Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128382
, n,vou're :going itO buv ,one street !bike ,in 'vour llile, ,vou Imav 'want to :1001( 'at this lone " I ' 'd worn the same clothes for so long, I was concerned they'd need their own passport to get back home. It was that kind of trip. At least initially. Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Paris, Florence, a quick little drive to Tuscany, a day to recover and then a wonderful little day ride on KTM's 950 5upermoto. It all sounded rather simple. Fourteen, 15 hours max, and we'd be sampling Tuscany's finest wine - and the bike designed to complete KTM's already impressive Supermoto lineup. But simple wasn't easy. To make a long story short, Cincinnati to Paris required a detour to Atlanta via a tad of the Atlantic. I ." , By the time we arrived in Paris, Florence was out of the question - at least for that day. A night in Paris was followed by a delayed flight to Florence, a little adventure in finding our hotel in Tuscany, and then the good part: a date with the 950 Supermoto. The free day of sightseeing and relaxing in Tuscany was gone, thanks to our good friends at Delta. So 14, 15 hours max turned into 50 hours. Fifty hours in the same clothes. Hey, when in France, smell like the... well, never mind. Fast-forward to our second loop of riding the 950 Supermoto on the brilliant little roads that wind their way through 40 JUNE 15,2005 • CYCLE NEWS I - .... .."<>- - , countless vineyards and villages in the mountains of Tuscany. Inspired from watching Valentino Rossi beat Sete Gibernau in the French Grand Prix at Le Mans during our lunch break, Cycle World's Brian Catterson and I went out for our final loop on the 950 Supermoto. It was then that we encountered Luigi, sportbike rider not so extraordinaire. As we entered a small village, Catterson and 1slowed to show what polite little foreigners we were (and also so as not to wind up with an old Italian woman carrying bread under our front wheels). That's when Luigi caught us on his sportbike. Then he sat there, his patience fading like -'. ~ I ~r ~ _ I • :.- an American in traffic, apparently not as concerned about his fellow locals as we were. So, at the first opportunity, he shot past. At that point, my competitive nature and double shot of espresso from lunch kicked in, and I decided to show him that a KTM 950 Supermoto is much better suited to those roads than his sportbike. 1caught him, hounded him from behind and watched him make mistake after mistake as he tried to pull away. Eventually, little Luigi thought the wiser, pulled over and waved me by. Victory, KTM. The 950 Supermoto is the sort of motorcycle that enables you to mess with the likes of Luigi on roads like those. If the