Newbie with a problem

Hi all,
first of all this is a great site and i'm looking forward to many more posts here. I know that this is a way of introducing yourself, and not really the place to be venting your spleen, but I thought i'd mention my problem while i'm here? so apolagies first.
last week I bought my very first Ducati a 2008 monster 696 and I love it to bits.
I'm a very young at heart 55 year old and over the years have owned many bikes mostly big Tourers but also smaller v twins and v fours.
I have done about 350 miles on the Monster so far and my biggest problem is the front end vibration I just can't get to grips with how bad it is, I can only do about 20 miles before my hands go numb and and I have pins and needles in my throttle hand and my shoulders ache like hell, I know that the vibration is bad cos the nose fairing is shaking like mad and the view in the mirrors is a blur
My question is do I have a problem, is it the way im riding, or is this the norm with the 696,
I hope to god it ain't.
Any suggestions to my problem would be great, looking forward to hearing from you.

P.S. the bike I totally standard, with 13,500 miles on the clock with Ducati FSH and bought from a Ducati Dealer.

[slob]

My first Monster was a 620 and despite 25 odd years of experience at the time, on a wide variety of machinery, I found my thumbs aching like crazy after even quite short rides. The answer was grip more with the knees and less with the hands. Don't know if it will help in your case but might be worth a try.
...and welcome to the club.

Front wheel balance?

[Paul_]

What RPM range are you riding in? Sounds strange with the 696 being a Twin but anything below 3000 lugs and vibrates like hell, they don't like it. Keep it above 3.5 - 4 thousand revs and everything will smooth out.

My old 696 was really smooth and the front end was superb after 3k as mentioned above, the headlight fairing only shook at tickover, doesn't sound right at all to me. The wheel bearings have been known to go fairly early and its possibly worth getting the headrace bearings checked as well.

Hi slob,
thanks for the welcome, I see where your coming from and I do tend to grip with the knees so I don't think that's the problem mate? so I think this is going to take a bit more investigation

[J.P]

Welcome to the club and I hope you find a solution quickly, it should be that bad.

Originally Posted by Paul_

What RPM range are you riding in? Sounds strange with the 696 being a Twin but anything below 3000 lugs and vibrates like hell, they don't like it. Keep it above 3.5 - 4 thousand revs and everything will smooth out.

HI thanks for the reply,
I do tend to keep the revs up well over 3000, very rarely below that? but the vibration is still there, I think that its going to take a trip back to the dealers to sort this one out.
Cheers

Originally Posted by Scott1

My old 696 was really smooth and the front end was superb after 3k as mentioned above, the headlight fairing only shook at tickover, doesn't sound right at all to me. The wheel bearings have been known to go fairly early and its possibly worth getting the headrace bearings checked as well.

Hi thanks for your reply,
I thinks it's back to the dealers for this little MONSTER and get them to check it over!! As someone has already said, it shouldn't be this bad.
cheers

Originally Posted by J.P

Welcome to the club and I hope you find a solution quickly, it should be that bad.

Thanks for the welcome JP

Originally Posted by zhango

Front wheel balance?

Thanks for the advice
It's back to to the dealers for this little baby, and get them to look into it, because it's definately not right,
Cheers.

[utopia]

Doesn't sound quite right to me, either.
A 90 deg v-twin should have good balance characteristics.....better than an in-line four.
Though obviously the firing intervals are less uniform.

But then again, I concur with Slob's point.....I also found the same thing at first, probably due to the slightly forward, weight on the arms, riding position, and the outer bends of the bars which twisted my wrists a bit.....on my old style 750.

So that'll be another "yes and no..it all depends on the detail" type of answer from me then......but they're the best answers really.
On the one hand I wouldn't worry too much until you've settled in a bit more with the bike, but on the other, I'd get it checked out at a reputable ducati workshop fairly pronto,

.....and welcome along.

[Char]

what bars are one there - worth checking what bar end weights are on

I know when I put some fancy ones on mine it killed my hands so put the stock ones back on,,,,,

[Black Bob]

Hello and welcome.

Was the bike not OK when you test-rode it?

There have been tales in the past of shot bearings on the 696 after only few miles. Not normal at all.
Found the thread..696 front bearing failure