Well I was in the local Ducati Dealer today auditioning for an SS replacement when the nice man (Thanks Todd) offered me the keys to the new Monster 696 even knowing that it was well out of my price range and I was about as likely to buy it as I would to grow another head.
My initial reaction was it looks hot, modern but really small. All the controls are in absolutely the right place but whats this? It has a manual choke???? OK Ducati couple of points off for that one. The offending demo bike had an ecu upgrade and termignoni pipes, the sound was just freakin unbelievably sexy. I fired this bad boy up and grabbed a handful of clutch, soft and smooth as any honda or suzuki (no really I had to read the tank again to make sure he hadn't accidently put me on a cb600). It felt seriously almost uncomfortably light at first but a couple of blocks and you learn to really enjoy the lack of weight. The position is very upright but a touch forward and like all Ducatis you are pitched into the tank but in a good way.
Through the Hutt it was extremely good in the traffic and very managable. So I decided to head to the Maungaraki fly over and onto the motorway. Throw it over into the corner but not too much as it had brand new tyres on it and razor sharp cornering once you get the idea of a pivot from your hips and elbows(rather than hips and shoulders on a sports bike). So onto the motorway and quick headcheck to pass a Hyobag I seem to have caught up to and give it a handful....... Whoa this thing is quick, really quick. It surged forward in that wonderful way that got me into bikes in the first place and I'd almost become acceleration jaded till I experienced this (Last bike I rode before this was a 90 GSXR 1100 to give you a clue how good the Duc is). From what I've read from other reviews I feel that with a bit of mileage on that the 696 punches harder than when its new and tight. Bit of wind buffet but it doesn't really kick in till well over the limit (Woops).
Very stable at motorway speed and the digital read out is well spaced out with everything you need. I had to have a play with the display (after pulling over of course), it has a stopwatch, temp and a few other nice bits that we bikers have come to expect.
So after a half hour ride there was a real danger that I was going to mortgage my soul to buy it so I quickly returned it to grab something I could afford.
So what did I think? An Aprilia Shiver for midgets (I'm 5'8 and a bit) is somewhat close but this thing would eat the Ape for lunch and spit out the bones. Maybe an Italian answer to the CB600, well kinda close, if the CB sounded better and had a lot more acceleration. No I think the best way to describe it is all the flair of Italy with the road manners of a Japper, the comfort of a good upright, good real world useable power and really really 250 style weight. The good entry level Duc is still with us.
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Originally Posted by Str8 Jacket
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. (that Manuel choke thing you mentioned is just a Fast Idle control)
Trust me to insert foot before putting typing into gear.
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