I bought back in February my first Ducati, a 620 i.e. Love it, just hankering for a bit more power. I just saw on Craigslist yesterday a 1996 Monster 900 for $3200, guy has to get rid of it 'cause he just bought a house. It has 16k on the odometer (mine has 7k+).
He says:
Great reliable bike and good gas mileage. Looks and rides like new.
Mechanically perfect and well maintained.
Never dropped, Very clean, fast, and tons of fun.
16k mi.
Any thoughts as to whether this would be a step down in technology and a step up in power. I know it's 6 years older than my current bike, aside from carburetor vs. fuel injection. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Service history. Did he have the 12K service done (with records)? If not, you will need to have that service done and it won't be particularly cheap.
How much work do you want to do yourself? You can really get in there and do most if not all the work on the carbie bikes, whereas us FI folks get to deal with ECU maps, immobilizers and closed-loop...
Of course, it is a 12 year old bike so all the concerns with how much it was ridden, how often the old changed, and all of that will be an issue.
Good luck and keep us posted!
I guess my biggest question, is the extra ~15 horsepower going to be worth it?
It'll definitely be a step up in power..and down in technology. You of course want the power...up to you if you want the lesser technology. I went from an '04 M620 to an '01 M900 (efi) and never looked back...even though the 900 wasn't quite as technologically advanced. Both were fuel injected though, and the technology difference was very small.
Like yotogi said...check service history. 16K miles isn't bad at all though. Might need belts right away.
Also, some 900s came with an inferior head design which made less power. I don't know which years, but someone will chime in though.
The 900 is a GREAT motor. [thumbsup]
Sorry, I guess I should have answered with the somewhat obvious question.
Do you really feel like you are limited by that lack of power on your current bike? At what point when you are riding are you feeling that you need a little more? Would you be better with another, different, bike or is it necessary to replace your current one?
The 620 is no slouch, but knowing nothing about how your ride, it is a tough one.
I think as far as the heads go th V stamped heads are the good ones, and the W stamped heads are the bad ones..lok on the left side of the head for the stamping. I love my 900 it pulls like a freight train!
Quote from: lwszabo on June 14, 2009, 09:06:59 AM
I think as far as the heads go th V stamped heads are the good ones, and the W stamped heads are the bad ones..lok on the left side of the head for the stamping. I love my 900 it pulls like a freight train!
The "W" stamped heads are not "bad". They don't breathe as freely as the "V" heads but when I run my '98 next to my friend's '95 we can't tell the difference. It is not as significant as some would make it out to be. What you might "give up" in the way of heads you get back more in the way of adjustable suspension. Your choice but for me the suspension difference is more than worth it. There is enough difference in the way of horsepower and especially torque to make the 900 a noticeably stronger machine than the 620 regardless of what head or fuel systems are on the bikes. This coming from someone who's got many hours riding and working on all of these bikes.
Quote from: mac900 on June 14, 2009, 01:44:46 PM
The "W" stamped heads are not "bad". They don't breathe as freely as the "V" heads but when I run my '98 next to my friend's '95 we can't tell the difference. It is not as significant as some would make it out to be. What you might "give up" in the way of heads you get back more in the way of adjustable suspension. Your choice but for me the suspension difference is more than worth it. There is enough difference in the way of horsepower and especially torque to make the 900 a noticeably stronger machine than the 620 regardless of what head or fuel systems are on the bikes. This coming from someone who's got many hours riding and working on all of these bikes.
I didn't really mean bad, just an easy way to understand it. So are the W heads on the newer bikes? If not why would the W head bike have better suspension...or am I reading it wrong?!?
Quote from: lwszabo on June 14, 2009, 03:32:29 PM
I didn't really mean bad, just an easy way to understand it. So are the W heads on the newer bikes? If not why would the W head bike have better suspension...or am I reading it wrong?!?
Naw. The W heads were only used for a couple years production with carbureted engines I believe. The valves and cams changed a bit again (I think) when the fuel injected engine was introduced. The big engine bike got the upgraded suspension and the smaller bikes went with non-adjustable front forks. There are just odd evolutionary changes throughout the Monster history as there are with the Superbikes too.