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