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*Liam's Wild Ride*

So while I was at Valencia, I had a chance to spend time with an old guru from Ducati. We spent some time checking out this other Italian Stallion together, and he concluded that it is a nice bike. His appreciation for the design of the bike can be summed up when he went back to his garage and sent out one of his mechanics to look at something on the MV. What could be that interesting? The handlebar clamps. I don't have a good picture of them, but the next time you see one of these, take a look under the top triple clamp at the "Rocketman" design of the bar clamps.

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Now I know this is an expensive bike to race, but Union Bike had three of them! All different paint schemes, and all appearing to run strong. MSRP in the states? Expensive. MSRP in Europe? More Expensive! I salute MV Agusta for going racing, which is the heritage of this brand. There are so many rumours flying around about Superbike right now, that it's hard to keep track. Who wants to get in with another Twin Cylinder, who wants a 1200cc, who is building a V4, and how many other manufacturers are considering getting in to the WSBK championship next year?

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OK Liam dumb question of the day, what is Union Bike? I know that when Bussei was riding Superbike he was sponsored bt them. There web site is, well, not helpful.
 
Raoul,

I think he means that "Union Bike' is the team. You are looking at a Mv Agusta.

~w_l~
 
weak_link said:
Raoul,

I think he means that "Union Bike' is the team. You are looking at a Mv Agusta.

~w_l~
Click to expand...
I know that the bike is an MV.

Did you look at the website?

http://www.unionbike.it/

I was thinking that Union Bike was an insurance company, magazine, dealership, etc. That is what I was asking.
 
1200cc= Ducati, v4= Aprilia not sure on the other v2. Thanks for sharing your life in Spain and all the cool pic's and info!
 
Nep-Toon said:

in europe what are the major brands as far as motorcycle apparel goes? is alpinestars and joe rocket as big there as it is here? or do more local brands take over?
Click to expand...

From what I've seen, Alpinestars and Dainese are the brands of choice out here. There are many other apparel lines, like Clover, AXO, Berik/Arlen Ness (which is the same stuff as the MotoGP line starting to sell in the states), and more. Helmets are also quite varied, maybe moreso than in the States. Arai is still tops, followed by Shoei and Suomy, but I see a ton of AGV's, NZI's, Vemars, all kinds of things. And. . . .people seem to have no problem wearing a helmet for twenty years - no matter how rashed it is! Joe Rocket is unheard of out here, and although they used to sponsor Nicky Hayden during his first year in GP, I think their lack of presence out here made it easier for him to switch to Astars (I'm sure there were other aspects to the deal, haha). One of the strangest things for me is seeing all the motocross gear that I've never heard of. I see brands and styles that are just plain weird, and maybe because they don't ride like we do, I think they haven't really gotten into the idea that quality gear saves bones. I hate to say it, but some of the pads/guards just seem a little "rinky dink". Of course, I'm a crasher, so I'm biased :)

Oh, just realized I'm leaving for Losail this afternoon, for Round #2 of the MotoGP World Championship! Seems like my alternating rounds of MotoGP and WSBK are getting closer together as the season progresses!

P.S. SVsportrider, there are many more people involved in the 1200cc/Twin/V4 idea than you listed. I'm sure some digging on the internet would be quite informative ;)
 
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Re: Answers to Questions:

MotoLiam said:
First off, about that thing on the shelf:
Whorenet and Weak_link have correctly identified it as the super rare and extremely precious motore of the illustrious Ducati Supermono . Not too shabby, considering there aren't many of these around. Anyone care to find out the production numbers? Johnc, how could you, of all people, miss this?!?
Click to expand...

doh!!! i was gonna say that :teeth
 
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MotoLiam said:
Oh, just realized I'm leaving for Losail this afternoon, for Round #2 of the MotoGP World Championship! Seems like my alternating rounds of MotoGP and WSBK are getting closer together as the season progresses!
Click to expand...

Liam are you working for the weekend, (Sorry if old Loverboy song kicked in as backround music in your head) or you going to hang out?
 
Liam if you see this while you are there and if you can, can you get the GPS cooridinates for the Losail track from someone? I found Jerez on Google Earth, I'm trying to find all of the MotoGP/WSBK/F1 tracks on Google Earth.

Yes my life is sad :)

Duke
 
Wassup from cloudy Doha, Qatar!

