Po ta toes
*sharp draw in of breath!!* Oh my!! You are going to be in TROUBLE!!!!!Originally Posted by SixPackBack
What about NumberoneMy Number One is purrrrrrrrrfect!!
Anyway..... we really should get back to the bike talk before we all get our well rounded bottoms infracted!!
Forum whore
If it wasn't so dreadfully ugly, maybe. Insurance quote was three times that of the Zed too, and revisiting a 20 year old design and deliberately marketing it as "retro" is just a bit cheeky. Hugely better bike that the GS1000/1100 it's mimicking, but just no.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
Highway Biker
Saw the new CB Thou and was impressed, went home and checked out my Kawasaki 2004 Z750, no contest, Z wins, lines, shape, colour, feel, ...once in your life you do need to own a Zed. (No matter, any Zed will do).
My opinion, my bike is 4 years old its style is still breathtaking in lines and looks, and even though the "hardware" is no where near as good as the new CB in the end my cicle is worth maybe now $6G and the new CB $19G, and I get a buzz every time I see my Zed.
Go figure gents, find a bike you love, a front tyre you adore and something black and round for the back, (Rossi said this I think).
PS first post in a year or near so.... and perhaps for another year or so........
spd:-)
Would you like some CANDY!?!?!
If there had been a white 696 at Motomart, I could be the quite happy owner of one.
What a superb bike. Where the Shiver wobbles, dives and tells you to back off (But in a muted kind of dribble fart type language) the Monster laughs at your feeble attempts to have fun and encourages you ride it like your stole it. The shiver in comparison begs to be given back. I was all amped up to love the Shiver, and was just so let down. I love the way it looks and the way it sounds, but.... meh.
I was amazed at how enthusiastic the 696 engine was, it was begging to be spanked like a naughty naughty girl. 2 valves per cylinder?!? You must be kidding, you don't even find cars with engines like that any more. And yet here it is, not the lumbering breathless pile of crap you were expecting.
Chuck a regular sized pillion and some bags on the bag though, I suspect it might struggle.
I thought the suspension is wonderful, heaps of info without being harsh.
The riding position gives you good leverage on the bars and makes moving around the bike and moving the bike very easy.
The only bad thing about it was that dash. Silly techno-wiz LCD bar graph taco. No THAT'S DUMB. And your present velocity is a small number down the bottom. ALSO DUMB. It's similar (or even the same? Can't remember too good) as the bullshit dash on the 1098 series. At least it's higher up on the 696 where you can actually see it and not right under your chin.
The 749/999 series had much better clocks. They had a very large analogue taco and the biggest digital speedo probably ever put on a bike, and it was in front of you.
Where did I ride it? Miromiro road, onto Normandale road, onto Sweetacres drive and then back down the hill to SH2. And onto SH2 I have to say it managed to generate a surprisingly big number in that tiny little speedo box in a very short amount of time.
I've seen one in white, it looks great. But in the end, I got something else. I have some crazy need to finish something I started.
Best Frenemy you could have!
The brakes on the CB1000R are definitely better than the CB919's though, thats for sure. The CB1000R is all round, just that little bit edgier, more sporty, than the hornet, but loses that practical do-all capability the 900 has (imagine givi racks on the cb1000r?
Now, for a real bike, Trudes can juuuust get her toes down, on both sides of my bike...
$1,101,806
Hi Mr KD, thanks for writing up your test-riding experiences.
so you're 5'10 and thought the Monster was about right? And Ms Trudes found it not too tall either? Is she considerably diminutiver than thou, or just a bit?
I'm a confirmed short-ar5e so nice bikes I might have a chance of being able to sit on without shelling out for complicated suspension surgery or having to tough it out for a couple of years on the rack sound like the way forward. If it's fairly forgiving for the shorter rider maybe I should go and try sitting on one as well
.
5'7" the monsters work for me...
Forum whore
Super Duke
The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.
Rolling Italian Orchestra
All I can say really........... Welcome to Ducati!
L'arte italiana cammina su due rotelle!
Geriatric hoon
Hmmm hard to know what you were expecting...
The BIKE comparison gives figures thus:
Triumph Speed Triple - 98.2bhp @ 11,900rpm (144.6 mph)
Honda Hornet 600 - 94.2bhp @ 11,800rpm (141.6 mph)
Aprilia Shiver - 82.1 bhp @ 9,400rpm (131.8 mph)
Monster 600 - 68.4 @ 8,200 (131.0 mph)
That's all but a 30 hp gap between the Triumph and the Duc, that's huge.
