Pond seemed to be close to the "real deal" down here. Quite a PITA distance from me. At least Winchester is a cute town. I'm done with big cities! Hoping to trailer the bike down as the first half of that ride isn't fit break in miles for any bike.

Regards! 

Quote from: Curmudgeon on July 12, 2011, 05:17:06 PM
Greetings!

Never competed in trials although I enjoyed a few Internationals when they were held in NY, RI or PA. My old job was a grind and hours for play were short. You might enjoy my son's eBay auction when my 348 was sold after moving down. http://www.wmsbrg.com/ebay/history/77montesacota348/

Sadly I have a medical issue which will keep me close for a few weeks but thanks for the suggestion. Maybe VIR sometime. Just don't expect me to keep most of you in sight anymore!  

If you are a dirt guy, follow my protege, Fred Hoess, who is headed to Finland next month, hoping to pick up his 16th ISDT/ISDE gold medal. For me he finished 2nd in Kalimantan on the 1996 Camel Trophy. Made of iron. He's a sweet guy until the flag drops. If you are in the way, you become the berm.  

Regards

Cool stuff.  Your Cota is far prettier than mine.  I have a well-used '01 315R.  I've met Fred very briefly a couple of times (ECEA events about a decade ago IIRC) and been passed by him more than a couple of times.  I can go fast in the desert, but I seem stuck in the B-class in tight stuff.  My wife works for Mark Spence - you may know him as well, he raced an ISDE and, I think, nabbed an enduro championship one year.

I did Vegas to Reno last summer for my post-bar trip and had a blast.  Ran it on an 11yr old XR650R I'd never ridden before with no chase truck and got 5th overall iron man - stoked!

Quote from: Curmudgeon on July 13, 2011, 08:37:57 AM
I'm in Goochland Court House but enjoy having lunch on the porch of the County Seat in Powhatan in nice weather. They do a decent Club. Send me a PM if you'd like to meet there any day but Sunday when they only do a buffet and are crowded.

My son, who lives in Bon Air, seems to know all the good roads out here. I'm a lot slower than he is these days. He's up and down 711 a lot. One of his faves is Cosby Rd. west of 522 all the way over to 45. Lots of options from there.

From here to Powhatan and back, I've been taking a fun 35 mile loop but usually try to stay within 10 MPH of the limit because I've noted a lot of Sheriffs cars at various times. Nice country around here for sure.

Recently I did a 170 mile loop out to http://dbbrewingcompany.com/ and back via Cumberland. That's near my max range for sure and by Cumberland, stopping for fuel, I needed a 1/2 break! Some terrific roads BTW and mostly empty!

I'm hoping I figured the set-up on this 796 right. Stock forward lean is 17 - 18 degrees and the Rizoma ought to get that to 12 which Donnie figures will be enough. My T-100 is at 7 and that's not a bother. The 18 on the stock 696 was painful. Worst (and expensive) case, a risrer would get it to 9 which is obvious no issue. Fingers crossed 12 is enough!!!

What do you ride, BTW?

I hear ya about staying within 10 of the speed limit. In the Midlo / Bon Air area, you are pushing your luck at 5 over. I'm not a long distance rider, I prefer to keep my rides around an hour at a clip, as I am just getting back into riding.

I have a red 696.

Quote from: Sad Panda on July 13, 2011, 06:18:32 AM

collected up some photos of your bikes over the years you'll find an appreciate audience.

Unfortunately, no. What was I thinking?! Didn't seem important back in the day. Only found the packet with that 600 SL not long ago and my son scanned a few on a flatbed. Here's one other from the same period, a 1978 R100RS Motorsport, pre-EPA, from the first batch. This had all of Pridmore's Superbike handling mods and a few other bits. It was fabulous at what it did but I sold it for a K100RT when the boy standing there told me that it was only comfortable over 100 MPH. 



My current cruiser is here. Nice, torquey, relatively smooth engine, but no "weapon" and over 70 MPH, rather tiring.



For what it's worth, here's my freshly uncrated 796 at Duc Pond pre-mod. Eye candy? 

Quote from: bikepilot on July 13, 2011, 09:52:36 AM
Cool stuff.  Your Cota is far prettier than mine.  I have a well-used '01 315R.  I've met Fred very briefly a couple of times (ECEA events about a decade ago IIRC) and been passed by him more than a couple of times.  I can go fast in the desert, but I seem stuck in the B-class in tight stuff.  My wife works for Mark Spence - you may know him as well, he raced an ISDE and, I think, nabbed an enduro championship one year.

I did Vegas to Reno last summer for my post-bar trip and had a blast.  Ran it on an 11yr old XR650R I'd never ridden before with no chase truck and got 5th overall iron man - stoked!

Fun! Fred is a really nice guy with a big heart. I recommended him for U.S. Camel Trophy Trials and gave him some basic LR 4WD driving instruction prior. A famous desert racer also made it to the trials but didn't have the smarts or toughness and mechanical skills to make the first cut. (He will be nameless. ) Not much Fred can't do. He even remodelled my old townhouse in NJ so that it would SELL. I owe him bigtime!!!

Recently I assisted (I hope) in getting him this "regular" job. He was tired of "feast or famine". So you may be seeing more of him! http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=45017

No idea who Spence is. I only knew riders who learned in the steep, muddy, rocky woods near my old house. Drew Smith comes to mind. They are all "Ridge Riders". http://www.ridgeriders.org/ I guess if you can endure that...

Good luck with the racing!

Quote from: ManaloEA on July 13, 2011, 10:26:06 AM
I hear ya about staying within 10 of the speed limit. In the Midlo / Bon Air area, you are pushing your luck at 5 over. I'm not a long distance rider, I prefer to keep my rides around an hour at a clip, as I am just getting back into riding.

I have a red 696.

Just glad to hear that you're not riding an 1198!  Send me a PM if you like to meet for lunch on a nice day. I'm only back in the saddle two years since breaking my shoulder. It's definitely been slowing me down. I'm hoping to pick up the pace a bit as I found your 696 so much easier to steer than my T-100. We'll see.

Regards,

Good stuff, I know Drew, though not well.  He did the suspension on my YZ125 and Husqvarna 250 in ~'99/00 when I was racing D7 harescrambles.

Quote from: bikepilot on July 13, 2011, 05:06:39 PM
Good stuff, I know Drew, though not well.  He did the suspension on my YZ125 and Husqvarna 250 in ~'99/00 when I was racing D7 harescrambles.

Small world! Next time you see Drew, ask him to tell you about the house in which he grew up. Hint: it was part machine shop, motorcycle shop and was on trails accessible from railroads tracks at the rear which went for 100+ miles without crossing a road. Drew and Fred grew up on these trails.

As a young teenager, Drew welded up a pinhole leak along a weld I developed on a ride. It was along a weld on an old alloy Maico coffin tank where it touched the frame backbone. Remember those? Not only did I make it home, but it held up for the duration. Glad to hear he's doing OK. I haven't seen him in about ten years.