[nostatic]

I'll have more to report later, but a quick "I'm back" note. Thanks to Don for picking me up at the airport and driving me into the city. Here's the short story : the gas guage sucks (I knew that) but heading out of SF I filled up and figured I was just under 50mpg. Then I ran into nasty head and crosswinds. Turns out headwinds drive your mileage way down. Down enough to make me run out of gas outside Arvin, CA (ie the middle of nowhere). $135 later I'm back on the road (most expensive tank of gas ever, but thanks to Joe's Towing...I've got to see if Ducati Roadside Assistance might reimburse me). Then rain and wind about 20 miles leading up to, then up the grapevine as I tiptoed between 18 wheelers. Couldn't really see much of anything...helmet fogged on the inside, misted on the outside...was quite nasty. Trying to find the Botts dots just to keep a line.

Finally cleared up west of Gorman, and was clean all the way back in. Great frickin' bike (except for the gas guage). And the termis sound awesome.