I'm back in town for round five of the Losail National Cup races, which happens to be the one of the support races for MotoGP!

I had my usual travel from Barcelona to London to Doha, but this time it was slightly more interesting. I was scheduled to leave on Tuesday, instead of my normal Wednesday rountine, and this is because the ultimate race of our series will take place on Friday instead of Saturday. I met up with my Barcelona crew and we had some pasta before heading to our gate. That's when I found this :)

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If I were in the market for a current Scrambler, this Derbi Mulhacen is right up there with the MT-03 and Aprilia Pegaso Motard. I love the simple clean lines and the purr of a single. Not to mention this display is super cool!

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Sure seemed like there were a ton of people at the airport. Two of the kids I was with were in the magazine store making wisecracks about the covers of some moto-mags and when they spun around they ran into this guy. We chatted for a couple minutes and I immediately picked up the need for discretion, hence the long shot afterwards. Say what you will about him, but there hasn't been anyone who has run wheel to wheel with the Doctor more. Hopefully we'll see some more of that this year.

Finally we boarded our flight to London, and were joined by Hector Barbera and Jorge Lorenzo. It was a fun hop over to the land of the limeys and then it got even better.

Oh, almost forgot, the guy next to him is the former physical trainer for Dani Pedrosa and the rest of Puig's riders, but now he's working exclusively with you-know-who. A certain model girlfriend showed up in London ;)

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MotoLiam said:
Say what you will about him, but there hasn't been anyone who has run wheel to wheel with the Doctor more. Hopefully we'll see some more of that this year.

Oh, almost forgot, the guy next to him is the former physical trainer for Dani Pedrosa and the rest of Puig's riders, but now he's working exclusively with you-know-who. A certain model girlfriend showed up in London ;)
Click to expand...

Its hard to see, but looks like Sete found a comb for his hair!





...am I right?
 
Ahhh, just stretching out on the bus from the plane to the airport, Spanish style 6:30AM.

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So wandering around during my lunchbreak, I managed to spend some time with Kenny Roberts Jr. while he was busy programming his VCR to record the practice sessions (without reading the instructions first). We talked a bit the KR Honda, his last lap pass on Hopper two weeks ago, "He gave me the opportunity and I took it", and his new leathers. Then I chatted for a while with Chuck Aksland, the race director for Team KR. While we were talking about HRC and their involvement (or lack thereof, who can say, haha) concerning the KR chassis developments, a strange Time/Space Americano thing happened and we were joined by Randy Mamola, then Henny Ray Abrams, then KRJR, then John Hopkins rolled up, then some english speaking media types. Hopper had just rolled up from playing in the dunes on a quad. We were all just joking around, speculating about various things (so nothing with proof and I can't talk about any of it :) ), and it was all good. I may not have made it to Jerez two weeks ago, but judging from Budman's daughter's pictures, it was super crowded, and it's just way easier to navigate the paddock when it's mellow. Note to you guys - go to "empty" races! I bumped into the usual suspects; Pedrosa was surprised to see me here, the engine guys from Fortuna Honda and Repsol's squad were busy showing me a "Hero Honda" CB100SS, Juan Martinez in little red socks and shoes, Harold Eckl from Kawasaki, Davide Brivio, the ringleaders. It's going to be a fun weekend for me, and the racing should be great. Did I mention I loves the racing?!?

So anyway, I was given a special task at the end of the day - swapping tires on this Honda CBR600RR. Word was that KRJR was going to ride this tonight to see if holding nightraces is viable. Strange seeing the elder Roberts' on Hondas, and seeing Kurtis riding something else! Life works in strange ways. . . . .

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MotoLiam said:
Wassup from cloudy Doha, Qatar!

I'm back in town for round five of the Losail National Cup races, which happens to be the one of the support races for MotoGP!

I had my usual travel from Barcelona to London to Doha, but this time it was slightly more interesting. I was scheduled to leave on Tuesday, instead of my normal Wednesday rountine, and this is because the ultimate race of our series will take place on Friday instead of Saturday. I met up with my Barcelona crew and we had some pasta before heading to our gate. That's when I found this :)

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Click to expand...

Comes with a built in Bazooka too! Sweet!@
 
P.S., forgot to add that the internet costs about 30 USD for one day! Or 15 bucks for an hour. How crazy is that when gas, oil, and tobacco are cheaper than water out here?!?
 
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