Which one?

[DRKWNG]

And I just happened to stumble upon this while trying to find the times for today's MotoGP race, which doesn't seem to be happening.    Good thing that WSBK is at the Green Hell this week.   

http://motorcycling.speedtv.com/article/2008-triumph-speed-triple/

And just to cloud your waters even further, they had a white one down in Waipahu the last time I was down there. 

[MadDuck]

you don't fancy the other Daytona that is left, if it is left.  One way of the other it seems like the T9 and you are meant to be together, and that is FAR from a bad thing!!

Actually I do fancy the other Daytona SE. Of course I am the Ducati fan first and foremost but I would get a Daytona SE in a heartbeat over the Japanese offerings. Yesterday I was ready to put money on the darn thing to have them hold it, or whatever.

BUT IT HAS BEEN SOLD!  Rats!

So I am forced to keep my Ducati options open for a while yet. That is far from a bad thing. Yep. 

[DRKWNG]

No no, what I meant was that you did not fancy the blue one that was still down there.  There are no more SEs coming to Hawaii!! 

Although I think that guy still has his jet black one for sale...

[MadDuck]

The big "If and When" assumption here is that the 999 will someday be sold.  Then what?

The very smartest thing to do would be simply to keep the Monster, shut up and be happy. OK, shut up have a beer or two or three and be happy.

But noooo.............

Unless anybody else has some good suggestions these bikes are at the top of my list but not in any particular order with maybe one exception.

KTM Super Duke, KTM 690 Duke, Suzuki GSX-R750, Suzuki SV1000S (this one sort of being the runt, dark horse of the litter)

The KTM's are kind of unique, lots of fun and run pretty darn good too, once you get past the same light throttle fueling problems that Ducati's have. The SuperDuke doesn't have the power of the 999 but it's still got plenty of scoot and handles great. The 690 Duke might actually be the one that I could have the most fun on. Great handling and great power to weight ratio. The problem with these bikes is that they are even rarer than Ducatis and as such have even poorer factory/dealer/aftermarket support. The dealer hasn't worked on them yet and they don't even have all the tools they need but on the other hand the bikes should be relatively trouble free. The basic engines and frames have been around for years in dirt bikes or adventure riding machines. The SuperDuke has the same size radiator as the 999 (pretty sucking small if you ask me) with only 1 fan and no oil cooler. I reckon it'll run hot over here in traffic. Same deal with the 690 Duke except it might be a little cooler as there is only heat from 1 cylinder to deal with.

The GSXR has a massive radiator. The bike is practically at the apogee of it's evolution and has dealer/parts/service/aftermarket support up the ying-yang. Even though I would still feel like I have no where to run it, just like the 999, at least I wouldn't have to deal with all the idiosyncrasies like the Ducatis have. The SV1000S doesn't have the handling, yada-yada-yada of the GSXR but it's way less expensive and has the nice V twin torque and power delivery. It's said that for general purposes I shouldn't be able to tell handling/braking differences at my skill level and with riding it on the limited roads we have. Dunno about all that. I do know that after sitting on them and pushing on the front and rear shocks the GSXR feels better to me. I have no idea if that same difference would actually translate out to real life on the road.

The Triumph 675 Daytona was also a front runner for a long time but I'm having a bit of a problem with the new nose on the '09 model. I can kind of understand why some people are so put off by the difference between the 916 style and the 999 style. Once you're put off you tend to kind of stay put off. That louvered air scoop on the new Daytona nose puts me off.

I think I'll go have a couple of beers and a cigar and mull this over some more. I've got time. Cheers guys.
 

[DRKWNG]

Cool.  Whatcha drinking?  I just got a couple of Guiness in the fridge and ready to go.

And you know, you can always go and take a look at that RC51.  Great V-twin lump and sound, probably just as good of handling as any of the other bikes you are looking at, as much as you can use here that is, and at an attractive price. 

You know, I wish that guy would have had that 749S for sale when I bought the Daytona.  If so, I would probably have a red Duc in the garage waiting for its yellow sister to get here.

[eltristo]

I like the Duke as a probable Tantalus Runner. 

I also like the SV.  But I have no taste.

[MadDuck]

I like the Duke as a probable Tantalus Runner. 

I also like the SV.  But I have no taste.

Well, I like the SV too, so that's two of us.    The 690 for Tantalus would be spot on. The SuperDuke maybe, but I think it'd be a tad heavy. Dunno.

And as for drinking it's only been three Guinness Stouts. At home, so I'm good.

[DRKWNG]

You know, as much as I like to egg you on about this, I really think I would just end up keeping the T9 if I were you.  I don't know what it is about it, but it seems to grow on me more and more each time I see it.  I think a lot of that started after you let me ride it the first time...

[teddy037.2]

690 duke

[MadDuck]

690 duke

That is the heavy favorite at this minute. 

[teddy037.2]

That is the heavy favorite at this minute. 

then make it so.

[MadDuck]

then make it so.

The 690 has stalling and fueling issues. However, it makes only 3 less horsepower than the Monster, 11 less ft. lbs of torque but weighs about 80 lbs less than the Monster. That could be impressive.  One other thing is that there are only, maybe, 200 imported into the US a year. Yikes! Plus the 2009 costs about $1,000.00 more than it did last year. Cough, cough.

[DRKWNG]

And the complete lack of a knowledgeable support network here...

[MadDuck]

And the complete lack of a knowledgeable support network here...

Not to mention that on top of the $1,000.00 MSRP increase it seems that the only decent exhaust system upgrade runs about $2,300.00 and then one still might have to get a Power Commander to make good use out of it. Maybe or maybe not on the PC. In any case I could be out around $13K before tax and license, depending. When you are talking about that kind of dough that puts it in contention with some other pretty serious machines.  You can see how the dilemma unfolds. If I only rode the Monster by myself or with other Monsters it wouldn't be so bad. Ride with some other machines that make almost twice the horsepower and the differences are glaring. BTW, I checked and the 98 only makes about 67 HP with the small valve heads. It might make 70 HP with the FCRs but still when stacked up against bikes that are running 110 HP and above, well.... you just sit back and say" bye, bye" until everyone calms down. 

[MadDuck]

Oh, I forgot to mention that as of this afternoon the 690 Duke isn't at the top of the list anymore.