TIDBITS / NEWS / EVENTS
Most people, including me, use our phones to map out where we want to go and how to get there. When on my motorcycle, I also use the voice commands through the Sena communication system installed in my helmet. My phone is connected to the Sena by Bluetooth, and the phone is mounted on my handlebars.
When riding or touring I am discovering some issues with using my phone. First, I had to get a separate app so that I can design my own route to get to my designated places rather than using the route the phone’s maps app determines for me. Second, I can’t leave the iPhone in the sun long because it will simply shut down. Third, I feel that the constant vibration has to be bad for my phone and mess with its internal sensors. Forth, the battery goes dead way too fast when using the maps app.
So, Cyndy and I have decided to get a Garmin GPS and install one on each of our Tigers. We will have permanent mounts on the handlebars that are hard wired for charging. A GPS can be easily removed and clipped back in when you want. It will do everything your phone will, plus you can design your own routes. It is also gets coverage virtually everywhere, and is designed to handle weather and vibration.
Sure is a far cry from taping a paper map to my fuel tank!
2021 Ducati SuperSport 950 S First Ride
When Ducati resurrected the SuperSport model in 2017 after a 10-year hiatus, it knew it had to heal the scars left by the terrible Pierre Terblanche SuperSport of 2004. It was vital for the name to connect the new model to the long history of very successful Ducati SuperSports.
The bike was conceived and promoted as a sport-tourer and enjoyed mixed styling strongly inspired by the Panigale 1198 with a mildly tuned 937cc Testastretta V-twin and touring-oriented components and accessories, including bags. It sat on a relatively softly sprung chassis intended to ensure comfortable rides for two. The response from the public was mild for the very simple reason that a Ducati must be a Ducati, just as a Ferrari must be a Ferrari.
Ducatis must be either sport-oriented, fast, aggressive, and as uncompromising as Ducati fans, or as flamboyant, style-conscious, and extroverted, Scrambler-style, as Ducati’s customers. Nothing in between may be allowed. When the mighty Panigale 1299 V-twin was replaced by the Panigale V4, I buckled up tight expecting that this departure from a tradition of legendary V-twins would badly damage the Borgo Panigale business. I am pleased to admit that I was too conservative; the global market immediately cheered the blinding performance of the Panigale V4, because performance is in fact Ducati’s true tradition, and Ducatisti know this.
Now comes the second edition of the new SuperSport, a dramatically new bike. At first look it might appear to be nothing more than a neat face-lift from the older bike plus the required upgrade to Euro 5 emissions standards. The engine is the only major element to receive retuning; this 937cc unit is an evolution of the 821cc Testastretta 11 engine from the 2018 Monster. It features one major change: the angular contact ball bearings which have served as main-end crankshaft bearings since the days of the Pantah 500 have been replaced by 44mm plain bearings. This evolution from the original hybrid crankshaft arrangement produces a substantial increase in crankshaft rigidity and reliability with a drastic decrease in mechanical noise.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION