Calendar, Video, and a lack of news

Last month I ordered myself a small christmas gift from amazon. If you were one of the kindhearted souls who sent me an amazon giftcard, consider this to be one of your gifts to me. It's the 2012 callendar published by BikeEXIF.com

Cover photo from 2 Wheel Tuesday

I discovered BikeEXIF just about a year ago and it became a frequent destination for me during the deployment. Chris' posts, the advertisers links, and commenters' insights have all taught me a lot about motorcycle history and mechanics. I needed a calendar to keep track of Army things coming up and I felt like the site deserved my support. I didn't get around to putting it on the wall until friday, though. Fortunately, I don't really care for the bike featured for January, so it's not a great loss.  This month I get to look at a fine Ducati 860 GTS from Germany.

Photo from BikeEXIF

I can't agree with Chris that this bike "is an absolute traffic-stopper," but it certainly appeals to me. Simple and a bit stocky, but you can tell there's power and versatility in there. It's weird to see a Ducati in any color besides white/red/black, though. I'll have to remember to look for these Pirelli Scorpion enduro tires whenever my Bonnie needs new shoes.

I just came across this video yesterday and it made me smile. Sure, the folks featured are kinda hipster-y, but it still looks like fun and they've introduced me to an Arlo Guthrie song I hadn't heard before.

The lack of motorcycle news is because most of my unit was still on leave over the past week, so the people who can tell me more about this safety course were not around. I've been looking into the courses offered by local dealerships as an alternative, but I wanted to find out about the free military-offered course before dropping the coin on a civilian one. Incidentally, the European and Japanese dealerships have been much more helpful with learn-to-ride courses than the Harley shops around here. I'm not completely opposed to paying for a course, but I want to get started soonish so I can become proficient enough to commute on the bike and let Sarah have the Civic during the week for her employment/education needs.