Tiny Swoopy Roads, Amazing Views and Wooly Coos
The latest episode of our Planet Ramble has just been posted. This time we find tiny swoopy roads over and through Scotland’s mountains, find some amazing scenery and have an encounter with Wooly Coos. Don’t know what a wooly coo is? Tag along on this episode and find out. You can ride with us by clicking HERE or cutting and pasting the below link into your web browser:
We hope you decide to come along!
Barging Onto A Barge, Ferry Nightlife And A Rainy Castle Ride
The latest episode of our Planet Ramble has just been posted. This time we attempt to barge onto a barge, experience ferry nightlife and end up at a castle in the rain. You can ride along with us by clicking HERE or cutting and pasting the below into your web browser:
We hope you come along!
Ferries, Early Morning Beer, Carte Blanche, Road Racing & Hanging With King Julien
The latest episode of our Planet Ramble has just been published. This time we line up for more ferries, experience early morning beer, get carte blanche while road racing and hang out with King Julien. It’s just part of the German and Dutch experience.
If you’d like to come along for the ride CLICK HERE. If this doesn’t work, cut and paste the following link into your web browser:
We hope you join us!
A Centuries Old Sunken Warship, Ikea And Country Music
The latest episode of our Planet Ramble has just been posted. This time we visit a centuries old recovered and restored warship, make a “mandatory” stop at a Swedish Ikea and listen to country music… in Sweden. You can join us by clicking HERE or cutting and pasting the below link into your web browser:
We hope you decide to come along!
Ancient Fortress Walls, Spicy Monks, 80 Year Old Women Riders And An Old Towne Faire
The latest episode of our Planet Ramble has just been posted. This time we breach an ancient fortress wall, meet faceless and spicy monks, meet 80 year old woman motorcycle riders and visit an Olde Towne Faire. You can travel with us by clicking HERE or cutting and pasting the following link into your web browser.
We hope you come along!
Polish Ducatisti Hospitality, Road Runners, Wooden Menus And Leaving Lithuania
The latest episode of our Planet Ramble has just been posted. This time we are treated like royalty by Polish Ducatisti, watch hundreds of runners take over the streets, order dinner from wooden menus and feel the fall of the Soviet Union in Lithuania. If you would like to join us, click HERE or copy and paste the below link into your web browser:
We hope you decide to come along.
We Encounter Mechanical Glitches, Black Bison, Slovakian Harley Heaven And Get Free Harley Fuel
The latest episode of our Planet Ramble has just been posted. This time we run into mechanical problems, find the meeting place of Black Bison, inadvertently find Harley Heaven in Slovakia and get free Harley Fuel. If you’d like to ride along, click HERE. If this doesn’t work, cut and paste the below link into your web browser:
We hope you come along for the ride!
We Attend Class At The Historic Le Mans Circuit Lesarth (24 Hours Of Le Mans) And Hang Out With Chickens
The latest episode of our Planet Ramble has just been posted. This time, we head out to the historic and famous Le Mans Circuit and check out the museum there. Some amazing history with great exhibits from racing over the years. If you like racing (and even if you don’t) you won’t want to miss this episode. To see what we saw, click HERE.
If this link doesn’t work, cut and paste the below in to your web browser:
We hope you enjoy!!!
Crossing Into Canada We Find Craft Beer, A Very Large Bird, Thoroughbred Race Horses, Wind Turbines And Gravel Roads Along The Ocean
The latest episode of our Planet Ramble has been posted. This time we travel from Maine into Canada and find interesting craft beers, a very large bird, thoroughbred race horses, wind turbines and deserted gravel roads alongside the ocean. You can find it by clicking HERE or by cutting and pasting the link below:
We hope you enjoy the latest!
Can A Ducati Scrambler Be Made Into a Light Duty Adventure Bike?
Can a Ducati Scrambler be made into a comfortable light duty (i.e. pavement and maintained dirt/gravel roads) adventure bike good for longer trips and gravel roads? I had been asking myself that question for quite some time and have finally decided to investigate for myself. Those of you that follow us know that Kim and me just finished a trip from our home in Vermont to Eagle River, Alaska. We rode mostly on paved roads, although we did travel on some forest fire roads and unimproved roads. Kim’s Suzuki DR-650 performed admirably and carried her to Alaska easily. However, the DR is a fairly low powered thumper and riding it for long distances became somewhat of a tiresome experience for Kim. She said that although the bike did everything she asked and had a relatively lightweight feel, she felt under powered on those 75 MPH stretches of two lane roads common in the western US. Passing was more difficult that she desired, especially since I was traveling on a KTM 990 Adventure twin cylinder machine. She also wished that the bike was not a single because the thump, thump, thump of the single was tiring over time.
So I set about looking for a machine that was relatively small and light that we could turn into a light duty adventure bike. Since Kim is only about 5′ 3″ the bike could not be too high, nor could it be too heavy. She really wanted to get away from a single cylinder machine and frankly I don’t blame her. She never said a word during our over 7,500 mile trip to Alaska, but I had to ask myself, whether I would have enjoyed riding a single for that long a distance. My answer would be no, so I really shouldn’t expect her to feel any different. As I looked around the market, there really wasn’t much out there that fit Kim’s want list. She had already been on a V-Strom and felt it was too big and heavy. She had also ridden the BMW F650GS (twin) and F800GS extensively in Europe and South America, but she didn’t really like them because of their relative size and ride height. If she were to like a new machine, it would have to be about the size of her current Suzuki DR-650.
One of the few alternatives was the Ducati Scrambler. It’s a twin of approximately 800ccs and is actually very small in stature. Scramblers were created for dual sport, so if Ducati at least considered dual sporting, perhaps we could make this new Ducati into a light duty adventure bike. After doing some significant searching I found a number of bolt on parts that could potentially give her the utility of an ADV bike. So maybe, just maybe, we could adapt a Ducati Scrambler for ADV touring.
After a test ride and a bit of deliberation, we have taken the plunge. Kim is now the proud owner of a 2016 Ducati Scrambler Icon. The Icon is the base model of the Scrambler line and that suits us just fine. We’ve seen and tried Ducati’s own ADV parts and they fall far short of what we will need for our purposes. I’ve identified a number of parts that we are going to try and we’ll report on how well the fit our mission. So stay tuned for more updates as we attempt to convert a base Ducati Icon into an ADV machine Kim can love.
Just to entice you, here are a few pics of Kim’s soon to be converted Ducati Scrambler Icon which we will test out on a tour of the Canadian Maritime Provinces in early September.
Ride2ADV 