Lost pic

I saw that the VOR pic got lost somewhere and I can't seem to edit it in. Well, here it is.















Try to keep yer eyes focused...

Also, one of my mates crave the extended version of the Great Spill of the Grey part 2 (I managed to slide her down the road on our first outing as we got a bit carried away that time, not quite keeping the old tyres she was wearing in mind).
We'd been carrying decent speed through the banked, slighly downhill, left hander at the end of the pit straight all day. Well, the track is quite slow, so all things relative.
At the beginning of the turn there was a few bumps that did not feel very comfortable and the same thing exactly at the apex.
I had felt some slight skidding from the front at the apex, but only that tiny little feeling that only makes a little bit uncertain. This was also one of the four points where I had felt fairly confident, draggin me knee, and we all know how important this is to us mortals...
Anyways, I come down to the apex, just got the knee down half a second (?) earlier, and as we come to the bumps I just feel the front letting go.
- Oh, no not again, low sider!!! I remember flashing through my brain, only just as the front suddenly grips fiercly again, sending me up onto the tank.
The bike is now acting like a snake underneath me. I'm sitting on the tank with my hands on the bars, just straight below me. No possibility to manouver, only hang on. The snakin slows down a fraction later, and I'm thinking - Ah, this could be alright then. At the same time I see we're heading for that big orange line of cones that lines up at the corner exit. Big cones.
The first of them is completely shattered as we plow straight through and as the front digs down into the kitty litter I remember thinking - This will hurt. as I know the armco is not far away. As I fly straight over the bars I close my eyes. I'm slightly surprised by the feeling when I hit the armco with my back first, completely up-side down. It's padded, but I had remembered the warning we had during the morning line-up about how thin this padding was. Well, I just felt like I had been thrown by a giant into one of these gymnasium thick mattrases, you know. A split second later my head lands on the ground as I slide down.
All well apart from a slightly more painful back and neck (they're always a bit sore on me, yeah, yeah, I know, too many female hormones) and bike got away with brueses along the right hand side. The bike had been soooo good looking before the crash, and now a mess again...

What's up, or down

Like a friend of mine pointed out to me, it's been a while.

In fact it's been almost the whole season. In Sweden we're getting near the end of the bike riding year.
There's been a number of ups this season, but also a few downs.
The ups most definetely includes the MHe. Sure, we've had a few turns aswell, but overall I'm well pleased with our relationship. For fecks, sake, mate! Just look at the girl!!!
















We've covered about 4000 km so far together, and we've fiddled a bit with this and that.

We even went to the tracks together. However, this was not a place to be. At least not in the state the front forks are in (even though we've tweaked them some), and the way I want to be able to ride.















I'm sure we'll have a few more good rides together before the season closes.

So what about the grey one?
Well, we have parted after having started out the season in the best of ways. We took to the track in early April and got ourselves a road racing licence. We even managed to kick some 4-cylinder butt in the frosty weather, believe it or not.
In May we went for a track meeting in the south of Sweden, and the limitations of the grey lady were felt immidiatly. At the end of the day we ended up in the gravel. Me, flung over the bars straight into the armco. We got away very well considering the circumstances.






























We tried another event a few weeks later, but the good feeling was gone. The front felt like it was washing away in the faster bit and as soon as we tipped into the right handers the back stepped out as the exhaust dragged. We called it a day early.

And then the grey was traded for a VOR. My first enduro bike! I was only wearing thongs the day I went to pick her up, and I kicked my leg all bloody as the forward action kick flicked back into my shins. I still have a few marks even though its more than a month and a half ago. What a nice way to start the relationship. I haven't started her since, as I've told myself I need to get the proper gear first.
You can see her in the back-ground there, IF you can tear your eyes off of that gorgeous piece of fat bloke.



And the Lipstick, the 851? She's been on the transfer list since March. Yep. I've been meaning to sell her. BUT, I have now come to my sences again. I can't sell her. How could I ever??? She's a piece of history. The beginning of the new Ducati racing era back in the late 80s (even though my baby was born in 1991). And she's still a good ride. Sure, you have to push her. But when you do, you can get your knee down even on the road and she feels much more rewarding also at slightly lower speeds (you don't have to scare yerself to have some fun). I'm planning to take her through some surgery this winter and hope she'll be my new track (and road with the missus on the back) bike for next year.
Aint she loverly?!!!!!