The torque figures are very uniform. As we'd anticipate the inline four is lowest @ 44.8 'lb but the Ducati has only .2 'lb more at 45. The Triumph develops 46.9 and the Shiver tops the bunch at 48.8.
BIKE rated the Ducati as "the best looking" "the easiest bike for novices" I'll say no more
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
Po ta toes
So it dawned a beautiful day in Welly today, nothing better to do so rode out to Motomart to take the new 696 Ducati Monster out for a spin.
Met up with our friend James Deuce there and handed over the keys to my Hornet for him to have a play on while I tried out the 696.
Immediately felt comfy on this nice shiny looking beasty, nice low seat height, so straight away the anxiety of "oh shit, I can only just tippy toe on this thing" was not there, (a major thing for most short-arses!) also this bike is light and all the weight feels low and easy to manage.
So finally took off from Motomart, had an issue with the clutch being a long way out, I'm used to the clutch engaging almost instantaniously, so I never really came to terms with the clutch on the 696 and found gear shifts difficult (couldn't get the throttle blip correct) but this is an easy fix so not really any fault of the bike. Rode up to the roundabout, brake brake brake, Holy God!! Brembo brakes are AWESOME!!!!! (Jim I'm sure was pissing himself as I constantly lurched about playing with the amazing brakes and the lengthy clutch!!). Eased out around the roundabout and immediately the bike tipped into the corner.... woohoo, I think I'm going to like this!! Lets go find some corners!!
Along the motorway the bike sits comfortably on the road, I noticed very little wind hitting my head, I find not wearing any earplugs painful on my Hornet, however I was quite happy without them on the 696.Head up the Haywards hill, pull out to pass a car, Ahhhh, what's wrong with the bike?? It's making a really bad noise at me.... oh shit! I look down and see all these red lights.... oh... rev limiter.... ooppppssss, change gear, much better!!
So yes, it's not a 900, you have to change gears, it doesn't like sitting in second all the time, ok, will remember that!
Rode around the Pauahatanui inlet road.... this bike LOVES corners, gobbles them up and asks for more, how fun is this!!! It tips in very easily and inspires more lean and more speed, nice!!!Turned around and headed back, no more interesting things, except that the suspention feels nice and stable on bumpy roads, and I probably should have tried out 4th and 5th and 6th gears, but, oh well....
So, would I trade my Hornet on one? Well, to be honest.... no. Maybe when people start selling them second-hand. There were some really nice things about this bike, corners are just SO much fun on it, it looks nice, I'm sure with some aftermarket exhausts on it it may actually sound like a Ducati (it's way too quiet!!!), the suspention and brakes are great and all round is a very fun bike to ride! However, I've got used to the easy to use power of the Hornet, maybe I'd learn to ride it properly and use all its available power and if I was going from a smaller bike to this I'd be very happy with it, but going down may be harder I think.
So, if you're in the market for something new, fun and are a short-arse, do try the Monster, and find some corners
Thanks Motomart for lending me some fun, if I win Lotto I'll be back to get one. Thanks to Jim for coming for a pootle with us, lovely to see you as always, and always nice to share the road with you!!And Kendog for encouraging me to try the bike out.
Forum whore
That was totally wicked!
I'm sorry I wouldn't give your keys back.
I made a hash of the photos, so I reckon we should try again sometime in the near future. Cool thing about getting photos wrong is you learn what works and what doesn't.
The hardest thing to photograph on a beautiful summer's day (for me anyway) is a black motorcycle. The more light there is the more detail you lose, so I'm going to have to start fiddling with those arcane manual settings.
Your Hornet has to be the best Hornet 900 in existence. Gearing changes, those brilliant levers, the lovely sonorous Cycleworks pipes and a well setup Power Commander make it a truly fun motorcycle. The mirrors are sex on a stick - literally. How much is your old man's one going for? Me on a Hornet after all those things I've said!
I can see why the 696 didn't push any buttons for you.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
Eyes that shine burning red
Glad you enjoyed it. Once set up they are pretty damn nice.
I will see what my one is going for. It however does not have the smaller sprocket, power commander or TEKA tune, but it looks nicer
Forum whore
I'll take that off the asking price thenGlad you enjoyed it. Once set up they are pretty damn nice.
I will see what my one is going for. It however does not have the smaller sprocket, power commander or TEKA tune, but it looks nicer
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
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