Before I get into the bike swap-extravaganza, here are a few things to note. The Scrambler is stripped down and is getting the wheels powder-coated as I type, and I had my buddy Ricky Howerton cut down my stock Tiger windscreen. The cutdown is definitely an improvement on the wind buffeting, but the cosmetics of the bike changed. If I were to re-cut the windshield again, I probably wouldn’t have been as dramatic about it.
Here is the story about the bike swap.
Bike Swap #1: Black Tiger for the Hypermotard
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is putting together a street team of three riders armed with Ducati Hypermotards. Two of them are headed down for the Honda Hoot, and one was left back at the track. Of course, I offered my services to break in the machine so I was able to take the bike home for the evening. I only put 26 miles on the bike, but it was enough to really “test” it – unlike my previous test ride at the Ducati dealership.
Like I said, I only put 26 miles on the bike, which means my test ride was pretty much to and from work this week. I took the long way home and made sure that I hit roads that I often ride on so that I could tell the differences. The Tiger and Hypermotard are nothing alike except for a similar power plant, 1100 and 1050 cc’s. The Hypermotard is much more rigid, much lighter (It’s like a bicycle!) and has so much torque! This thing is a unicycle!
Bike Swap #2: Hypermotard for Black Tiger
I returned the Hypermotard during lunch the next day because I needed to take the Tiger in to get my clutch looked at. I started to notice a weird noise when I engaged the clutch, so I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t eating the clutch plates up. I dropped the bike off at R. Falcone Motorsports here on 16th Street in Indianapolis.
The noise that I was experiencing was like I had a vibrating metal table and I put a bag of pennies on the table. It isn’t damaging yet, but I want to make sure the bike is all polished up before I head down to Richmond, Va., for the IndyCar Series race.
Bike Swap #3: Black Tiger for 2008 White Speed Triple
Luckily Gene Tomey (the GM at R. Falcone Motorsports) values me as a customer and felt bad that both my Scrambler and Tiger were in the shop. He felt so bad that he allowed me to take a loaner bike.
At first he walked the floor and pointed at this Piaggio super-moped painted in Peanuts cartoon characters! You know Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the gang? That was a quick laugh, and then he pointed at another Black Tiger or a fleet of Sprints. I felt that if I was going to get another bike, I might as well get something I hadn’t ridden before.
I asked about the Speed Triple, and he put me on it. The Speed Triple is a fast bike like the motard, but it really isn’t my style. If you haven’t already noticed, I like to be sitting straight up with my feet underneath me, not behind me.
Much like the motard, the Triple is really nimble, light and powerful, but one thing that I won’t do with this bike is put too many miles on it or “test” it. Since I doubt it’s a normal occurrence for the dealer to give drive-a-ways while the bike is in service, I wanted to instill a small bit of trust with Gene.
Jarrod
It’s an off week for the IndyCar Series, and my family and I decided to utilize this time to take a trip to our ranch in Wyoming. Over the past eight years, I haven’t spent much time out here between school and the race season grinds. But since I have a family, it’s great to be able to come out to the middle of nowhere and play in the wilderness.
My Out of Office e-mail reply was supposed to read:
“Thank you for your correspondence. I will be out of the office and in the mountains until Tuesday June 17th. Internet connectivity and reliable cellular service is questionable, so please excuse my inability to respond quickly.”
Well, while I was gone my mailbox was overloaded, and my O of O won’t work. I guess it really hasn’t been a big deal since it’s an off week and a lot of people are taking a day here and there to spend time with their families.
Here are a couple of pictures of our trip. It was snowing here the first two days, and there is still enough to make a snowball or two!
Even while I have been away, we have been trying to figure out what type of dirt bikes we need to get out here. Like I said, with the family it’s really nice to be able to come out to Wyoming and spend time together with ZERO stress.
While we were picking up a Polaris Ranger, my brother Kyle and I test rode an ‘02 KTM 550 dirt bike. We though that it was a little tall for trail riding and was a little too expensive for our uses, so we passed. Kyle is determined to get a couple of bikes out here for the next couple of years.
Maybe next trip we will have a few pictures of the new rides. My mom and baby’s momma keep telling Kyle and I, “The dirt bikes won’t be that much fun out here….” What do they know? They aren’t going to be riding them!
Jarrod
The Scrambler is back!
How about this weather? Crazy storms, blazing heat and gusty wind! Yesterday was the first day in a long time that I have been on my bike without a jacket. I am a big believer in having the proper gear on because “you just never know,” but it was something that I felt I could take a chance on.
During lunch yesterday, I ran down to the powder coater that did my wheels on the Tiger. While I was there, I picked up a couple of painted pieces to match up with the roulette green on the Scrambler. Oh yeah, by the way, I went ahead and got the Scrambler. In response to “oldracer27’s” comment, I went ahead and got it! Once I walked into the Triumph dealer and got close the Scrambler, I remembered all of the reasons why I purchased it in the first go-around before my buddy totaled it (he’s fine). The Scrambler is just stunning! Everyplace I went I was asked, “What year is that?” told that it was cool, a classic! It didn’t matter if the guy was on a Harley or a Sportbike, the Scrambler gets attention and it deserves it.
So back to my jacketless lunch adventure yesterday. I took a sample over to Triumph to see how the colors matched up, and it just didn’t work out. The roulette green on the bike has candy to it, and all of my powder-coating options just didn’t cut it. After chatting with the body shop, I figured that I would just go ahead and paint them to match perfectly. It’s not going to be as durable as the powder coat, but it’s going to look good!
This time around, I am going to get all of my customization completed before I event saddle up. Just before my buddy crashed it, I had the bike all lined up to get several items painted, put on and tweaked to turn my Scrambler into a Scrambled Flat Tracker.
So here is the list:
- New handlebars: I choose the Speed Triple Bars.
- Triumph Off Road Slip Ons: Great Sound!
- Bar end mirrors: Streamline the bike a bit.
- Paint the rims: Match the roulette green on the tank.
- New seat: The Scrambler has a heavy rear end, so I am going to trim it up with a new seat.
- Fender eliminator: The rear fender is big enough for a softail – it’s got to go.
Like I said, I haven’t ridden the bike yet and told the boys at Triumph to tear it down and start working on it because I don’t want to ride it until it’s completed!
My two readers might be asking, “How in the world did you go from a Ducati Hypermotard to the Triumph Scrambler?!”
Well, like I said above, the Scrambler is just a cool bike! Once I really started thinking about my options, I factored in price, usability, style and what I would use the bike for. They Hypermotard would have been fun, fast, agile, but my Tiger is all of that, as well. With the Ducati, I felt that my bike wouldn’t really be unique to me. With the Scrambler, it’s me, it’s got style that I know is me and will be uniquely mine once I polish up my mods.
So that’s why…
Jarrod