Would a 696 suit me

Hi there!

I'm considering joining the monster club by getting a 696, but will it suit me? I've booked a test ride but wanted to find out more about the bike from the folk that know them best.

I'm a biker from Bristol and currently ride my "dream bike", a Daytona 675. Problem is, in the real world, the dream is a bit too much and I miss some of the everyday benefits of my old SV650.

I mostly use my bike for commuting and long weekend rideouts.

The points that attract me to the monster are:
>Nice bike with nice parts and a nice badge (Like the D675)
>Lightweight (like the D675)
>Comfort
>Lower running costs (Especially vs my current 4 figure insurance!)
>Safety features (Slipper clutch and ABS). I'm a dad
>Able to use all the bikes capability on the road
>Return to V-twin rumble

What I'm not so sure about is whether I will look stupidly big for the bike. I'm 6 foot and, while I'm fairly confident I wont feel cramped, the bike seems very short from headlight to tail. I'm also new to air cooled engines and wonder what they're like stuck in traffic on a warm summers day?

Would also like to know about anything I haven't thought to ask of. It'll give me a break from re-reading the Ducati blurb and oogling at the brochure photos ;-)

Hi i ride a 750 i am 5 11 and i don't think i look stupid the wife tells me i am stupid but that's another story

as for traffic do not think its a problem i just filter past whole point of two wheels

[BeePee]

You only get stuck in traffic when you don't have Termignoni pipes fitted, a wee blip of the twister magically moves the traffic ........usually

[MrsC_772]

I love my 696 but I'm a 5'2 shortie. It's definitely lightweight, the handling is great - really light and flickable and I find the slightly forward leaning but not excessively sporty riding position really suits me.

BigOz on this forum is not a shortie like me, and has made various suspension upgrades over the years to get his bike to better fit him.

I do find if I'm stuck at traffic lights on a hot day, the exhaust toasts the back of my left leg.

I've come to the Monster family from a similar place - my previous bike was a GSX750R that was too much bike for my skill. It's taken me a couple of months to get used to my monster with the completely different riding style, but now that I have (and put termi's on) I love it, and the more I ride it, the more special it becomes. I can push it to near the limits without getting the feeling it's trying to kill me at the first given opportunity, it's nice and light, and comfy enough to ride all day if you have the time. Plus, it's gorgeous I'm not sure I would have bought it if I'd test ridden it... but I have absolutely no regrets!

Thanks for the warm welcome all. I'm very excited about going for the test ride. Not expecting to be blown away by the torque/power, but that's ok as I'm on the lookout for a pride & joy with a more rounded set of enjoyable experiences, including noise, confidence and some practicality

[BeePee]

Buy the 796 then, loads of dseign extras sssa, better suspenders etc

Thanks BeePee. I did consider the 796, but I actually prefer the styling of the double sided swing arm (realise I may be alone in that camp). The extra money for the 796 seemed a lot for basically a slightly longer stroke of the same engine and a swing arm I like less.

Didn't realise there was a suspension difference tho?

I did read reviews that said the 796 also had less confidence inspiring throttle controll, on/off throttle.

There's actually quite a bit of difference between he 696 and 796. Having ridden the two, "Back-to-Back" on many occasions.

Forgetting the few cosmetic differences, i.e. Single Sided Arm, which I prefer, but as you say, is a personal thing.

I have the latter, my Boy has the former.

The smaller bike is more nimble and has much quicker steering, largely probably because of the narrower rear tyre.

The 796 is more upright, and "seems" to deliver a lot more torque, even though the outputs are quite close, according to book figures.

It's almost as if the 796 is a "More Mature" version of the same bike, and the 696 is the Young-Upstart.

The 796 throttle can be a little bit tiresome in town, but I wouldn't say it's On/Off like some V-Twins I've ridden.

I wouldn't be surprised if the 80bhp for the 696 isn't over stated, making the true gap bigger. I'm not that fussed tho as 70bhp ish is plenty useful enough in the real world. I saw a comparison somewhere where the power & torque curves of 696 and gladius sat basically on top of each other.

The longer stroke translating to more torque makes sense

Had my test ride and loved it. I know you know these bikes, but I'll give my mini review anyway.

Overall, it's everything I hoped it would be. Plenty of power and found myself going a lot faster than I thought at some points. Couldn't believe how easy it was to ride; the brakes and clutch were set exactly as I expected and I was able to concentrate on enjoying the ride as soon as we'd passed the 1st set of traffic lights. The 696 is very confidence inspiring in the twisties, the comfort was there and the weight seems almost toy like.

One of my concerns, the size, seemed ok. i did look big on the bike but not stupidly so.

So what's not to like?
In fairness, not much, but what is a review without some pickiness. On the whole, it seems Ducati paid great attention to detail in the design, all except for the bits you see when riding. The switch gear & brake resvs were horrible, on a par with my old chinese 125, the dash and mirrors & levers weren't great either. I know I'm supposed to be looking forward while riding, not looking down, but it did disappoint compared to the view from the Daytona's saddle. Perhaps these can be easily modded?

The other thing was the low rev limit. I know it's a V-twin, but the way the engine felt, it seemed like it wanted to go further before the jobsworth limiter kicked in. Can the limit be easily changed from 9k to say 10k / 10.5k without engine damage?

Finally, sound. It's great, but i want more of it. Unfortunately, the stock silencers work too well. Can easily be changed, I know, but because there's 2, it seems like a minimum bill of £400.

So, I'm left with a tough choice. The monster is exactly what I need and virtually exactly what I want. And if I passed a ducati dealer 150 miles into a rideout on the daytona, I'd buy one on the spot. But for now, I think I'm stupidly and greedily addicted to the rush and the cockpit of the Daytona. Hmm

[Flip]

I'm sure it is a tough one, the Daytona is a quality motorcycle for sure.

But as you have said, as with most things anything on the Ducati can be modified or changed (your wallet is the limiting factor) to suit your style- In fact the original Monsters came with an accessory catalogue with everything in it from wheels, exhausts and carbon fibre parts to comfort seats and panniers. The bikes were sold as almost a blank canvass for customers to modify to their liking.

Something, perhaps the latest models lack a little in their design but with economies around Europe the way they are I guess the last thing Ducati want their customers to think is that as soon a they have bought a bike they need to spend hundreds on it getting it the way they want it.

If you look around the forum and on the net you will find peoples' bikes with modification that far out value the bike itself, why?? Because there is just something so 'involving' with the bikes to own. I've owned my old 900 thirteen years now and although not nearly as modified as some it is pretty much as I want it to be, although they never really stop being work in progress- (if anyone has a set of either spoked wheels or Marchesini items laying around please get in touch) and I still sometimes go out to the garage just to look at it and people still look at it as something special when it's parked up- how many bikes can you say have made people do that?.

So I would say, have another test ride on one after you've blatted around on your Daytona for a couple of weeks, think about the mods you want to do again (lots of things like exhausts come up second hand) and remember they don't all have to be done right away.
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Thanks Flip. Arrgh , now it just sounds fun and I wanna switch. I'm too fickle

[BeePee]

Now take the 796 out and have a look at crg arrow mirrors and £6 reservoir brackets on ebay

[gary tompkins]

Rev limit is there to prevent damage and improve long term reliability. The 2V monster engine produces it's best power in the midrange, so higher revs are a bit pointless. They just need to be ridden differently to get the best performance out of them. Try one of the bigger capacity monsters with more grunt and you might not feel the need for extra revs.