2 observations in brief:

1. The shifters on MotoGP competition bikes (and many other race bikes) are reversed: You tick the lever down for upshifts (1-2, 2-3, 3-4, etc.) and up for downshifts. This requires a linkage and pushrod quite different from stock sport bikes, on which you tick up for upshifts and down for downshifts. Since the MotoGP crowd was full of posers, we started checking the shifter linkage on displayed “race” bikes to see if they were legitimate or just fancy-painted stock bikes to wow the crowd. (Some were, some weren’t).

Then, last Wednesday in Georgetown when I was visiting the exorcist stairs (they connect 36th and M streets, if you’re interested), I saw a CBR1000RR with gold-colored brake levers, bar ends, and rear-sets. The first thing I noticed, however, was the golden GP-style shifter linkage that this squid had installed. Good thing I self-trained to notice this bit of rice at the MotoGP.

2. Speaking of the exorcist stairs (the stairs that the priest hurls himself down at the end of The Exorcist), they were…stairs. Before mounting them, you must walk through the parking lot of an EXXON, pass a stinky dumpster, and walk around several parked cars. When I reached the top I couldn’t help but laugh: sitting there were tourists holding a Washington, D.C. tour book. I couldn’t even climb the stairs in peace.