Month: June 2015

  • 2015 KTM Super Duke 1290 R Week 2

    I started out the week by going to wash my bike. It is a relaxing task, albeit a sweaty one. Once the beast was clean, I took it home. I decided against riding it to my weekly tutoring session, as it was somewhat slower than anticipated, compared to my scooter. Anyway, the city driving in…

  • 2015 KTM Super Duke 1290 R Week 1

    It was a pretty nerve-wracking week, because the KTM dealer had a bad reputation, but it was the only official dealer in the Taipei/New Taipei City area, so I had done business with them. It was only months later that people were telling me that they were terrible. I’ll file that away for future reference.…

  • 2015 KTM Super Duke 1290 R & Quick Shifting

    I was a bit sad to realize that the Super Duke’s engine cannot support any kind of quick shifter. There have been reports of engine blowouts once these have been used with quick shifters, and the warranty is voided once you fit one on your SDR. BMW, Ducati, and MV Agusta have models that come…

  • The Scarlet Gospels By Clive Barker

    It’s been quite a few years since Clive Barker published a good book for adults. It’s been about 20 years since his heyday, Everville, The Great and Secret Show, Imajica, Sacrament, probably because he’s been active in other creative arts. The Abarat series has been ongoing for the last 13 years, and only three novels…

  • SEVENEVES By Neal Stephenson

    Neal Stephenson has been on a roll recently, since Anathem, which I consider to be an amazing science-fiction novel. He naturally faced a quandary after writing so much cyberpunk that he had to reinvent new genres whilst writing his new books.