First Ride

After several weeks of negotiation, I purchased my bike today. I really should have started recording this stuff earlier, since there's a lot of planning that goes into this kind of purchase, but I'm going to save that for a later date (or maybe I'll back-date some posts). Either way, here's how today broke down:

I was buying the bike from a guy who lives in Simi Valley. I live in Santa Monica, about an hour away. The first step was getting a ride from my roommate up to the guy's storage unit where the bike was. We met up and he had the bike in the parking lot. He and I filled out the paperwork and exchanged money. I paid for the bike full in cash. Have you ever touted several grand of bills around? Yeah, it was a new experience for me, but I found that it fit reasonably well into a normal US postal envelope. As for paperwork:

He detached, filled out, and signed his Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability. He will send this into the DMV and from there on out, any traffic violations or parking tickets will become my responsibility. For more details, the California DMV site is here.

Then we both signed the title, indicating what the current mileage was (roughly 17,000). On the back, I filled out my address and information. I have 10 days from the date of sale to take this into the DMV and pay sales tax and registration fees and then the bike will be legally transferred into my name.

With all that taken care of, I donned my protective gear (helmet, jacket, gloves) and he showed me how to start up the bike. I knew the basics, but the Ducati's engine kill switch, when pushed into the "Start" position, sends power to the fuel pump. Make sure you do that before you start up the bike. After that, just push the starter and she should fire right up. A little twist of the throttle if need be, and make sure the oil light goes out. If it stays on for more than 10 seconds, you should shut the bike off and figure out the problem.

One thing worth noting here is that my bike will not start unless the kickstand is up and the bike is in Neutral. I have no qualms with this, but I guess some people like to just start with the clutch in? If you want to bypass the sidestand check there are products from companies like Evoluzione that can help you out.

So back to my experience. Now I'm on this beast of a bike, with my only previous experience on a 250cc in the Motorcycle Safety Foundation course, which took place in a parking lot. Fortunately, I remembered most of the drills we went through, and the very first one was just learning how to engage the clutch, give it a bit of gas, and get going from a standstill.

Unfortunately, the parking lot for the storage facility was very small. I ended up just being able to get going before I'd have to hit the brakes, stop, and slowly make a u-turn to go back the other way. The bike was very stable once it was moving, so that instilled a lot of confidence. The clutch itself has a very short distance between fully engaged and fully disengaged, which could be a problem for some people, but I'm used to the same feel in my car (1995 BMW M3).

After several passes of start/stop/u-turn, the gas light came on, so it was time to take my new baby out on the road and fill 'er up. I got directions to the nearest gas station and prepared to step out into traffic. Simi Valley at 2pm on a Saturday wasn't particularly crowded and the streets are pretty wide, so I didn't have much trouble. One left turn, two stoplights, and a right turn and I pulled into the gas station.

Turns out gassing your bike is way different from gassing your car. Yeah yeah, big surprise. Basic steps are the same: shut off the engine, turn the key to "off." Now take off your gloves and helmet. DON'T sit on your bike when you're fueling, unless you enjoy a crotchful of gasoline. I certainly don't. I had an issue getting the automatic shutoff valve not to stop the flow of fuel. With only a 4.5 gallon tank, my bike is more like filling one of those red portable gas canisters than filling a car.

Well, topped off on fuel and resuited up for the road, I took to the street. Two right turns later I found a residential area with wide streets and no traffic. I cruised around, practicing shifts to second and third, stop signs and clutching, and finding neutral from first before I came to a stop. Conveniently, I happened across a school parking lot, where I was able to work on some of the turning manuevers that we learned in MSF. I circled around there, both left and right, for a while, then did some more stopping and starting.

After that I started to head for the freeway, but ended up in the wrong lane of traffic and missed the turn. I'm not used to the limited visibility the motorcycle mirrors afford and was too nervous to attempt even a slightly sudden lane change. This worked out in my favor, as I ended up in an industrial area, which had a maze-like series of parking lots. I zoomed around there practicing left and right turns keeping the throttle steady. I also got a change to see what speed bumps are like. As long as you slow down and lift a little on the footpegs there's no problem at all.

I took a brief break in the shade to rest my wrists. The forward riding position wears on you after a while. I got off the bike and stretched my legs and wrists for a little bit before heading out for the freeway again. I found a good open stretch of road with no cars that had a 50mph speed limit and was able to work my way up to higher speeds. I found the onramp and... deep breath... my first freeway ride.

Turns out 65 mph isn't really that scary on a sportbike. As it was a Saturday afternoon, traffic was light so I didn't have to worry too much. I hung mostly in the slow lane, riding very conservatively, but flexing my abs and using my legs against the tank to take some of the weight off my wrists. A nice long freeway jaunt later, I got off at Kanan Dume to take the canyon road through Malibu instead of the dreaded traffic on the 405 south. I think this was an excellent choice. Kanan Dume is a well-paved wide canyon road with many passing opportunities so I wasn't going to hold anyone up. I worked on making smooth turns and keeping a nice constant throttle. Man, my bike makes a real holler through those tunnels, tho!

The Pacific Coast highway was more of the same. It was great to taste the salty sea air and you couldn't wipe the grin off my face. I hit some minimal traffic at the Santa Monica Incline, but nothing too bad.

I got home, and managed to get the bike down my driveway. My and my roommate have tandem parking, with the first spot covered by the first floor of our apartment, and the second spot on and incline. My M3 will scrape if I'm not careful, so that gives you some idea of how steep the incline was. My car was parked on the street and Corey was out, so I was able to pull in nose first and turn the bike around in the bottom spot without any trouble. I pulled out my new Xena lock and locked the front hub, then went inside to relax for the day.

Miles: 65
Time: 4 hours