Hailwood

Saw the bike in person @ Indy - absolutely gorgeous.

But what about the seat height? :rimshot: I seriously want a SuMo, but I just can't justify having 4 bikes and I need my stupidly overpowered sportbike to (not) keep up with Tony on his Gladius.

Sorry to hear that, Nivin. If you do decide to ride, just let me know. I'm definitely still interested.

Sounds like fun. I'll probably be in as long as the weather looks good.

I think I'm going to be at a wedding that weekend, but if not, I'll try my best to be there.

It's more the venue than anything else. Indy is really meant to host 300,000+ in the oval grandstands, so when they have 65,000 for the GP (a respectable crowd) with a large number in the infield, it looks a bit empty. Walking around the track itself, it didn't feel empty at all, IMO.

Other than Marquez destroying the field, I thought the podium battle in Moto2 race was pretty good. Unfortunately you're right about the GP race itself. The nature of the track, and honestly the series itself, currently is such that the 5-way battles for the win just aren't going to happen with any regularity. Hopefully the series makes it to the Austin track in the next couple of years. From what I've seen of the layout, I'm hoping it will make for some more exciting racing.

Definitely agree about the surface - I felt like I was watching the old 500's there for awhile. That many high sides isn't good for anyone.

Another fantastic year of MotoGP at Indy in the books. The weather this year could not have been better, and the on-track action was quite good. This year I tried to find as many new spots to shoot from as I could, and wound up walking around the track quite a bit more than in years past. Even with the Indy fencing there are great opportunities all through the infield, and I'm pretty happy with what I was able to get. Valentino Rossi coming out of T4: Race winner Dani Predrosa coming into T12: Hayden getting around some backmarkers in FP2: Up close and personal with Dovi: Working on my panning with Andrea Ianonne @ 1/80 Not a great weekend for old Cal, but he was pretty quick when he could stay on the bike: Moto2 race winner Marc Marquez tipping it into T4: Casey Stoner through T6. He had an absolutly heroic ride on Sunday after that massive QP crash: Moto2 runner-up Pol Espargaró: Ben Spies had a terrible race with more bad luck after a really strong showing all weekend: Marquez absolutely dominated the Moto2 field. Seeing him on a MotoGP bike next year is going to be really great. Downtown was as great as ever. Indy really knows how to put on an event:

Going to be in Indy for the GP, otherwise I'd definitely be in. Have fun and speed safely.

Have fun guys, wish I could go out again.

Thanks I need to get a better way to mount it to the R1 too. I think something off the passenger peg with a good bit of the bike in the frame would look nice.

Ride video. Be warned, I am not good at video editing. Link to Youtube

Back home without any issues (or rain). Was a bit damp this morning, but overall some nice, cool weather to ride in. Thanks for putting it together, Doc, really liked the route and the pace. I'll see how the video turned out and try to upload something later today.

Same here.

I'm not scared by a little rain (that's what Simple Green and Honda Polish are for ). Unless it's actively coming down hard, I'll still head out. Sweet, will be good to have a fellow R1 on board. With a couple VFR's, a superchicken, a '51, and a couple x-planes, we're setup to be a good sounding group.

Smash your hand with a hammer just before getting on the bike. Your foot shouldn't bother you too much.

I'll see how it looks here in the morning before heading out, but I'm still planning on coming at this point.

Those look pretty nice. I've been less than pleased with the long-term fit/finish of my A* SP-1's and have been eyeing the Held Phantom's after trying on a pair at Mid-O a few weeks ago (super comfortable). How would you rate these relative to the Helds for comfort & durability? Also, I wouldn't mind getting an idea for pricing for a pair in Large/Black. Thanks!

Can't believe I missed this thread the first time around. I've been getting into photography for the last several years and have really enjoyed it. Motorcycle: Non-moto related: If anyone's ever interested in heading up to the Valley (or wherever) to shoot, just let me know - always glad to have company.

I'm sorry, any level of maturity and/or common sense immediately disqualifies you from OR rides. Welcome aboard

Don't get me wrong, I've watched every practice, qualifying, and race so far this year, and have really enjoyed all of it, but I think many people (including myself) are very curious to see if Rossi still has the magic on the Yamaha. I'm not sure I'd classify Rossi as 'jumping ship'. The bike isn't as competative as he wants it to be and I can't see a 9-time world champion being content battling for 8th. I have huge respect for Hayden, sticking it out and making good showings on the Duc, but I have to think that even he wonders what he could be doing on an RCV or M1. It will also be interesting to see what Dovi (if the rumors are true) can do on the Desmo. I would love for someone else to come along, be able to ride the damn thing as is, and prove everyone wrong.

Congrats! Track > Bling. I'll definitely vote for your bike while I'm there.

Confirmed as of this morning Next season should be pretty interesting.

Weather for Saturday is still looking a bit iffy, but I'm still planning on coming at this point.