Anyone ridden a Monster 696?

[Bikebiz]

Caught up to a guy last night on the way home on a 696. Had a good dozen 'traffic light races' with him and was surprised at his speed!

We were just doing the old race up to eg 80km, then back to the limit (70). If I jumped off the lights then I had no problems jumping ahead, but if I bogged down a tad (happened a couple of times) he was off until we hit about 50, then we'd be on equal pegging.

His looked fairly stock (stock pipes at least). Just interested to hear what others thought of this bike in terms of power? I was impressed.

 

[Kazza]

Not yet, but on top of my wish list

A year ago, when I was a "newbie" Mike rode one - said it was fun, but probably a little too "twitchy" for me then.

A year later, I'd love a go

 

[Wavex]

It actually felt very smooth to me when I test rode one last year. Nice torque down low even though I expected a bit more punch in mid range and up (which I found in the Buell )

 

[Kazza]

It actually felt very smooth to me when I test rode one last year. Nice torque down low even though I expected a bit more punch in mid range and up (which I found in the Buell )

Well then Mike probably lied to me.

I bet he didn't want me getting a Ducati before he did :spank:

 

[Bikebiz]

The main thing that turned me off test riding one was the physical size. I'm 6'1" and it looks very compact with a low seat height. It's comfy enough to sit on, but then again the Streetfighter is the perfect fit for me. Which I refuse to test ride because I can't afford one

 

[seb101]

i was test riding the smaller monster two years ago, i liked the torque from the bottom, awesome sound of the v-twin with great Termignoni exhausts and wide bar, even tho im 6.4 it felt pretty good with that wide bar i's pushing it even upto 100mph and it didn't feel bad at all, i was thinking that it's gonna be a strugle like on every naked. It feels nice in curves and on the straight, if i could choose it as a city ride bike and had a ton of $ for servicing it i would go for it

 

[Wyotech kid]

The new monster is quite a good. I've not ridden one at all but i've heard good things about it.

As for the power department and I'm quoting a few instructors here at school even my euro teacher "Ducati sucks straight from the factory" Reasoning behind it is because (and im sure we all know) they care about racing. They make enough units to race and thats it. So basically they're just build "race bikes." Even they're enduro and touring models have problems.

But there are ways to render the power lost from the factory units. Cam timing is the biggest one on the list. Add a little bit more overlap to the cams and Ive seen guys take off their power commanders cuz it just isnt doing anything for it anymore. Quote from a guy from school that timed his 1098 "its got way more power than its ever had". :thumbup: The same can be said for just about all Ducati's bikes.

 

[mcteague]

Sat on one once and hated it. The seat is like a sliding board into the tank. My size 12 feet could not sit on the pegs in a normal position. Due to interference with the frame parts behind the pegs my feet were positioned in a very heel-out angle. No way I could ride that way.

Tim

 

[Ridgeback]

Don't know about the 696,but the 1100 monster pushes out the same bhp as the fz6 Torque is pretty good at about 80ftlbs(1100) though :thumbup: