Got some new gloves today. Ordered them from mlol.de roughly two weeks ago and today they were delivered.

Alpinestars GP-Plus, 99 EUR, last years model.

The reason why I tend to order stuff mostly from Germany is pure and simple; money. *doh* Who could have guessed??
If the local price for these in Finland is about 160-180 EUR, (sorry, don’t know the exact price..) it’s pretty clear. I know I should support the local shops and so on, but, hey; some realism is in place. Getting something delivered to my door at almost half the price, there’s something wrong somewhere. If the German retailers are so nice and they want to support the hobbies of Finnish people selling and sending stuff all the way up north at their expense, then thank you for that! ..or, maybe it’s something else. See also my posts about the tyre prices.

[ and now for those crying about jobs, companies, etc etc.. moving from Finland to somewhere else…yada yada blah blah - because of people like me; go hug a tree ]

On the subject of tyres, actually I don’t even need new tyres.. the rear is only ~1000km old and the front will probably last at least one summer..

But anyway; I did some quick calculations:

From mopedreifen.de a set of Pirelli Diablo Corsa’s delivered would be pretty close to 250 EUR.
From a finnish webshop a set would be just under 250 plus shipping (or, pick up is possible, but for me that’s 200 km away..)

So, who do I support? The local guy or somebody abroad? Tough question, when the difference is so small. Compared to the listprices in Finland it’s easy, that would save me at least 100 EUR, even 200…

At least, I am seriously thinking of the domestic offering. A few years back the price differences were huge, but then, I guess the local shops started to wonder where everyone was getting their tyres, because bikes were being sold and people were riding, but nobody was buying new tyres.

I got a good tip from Ben about cheap tyres in Germany. I’ve known about motorradreifendirekt from searchig car tyres. This other company was news to me. They seem to have very competitive prices. So, immediately (after Finland’s great victory over the Russian ice hockey in Turin) I send them feedback through their website, asking about delivery outside of Germany. This morning there was already an answer in my mailbox: One tyre: 20 EUR, 2 for 25 and 3 for 30. Sounds reasonable to me. Also, me and some friends are in the process of asking an offer from Rodamoto. Let’s see how that goes. We can keep this German company as a backup.

As can be seen from the previous posts, most of the maintenance intended to be done during the winter has been done.

I’ve had my eye on the chain for some time now, I want to clean and grease it.. For cleaning i thought I’d use some petrolbased stuff (dieselfuel, “lamppuöljy”..) Gasoline is not recommended.

For greasing the chain I have something that came with the bike, some german stuff, can’t remember the name. I have been searching for Maxima chain wax, I saw C. Kelley recommending it.. can’t seem to find it anywhere in Finland. Oh well, there are othe products, I guess they’re all pretty much the same. I just want something that’s easy, doesn’t spray all over the bike and so on. (Can you tell, that I haven’t own chainbikes before..?)

Some people use plain gearbox oil, 80W-90, and if I remember correctly, even Ducati recommends that.

Well, let’s see what happens. I haven’t made up my mind yet.

Here’s two short videos taken with my digital camera.

Link 1
Link 2

NOTE: Both videos are about 60 Mb, so be patient.

Ordered a book from Amazon.uk, about ducati. According to the book, the number of produced 996 SPS bikes in 1998 was 167 and in 1999 158. (meaning here 1999 model year bikes, of course there were also model year 1998 bikes made in 1998!) How is this possible, because my number is 423?? If anyone has any info on the numbering of the SPS models, let me know. According to the VIN (10th digit is W) of my bike it is 1998, but it is 1999 model. It can’t be 1998, cause it has the 5-spoke wheels?

The book:

number plate on steering head:

I had the engine running today. I even took a small ‘test ride’, balancing the bike on snow.. tires were a bit slippery..

Before, when I changed the oil, I added what the manual says, but the level was over the MAX mark, I thought, ‘well, as soon as I’ll have the engine running, it’ll come down.’ Well, it didn’t so I took a syringe and pulled almost 0,5 liters out !! Now it looks as it should, see pic below. I’ll have to keep an eye out for the oil level later in the summer.

The last time I had the battery connected, I noticed that the low-beam didn’t work.

Here’s some pictures & info about the bulbs.

The low-beam is H3 and the high beam is H1.

I use Osram, select “Automotive Lighting > Headlamps > Halogen Headlight Lamps 12 Volt > Halogen Headlight Lamps with Metal Base” and so on..

The low-beam bulb. (What a bargain, 2,50 EUR!)

The high-beam bulb in its place.

The low-beam side without the bulb.

Bub in place.

The wire.

Originally the wire was between the lamp and the housing, but connecting these two was next to impossible so I took it out and connected them. Afterwards I was thinking, how close does the fairing come..? Another fine example of Italian engineering.

Oh, I didn’t change the high beam, let’s just wait ’til it breaks. That might take a while, The high beam is on maybe 1% of riding time.. I know some riders ride with high beams on, but I don’t, I’ll handle the visibility (of others seeing me) by adjusting the beams a little higher to start with..

Status check: 3 months to go until riding season starts, give or take a week or two depending on the weather.

Even though the temperature showed -29 Celsius this morning, I went and did the promised maintenance today. Front brake fluid is now changed.

The reservoir cap looked a bit strange, maybe it had leaked at some point during it’s life, the paint was peeling off. I didn’t bother painting it, just cleaned it and re-installed. Maybe I have to do what everyone else is doing and put a sweatband(is that what it’s called?) over the resevoir.

Sorry, no pics. But you know what the brakecalibers and master cylinders look like.

Here are a few shots from the MC fair.

A BMW HP2 supermoto, not for sale.

Mistral’s idea for Moto Guzzi Griso’s exhaust, looks good, but then again, anything looks better than the original..

The new Triumph Daytona.

Brembo radial brakes and racing Öhlins, from LANZI’s bike.

Racing exhaust, LANZI’s 999.

KTM Super Enduro.

KTM Super Moto.

A Ducati with some carbonfiber parts. It was for sale, can’t remember the price, I probably couldn’t afford it anyway.

Can’t remember what this bike is.. for some reason, the picture is out of focus..

Also the rear of this unknown bike is quite nice. Maybe it’s some new unknown Korean or Taiwanese bike??