| Author | Message | ||
     Dynasport |
My son is home for spring break and I took the day off to take him to a spring training baseball game. Baseball is something that bridges the gap between my 44 years and his 20. We also took some time to go bike shopping. He gets out of school in about a month and has set aside money for a bike purchase. This will be his first bike and he is turning out to be a bit like me in that he likes tons of different bikes and is having a hard time choosing what he wants. He listens to me enough to take some general guidance but he is still his own man when it comes to the final decision. Fortunately he has listened to me enough to not consider an all out sport bike as his first bike. Originally he was all hot for a Honda CBR600RR, but that is no longer a consideration after some strong protests from me. Next he wanted a V-Rod, but after looking at the costs he decided that was not a good idea either. Next he decided on a Yamaha FZ-6 and I was OK with that. It is probably not what I would have picked, but this is his bike, not mine, and his money is buying it. He was settled on that for a long time, but on this trip home he no longer seemed to want one. He had changed his mind to a Harley Nightster. With its limited suspension travel and fairly steep price for a first bike, I was not thrilled. But again, this is his bike. Then he discovered the Ducati Monster 696. The bike has not been released yet, but he saw some 695s and found out they had been replaced by the 696. On the way to the game today we stopped by the Ducati dealership and my son put a refundable deposit down on one for when they arrive in May or so. We'll see if that is still what he wants by the time it gets here. Now my son is thrilled but my wife is not happy with me at all. She thinks I have been encouraging him in this, but I have not. She is mainly concerned because my son was injured about two years ago in a fireworks accident and is blind in one eye. He still drives a car and functions very well, but my wife does not want him riding a bike. I am concerned as well, but he drives fine and he really wants this. He will be taking the MSF course as soon as school is out and I just hope and pray for the best. Anyway, does anyone have any input on the 696 or other advice on a bike for my son, just to muddy the picture up even more. I encouraged the SV650, but he is not really interested in it. Recently he does not even want to talk about a Japanese bike. We went and looked at the Nightsters today as well, and afterwards he seemed even more set on the Duc. It is fun looking at least. (Message edited by DynaSport on March 26, 2008) | ||
| Bartimus |
There's a fellow, from tucson, AZ, goes by the name of Artful here on the badweb, that only has one eye. he seems to have absolutely no problems handling his S3. Put your boy through the MSF course, I'm sure he'll do fine... | ||
| Aldaytona |
How about the basic black Sportster 883. Inexpensive, durable, gazillions of custom parts, best warranty, and easiest to maintain motorcycle on the planet. It's the platform for all the Sportster models. What else could anyone want? | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
He's gonna love that 696. I had a local dealer talk to me for a half hour, and showed me video, of this bike...and this was after I told him I didn't want to waste his time! Its going to be a great ride. Your wife has to learn that he's 20 and its time for him to make his own choices. Hope all turns out well and he enjoys the bike. | ||
| Bill0351 |
Is he only looking at new bikes? It sounds like he made up his mind, but a year-old Sportster is one of the best deals out there. They seem to be trading in the $5,000 dollar range with the jet, AC, and pipes already done. My '05 883/1200 was a really nice bike. I wish I had kept it. It wasn't the bike my Cyclone is, but it was a fun and reliable motorcycle. I just like the used market. If you pay a good price and you hate the bike, it can just go back in the paper. With the new ones I have purchased the depreciation was painful when I eventually let them go. Then again... A nice new bike that hasn't been abused is a nice thing to have. Good luck to your son. Bill | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Funny thing is Mothers rarely want to see their kids ride, no matter their age. | ||
| Slaughter |
You really ought to look up some of the Ducati discussion groups. Most of them really can offer some good help - kinda like Badweb but you can sort out the good from the bad. http://www.ducatimonster.org/smf/index.php is a really good resource. A buddy of mine owns a Monster in addition to other bikes and can probably give you a pretty good evaluation - but check the Monster discussions and see what they have to say. Maybe post exactly as you did here - you're supporting your Son's decision and he really wants one - ask for opinions from the user community. And have FUN riding with your son! (and don't sweat the one eye, depth perception can be compensated for - flying, riding, racing - there are many cases of folks making do with one functioning eye) | ||
| Slaughter |
I should add that the SV650 is an awesome, low-maintenance bike and you can get zillions of them. They take a lot of abuse if you're not running really high compression and high lift/duration cams with high revs. Suspension mods (gsxr front end, Penske or Ohlins shock) are about all you need to really make it a hot rod. With the suspension mods, it'll do very well in handling compared to a Monster - and is comparable in power. Parts and service is cheap and available everywhere. I liked mine a lot for the 3 years that I rode it on the street and then raced it. | ||
| Bigdog_tim |
For whatever it is worth: I have three different friends who ride ducati's. All three are ONLY fair weather riders (and living in the Pacific NW that is maybe 3 months a year). Each of them spend more on maintenance for their one bike than I spend on 5 (and I ride year around). Of course, I do most of my own wrenching - but the bills they talk about for relatively simple things are scary. But then, your mileage may vary. | ||
| Dynasport |
Yes, I worry about Ducati reliability and maintenance costs as well. I understand what he is falling in to. Not much different than the Harley trap I fell into. But motorcycles are an emotional purchase for many of us, not based really on logic. I think my son falls into that. My too to a certain degree. I will discuss all of this with him. Oh, and I have lurked on some Ducati boards and last night searched for comments specifically about the 696. It was kind of funny. The general consensus on the Monster board seemed to be that the old school Duc riders didn't like it. Too different from the traditional Monster. It was kind of funny to me. It could have been a Harley board. But my opinion is the 696 was not meant for those guys anyway. It was meant for the young guys like my son who don't really know much about Ducs. They hope to snag them with an entry level bike that in a few years they will sell and buy something more expensive. Kind of like HD does with the Sportsters. I am really wishing I was riding right now. I look forward to taking some rides with my son, whatever he ends up with. I am just glad it won't be the Honda CBR600RR he was initially planning on getting. I know lots of guys buy bikes like that for their first bike, but I am very opposed to it. In fact, a salesman at the Suzuki dealership yesterday pushed my son to the GSXR600 and said he routinely sells them as starter bikes, then guys come in after only a few weeks and want the GSXR1000. They probably think they know how to ride too. My son told him he was not interested in one, as he didn't think it was a good first bike. I was SOOO proud. |
