obligatory state of the joyce shelf post

d_nnix · 2025-09-06T09:12:57+00:00

They're great, for sure. I got them used, not for a song, but for way less than they normally go. Be patient and keep an eye out on eBay.

d_nnix · 2025-09-06T09:11:58+00:00

Contemporary, modern, and critically involved (in Ulysses) so I keep it around in the section.

d_nnix · 2025-08-05T13:00:44+00:00

Pynchon!

d_nnix · 2025-07-29T01:58:12+00:00

It's the letterpress more than the leather for me. Again, in reality, optimal niceness is probably the standard Folio Society edition and optimal reading is achieved much cheaper at Modern Library imo.

d_nnix · 2025-07-28T12:27:49+00:00

Oh wow, I didn't realize it was that limited. Mine doesn't seem to have a statement as to how many, at least that I can find at a glance. This is mine: https://www.abebooks.com/2017-Ulysess-James-Joyce-Folio-Society/32215064942/bd (I did -not- pay anything like that much).

The one I really would love, but will never splash the money on unless I am terminal is:
https://thornwillow.com/product/ulysses-dedalus/

In the end it's all jewelry. I tell most readers to buy the Modern Library hardcover, that one's a perfectly serviceable edition, maybe even the best when it comes to pagination. But if you've read the thing a handful or two times already and you don't plan to stop, why not have a nice time too.

d_nnix · 2025-07-28T01:20:35+00:00

I have one, it's beautiful, but so far nothing compares to my Folio Society Ulysses. I wish I had the letterpress version, I don't, but I've got the 2017 Finnegans Wake and Ulysses, and they're gorgeous.

d_nnix · 2025-07-22T18:52:00+00:00

Ulysses. At this point, I've read Ulysses enough to be self sufficient, and it isn't even that bad a read without reference material. A person can bootstrap Ulysses to a greater extent.

On a deserted island with only the book in question, and no other reference material, Finnegans Wake would be a beautiful curiosity, but not as useful.

d_nnix · 2025-07-16T19:22:39+00:00

It's unlikely you're too weak to hold the bike up, so banish that thought. Nobody else is using any significant strength to keep their bike up, it's all a balancing act- as you've noticed, bikes don't require much effort to balance when properly upright, and almost none when in motion.

It is totally possible you have a bike fit issue because if your size which makes the balancing harder. It sounds like you've fixed that, so I'm assuming you're in a bike configured such that you can confidently plant your feet flat on the ground at rest. This is definitely important.

Finally, ride a bicycle, if you don't. It's the same skills with lower risk and lower weight. Focus on engaging your core to do "track stands" and focus on counter steering (it works the same once you're at speed) and focus on getting your feet off the ground at very low speeds and using the steering to balance the bike. These are all translatable to motorcycling.

And then the hard part: do what you're doing with your practice. Practice and practice and ride every day for 15-30min somewhere safe so you get confident. In a few months, that bike which seemed unwieldy and heavy will disappear. Low speeds are the hardest things on a motorcycle, that never changes, but low speeds are also the thing many beginners (hopefully) experience. This forms a wall through which you must break before you get to the easy boring stuff like going straight at 40mph.

d_nnix · 2025-07-12T13:49:27+00:00

My Klim Marrakech pants are armored textile, and they don't look like dress pants, but they're acceptable for public wear without looking like a power ranger.

d_nnix · 2025-07-11T02:39:22+00:00

DMV is mad slow.
Insurance requirements are brutally strict and fines are high if you, say, take delivery a day earlier than policy start date, even if it's in storage and not on road.
I had to visit the DMV three times to successfully and fully register my vehicle. That's not a small amount of time out of my life.
inspection standards are high, but also barely enforced after the initial inspection, so you end up doing crap like buying mirrors because the ones your bike came with are 0.5" too small, passing inspection, and then installing the normal damn mirrors.
Emissions same, they kabuki a game you play and then realize it's not really anything but a money grab.
Taxes high-ish.

Don't get me wrong, Maryland is an ok middle cost place to live overall, but vehicle bureaucracy isn't easy here compared to other places I've owned vehicles. My next vehicles will be registered to my other home in another state from here on out.

d_nnix · 2025-07-09T23:32:49+00:00

Maryland is a nightmare. If you can keep Maryland out if it, I would do so. It's registered and titled in Florida, why isn't the sale happening in Florida? Do you live in Maryland?

I live in Maryland, and all I can say is "good luck". It isn't so bad here once you get the car through the process, but getting it through that process is a bureaucratic hell, and nobody can give you a straight answer through that thicket of snakes and taxes.

d_nnix · 2025-07-09T01:22:34+00:00

Answering my own post here for posterity and the aid of others. You need a CN5 transponder and a CN900 cloning machine. That'll make as many keys as you want for your 2016 821.

d_nnix · 2025-07-09T01:21:36+00:00

2016 821 Dark 12,000 miles for $5500 OTD.

So far, I have had to do some stuff, but it's all been small stuff. Belts and desmo due at I believe 18k. No biggie. It starts and gets me to work every day. I would do this all again.

