Hi all,
Nice to meet you all on here, my name is Carlos and I just bought a 696 from another member on this forum, it was Steve from Andover who sold me his very shiney 696 with Termies which sound bloody amazing, as Steve said your ears bleed when you go in tunnels.
Anyway a bit about me, I am 43 live in Beckenham Kent.
My main reason for picking the Monster 696 is because I was fed up with having in line four 1000cc Fireblades which I could not get much out of on the public roads, well not if I wanted to keep my license, so as a wise man once told me its better to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow, not that the 696 is that slow but in comparison the bhp is a lot lower and thats just what I want, also I love twin engines which are so much fun, you get the torquey bit lower in the rev range which I like, again good for the license.
All my past bikes apart from one were Honda's, CB1000R, 09 Fireblade, Hornet and 600RR and one Triumph Street Triple.
So far I have a few opinions on my new bike and here they are;
The Good: The Termies, oh my god they sound amazing, on my way home from Steve's I have never revved an engine as much when at lights, everyone was looking at who was making such a racket, truly beautiful sound.
The engine, love the amount of usable power and torque, great on roundabouts and twisties.
Ease of ride, just on it and once used to the clutch (will get to that) it was a joy, just so easy to give it a handful and chuck into corners with confidence.
The Different: The clutch, strange that it bites so far out, got used to it after a while but then saw that you cant adjust it, at least there was a bolt but it had glue in the slot so could not turn it, should be ok but wonder why it is soo far out, I use two fingers on the clutch so should be ok anyway, have to say though man is it light, really great that part.
Anyway will shut up now, once I get typing.
Lastly I do advanced riding with LAM in Kent and might see some of you around if you are LAM riders.
Also I make bike videos on YouTube, I recently just came back from the Isle of Man TT and am just editing my footage of all the ups and unfortunate downs which I witnessed. No doubt I will make one with my 696 and mic up the Termies, cant wait to hear those on loud speaker.
Here is my channel link if you fancy checking it out >>>
http://www.youtube.com/user/JazzFiveO?feature=guide
Chat soon guys and gals
Keep her lit (where possible)
Carlos