Italian bikes?

[yamaha_george]

I know of some local racers that are switching to Buell. One of the main reasons - money. Buell is giving away a lot of money to get more involved in club racing.

http://www.buell.com/en_us/racing/racin ... ws_id=1112

Darrin,
I am not suprised, Eric has wanted to be a competitive race bike designer all his life (I have known him since he took over the english Barton square 4 engine)

Eric, is perfectionist which is why he broke away as a HD man, he has always wanted an American bike on the world racing stage as he knew the "Harley Wrecking Crew" of Springstein & co's days were numbered when King Kenny beat them with the "beast".

He has seen some VERY dark days since the late '70's and I am just glad he is finally seeing his dream come around , more power to him


Eurobike :0http://www.dechavesgarage.com/projects/prototype.php

[ragedigital]

Eric has wanted to be a competitive race bike designer all his life

Well, he's certainly putting his money where his mouth is...

[yamaha_george]

Eric has wanted to be a competitive race bike designer all his life

Well, he's certainly putting his money where his mouth is...

Darrin,
He always has , which is why he saw some very bad times in the early 80's.

[ThisEndUp]

Wow.......

I'm a little late to jump in on this topic.

I have an Aprilia RSVR Factory and an older Ducati 900ss/cr.

I have owned 5 FZRs' , 3 GSXRs' , 2 sv650s' and several vintage two strokes.

The Italian bikes are recent. I was the guy who couldn't understand why those Ital bikes were so damn expensive. Especially when comparing horespower to the Jap bikes.It wasn't until I rode one, the Aprilia, that I was sold.

The Italians have a knack for balancing horespower , torque, handling and style. Every Jap bike I've owned needed to have a major suspension overhaul.....and plenty of time trying to dial it all in. The Italians, except for some ride height adjustment, were off and running in no time, and handled real world street riding almost flawlessly.

Then there's that "soul" that people go on and on about. I thought they were all wasted on Chianti when I read that one.

But, there is something there. I still don't have a handle on it.

I took my buddy's Ducati Hypermoto out for a spin a couple of days ago. 'Couldn't wipe the big ass stupid grin off my face.
Riding my 900...same goofy grin.
The Aprilia.........well, more like an evil laugh followed by the stupid grin.

Jap bikes give me a thrill with the brutal power (GSXR1000, etc.) but they never, ever matched the ...lust, I guess, for riding.



Coming out of a turn....power rolling on......trying to slide your ass back over onto the seat..... front wheel is off the ground...bike is dead stable...it laughs at you ....it's almost asking you "Is that all you got?"...... absolutely spectacular!

...and that sound.............ah,.......I need a cigarette.

[ThisEndUp]

..and then there's that Italian sex appeal:






Cheers

[tommyj27]

For some reason I thought Aprillia was based out of Ohio. *shrugs*

[haunter]

I want a shiver and a 1098 so bad.........



nothing touches the 1098, and for 08 it was a mere ~2-3K more than the R1, now its almost 4k more because the 1098 sold so well they raised the price to 17K last I heard and the R1 is just over 13K

[shredex]

ducati is the ferrari of motorcycles.
but Iv only seen one ducati that I liked. and it was pretty cheap.
it was a 600cc or 800cc and it costs about 8k. I dont remember at all what it was.

[ThisEndUp]

that's because Ducati is the Fiat of motorcycles.

How may Ferrari's' have you seen on the road? How many Aprilias' ?