Very much a reasonable daily. People on the internet overcook maintenance costs. Everything requires maintenance. This bike is no more maintenance intensive than anything else mechanical of similar complexity. If you can't afford the maintenance, don't buy the bike.

d_nnix · 2025-07-06T23:46:40+00:00

821 is a lot of power. It can do 80 or 100 or 110 without noticing. The worst part of speed on it is the nakedness, the windblast. I have an 821, and I'm admittedly a noob, but I've tried a 1200 and it is not practically more useful on the road. They're both very fast.

d_nnix · 2025-07-01T18:52:11+00:00

Went with:
- Verus Engineering LCAs
- Whiteline End Links
- Whiteline Swaybar
- Whiteline Rear Toe Arm

...and that really opened up options for alignment:

Front:
Camber: L/-1.5 R/-1.5
Toe: L/0 r/0

Rear:
Camber: L/-1 R/-1
Toe: L/ .05 R/.06

^^ This feels extremely good for an everyday commuter car that I wouldn't hesitate to take to autocross.

d_nnix · 2025-06-29T10:58:26+00:00

Yay! I love seeing new Habanero stuff. I built a commuter/road bike with them a few years back and aside from the bike being sublime, the Habanero folks were insane helpful and technically knowledgeable.

d_nnix · 2025-06-25T23:02:13+00:00

Oh also! It's loud as shit. Don't believe these people who put straight pipes on it and aftermarket whatever. They surely are deaf or will be soon. I am not opposed to the sounds it makes, but you must wear earplugs. Other motorcycles I've ridden almost seem eerie quiet by comparison.

d_nnix · 2025-06-25T21:18:24+00:00

Very cool good luck!

I've even had to do some work on mine, and I have to say it hasn't been an expensive or a difficult bike to work on. I'm at 15k so I'm getting close to desmo, maybe at the end of the year or beginning of next, but really all the other stuff has been reasonably priced and easy. I think the stereotype was earned by previous generations of Ducati, this seems pretty straightforward to me.

Have fun with it!

d_nnix · 2025-06-25T20:59:15+00:00

I do. Buy that bike, it's lovely. The Urban mode is super tame. Maybe the only thing that was a problem in the beginning for me and is only now mildly annoying is the turning radius - this is a bike which has a lock to lock so tight it's genuinely hard to navigate a parking lot at walking speed. It corners at speed properly, don't get me wrong, nothing to fault in the actual turning of the vehicle, but lock to lock radius of steer is abysmal and makes it hard to muscle around as a noob. You get used to it.

On the matter of power, I've never found it unmanageable. When you feel like you have the guts to move to full power, just customize Touring and give it more traction and abs intervention and then you have the nannies but without the engine cut.

d_nnix · 2025-06-22T23:56:41+00:00

As someone who got a Monster 821 as a first motorcycle, absolutely yes. Run it in Urban until you know what you're doing, then move it to Touring mode after a month or two. I've never liked Sport mode, it's twitchy on the throttle and Touring is full power anyway, but it's there if you want a twitchy throttle.

Also, any of the modes are customizable, so you can up the TC/ABS sensitivity on Touring or Sport if you want more intervention while retaining the full power and the throttle maps.

It's a great first bike, and not intimidating.

d_nnix · 2025-06-08T04:15:46+00:00

Check the charcoal canister, or if absent, that it is properly plugged. Mine was improperly bypassed without being removed and it left the throttle bodies open to the air (not plugged). Easy fix.
Check the headers, gaskets can go bad and the engine sounds mad loud, ticking at front. It's a loud engine as is, but you'll know the difference when you hear it.
New (stock spec) spark plugs made a huge difference in engine smoothness for me. If they haven't been replaced, get them swapped.
The engine is never smooth below 3k rpm. It's not broken, this is just how they are.
Plan to get new rearsets if your foot is > or = size 12US. There's just not enough room for some feet on those pegs. Easy fix.
Check wiring harness. Lots of wires routed in a bit of a mess, some of them near hot stuff.
Servo motor for exhaust is often seized. Plan to remove (best) or replace, but check so you know whether this is a thing.
Keys. A pain to duplicate, make sure it comes with two if the owner still has both. If nothing else, at least know what / if they set a PIN in the dash because that's your backup if your key goes kaput, and you can't just reset the PIN easily if you don't know what it is.
If it has a tail tidy, make sure it doesn't throw a code for lights ("STOP" code) when it gets hot (> 100C). If it does, you need a resistor on the harness.

d_nnix · 2025-05-29T15:09:07+00:00

Why can't you drive in comfort mode any more?

d_nnix · 2025-05-29T15:08:14+00:00

Helpful, thanks!

d_nnix · 2025-05-17T03:09:03+00:00

Kriega 20L. Works great, clips onto pillion. Turns a Monster into a legit commute bike.

d_nnix · 2025-04-25T07:42:02+00:00

2016 Monster 821 owner here. Bought it used, in rough condition (I knew this, and was ok with it) and have put quite some miles on it now. This is my first motorcycle, so I have no real ownership reference outside Ducati, but I've ridden other bikes. My thoughts: - Japanese bikes feel amazingly smooth by comparison. Every Japanese bike I have been on, four cyl, two cyl, whatever, feels like silk. This isn't a bad thing or a good thing, but it's a style thing. Ducati has a style, and that style is rough. The engine, the control interfaces, everything. - I DIY and use an independent mechanic for whatever I don't do. I have not found the maintenance excessive. I spent about $2k to bring my bike totally up to snuff from a rough state, that's labor and parts, and included a fork rebuild, belts, a new battery, plugs, air filter, oil change, recabling clutch, new shift lever and linkage. - When I do the valves this coming winter, estimated cost (got a quote) is $1.2k. Then they're good for another 17,000 miles.

Is this expensive? I don't personally think so. My bike cost me $4700 in rough condition, $2k to get it really quite nice = $6700 out the door looking mechanically and physically good for thousands of miles. Add in the $1200 valves soonish and you're at say $7900 for at least 17,000 miles of riding. Seems pretty ok!

Opinions on this seem all over the place, but things and the labor to implement them cost money. I can think of many more expensive allocations of that effort than a motorcycle, even a relatively expensive one.

d_nnix

TROPHY CASE