Impressions of a Monster!

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. 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.

If I'd been in the market for a new bike today the Duc would be on my list although possibly the 800.

Urban posing machine that's hard to beat I think. espesh if your living in a place with lots of sunshine. If you like to get a bit frisky with your riding though, I think an alternative machine might be chosen.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by PointyPete

No, not a poor party piece. A friend of my brothers has recently started as a salesman at the local Ducati dealership.

I'm an SV owner and a reasonably experienced rider, do you reckon he'd let me have an extended test ride on a 1098S just so I can give him some valuable feedback to.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I'm an SV owner and a reasonably experienced rider, do you reckon he'd let me have an extended test ride on a 1098S just so I can give him some valuable feedback to.

LOL - Not quite as good as it sounds. Had things gone wrong I'd still have had the quite subtantial excess to pay. I couldn't afford to fall off and he knew it. BTW the lastest issue of TWO has an article on how easy it is to blag test rides.

My missus loves hers. She started out with a CBR400RR and she didnt really get on with it. The little 'H' is very heavy for its size. But she got on with the monster straight away for the same reasons as you have just said. I also love riding it, but only on short journeys as I'm 6'4 and it has a lowered seat. But it is just so flickable round the twisties. Awesome little bikes. I love em.

[the_lone_wolf]

watch the exhausts

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

watch the exhausts

The salesman told me he went round corners looking backwards at the cans! Sounds like fair advice to me.

I've been out on my bike this evening to reasure myself I'd still enjoy it. I had an absolute ball. No regrets...

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

watch the exhausts

solved that problem by buying twin high level termis

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I'm an SV owner and a reasonably experienced rider, do you reckon he'd let me have an extended test ride on a 1098S just so I can give him some valuable feedback to.

I'll save you the bother. Apart from the power, the looks and the fact that I don't own 3 miles of racetrack in Italy - there's nothing that would ever make me want one.Its a track bike and offers nothing for the road. Your hands trap in the front farings at anything more than a 1/4 inch turn - it's actually dangerous in a realtime road situation. for example -hit a bump on a corner and your hands rattle the farings. The mirrors (rofl) are an utter joke. The riding position's too extreme and the build quality leaves a lot to be desired. For 11k I'd expect much better.

Forgot all the rosy reviews in the mags - it's ok to blow sunshine when you're on track and getting paid for it but if you owned one all you'd do is look at it in the garage because you were too scared to ride it on the road.

edit: Forgot to mention the brakes. Just ridiculously fierce. They'd be just fine braking at 120 on a track but in traffic hey are just brutal beyond anything you could ever imagine. This makes riding in town a scary experience.

I think you are the only person i've heard of to have such a negative view of the 1098, all the guys on my duke forum that have they can't fault them, there's a few niggles but no one regrets buying one and they all say they are very easy to ride.