PointyPete
23-09-07, 02:24 PM
No, not a poor party piece. A friend of my brothers has recently started as a salesman at the local Ducati dealership. He was interested to see what an SV owner and newish rider would make of the Monster 695 so I got an invite. :):)
I ride an SVS so my first thought when sitting on the Duc was how upright the riding postion was. Second thing was the size of the bike, how close the bars are and how very low the seat is. It all conspires to make the bike feel totally unintimidating and put me in mind of the ER-5 I took my test on.
This all meant I could chuck myself straight in to riding in a way I wouldn't on the SV, I usually take a bit of time to warm myself and the bike up. I was definately much more gung ho on the Duc but to counter this the riding postion made me feel much more alert and observant. It was better in traffic. The bike rode exactly as I had imagined a motorbike would back in my early teen downhill mountain biking days.
Performance felt quite similar to the SV but with less revvy engine characteristics, possibly the Monster is a little slower.
The brakes were just as gentle as an SVs and the slipper clutch meant the occasional fluffed down change with too small a blip still went smoothly. The clutch action was very light, I think a beginner would get on with the bike very well indeed.
There was one important safety issue on my particular bike the raises a few questions about whether the italians have really come as far as they say with quality control. The rear indicators were connected the wrong way 'round!!! Luckily my Dad was following on a Sport Classic (the only other bike available) and was able to let me know before someone knocked me off. Still I now have some experiance of hand signals.
Overall the bike felt a lot less of a serious sports machine than the SV but was all the more enjoyable for it. It definately brought out the holigan in me. :smt077 I don't know how much of this is down to the riding position so next dry day off I'm heading to Suzuki for a test ride on a naked SV. :D
If I'd been in the market for a new bike today the Duc would be on my list although possibly the 800.
I ride an SVS so my first thought when sitting on the Duc was how upright the riding postion was. Second thing was the size of the bike, how close the bars are and how very low the seat is. It all conspires to make the bike feel totally unintimidating and put me in mind of the ER-5 I took my test on.
This all meant I could chuck myself straight in to riding in a way I wouldn't on the SV, I usually take a bit of time to warm myself and the bike up. I was definately much more gung ho on the Duc but to counter this the riding postion made me feel much more alert and observant. It was better in traffic. The bike rode exactly as I had imagined a motorbike would back in my early teen downhill mountain biking days.
Performance felt quite similar to the SV but with less revvy engine characteristics, possibly the Monster is a little slower.
The brakes were just as gentle as an SVs and the slipper clutch meant the occasional fluffed down change with too small a blip still went smoothly. The clutch action was very light, I think a beginner would get on with the bike very well indeed.
There was one important safety issue on my particular bike the raises a few questions about whether the italians have really come as far as they say with quality control. The rear indicators were connected the wrong way 'round!!! Luckily my Dad was following on a Sport Classic (the only other bike available) and was able to let me know before someone knocked me off. Still I now have some experiance of hand signals.
Overall the bike felt a lot less of a serious sports machine than the SV but was all the more enjoyable for it. It definately brought out the holigan in me. :smt077 I don't know how much of this is down to the riding position so next dry day off I'm heading to Suzuki for a test ride on a naked SV. :D
If I'd been in the market for a new bike today the Duc would be on my list although possibly the 800.