ok... newbie is lost here

[Slide Panda]

maybe i misread. i didn't see where he's never ridden before.

It wasn't stated in this threat - it was over here:
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=23258.0

[juddmyers]

Thanks for the info..  I am not against a 696 at all.  I did say that I don't have real experience  with one.  I have two wheel experience but it's racing mtn bikes for the past 5 years.  I hope some of those skills at least carry over.  I am 32 years old and am pretty level headed.  I don't want something that I am going to be disappointed in early on and kick myself for buying.  I will be taking the MSF course for 100% sure.  This bike will be used.  I am actually looking for two bikes in the next year.  One for me and one for my wife.  She has had a bike before, an HD sportster.  Looking for a 600 series for her.

I understand the power and I am ok getting a smaller bike if I just must.  But i feel if your going to own a Ducati, you should get the joy of the dry clutch and sss to go with it.  

I hate that I can't get a 696 like that.  That SR800 might be a great choice, if i could find a good used one..  hmmmmm

You guys are doing great... keep it up!!  Thanks!!

Judd

[Raux]

geez. you guys do background research on thread posts?

[Raux]

Thanks for the info..  I am not against a 696 at all.  I did say that I don't have real experience  with one.  I have two wheel experience but it's racing mtn bikes for the past 5 years.  I hope some of those skills at least carry over.  I am 32 years old and am pretty level headed.  I don't want something that I am going to be disappointed in early on and kick myself for buying.  I will be taking the MSF course for 100% sure.  This bike will be used.  I am actually looking for two bikes in the next year.  One for me and one for my wife.  She has had a bike before, an HD sportster.  Looking for a 600 series for her.

I understand the power and I am ok getting a smaller bike if I just must.  But i feel if your going to own a Ducati, you should get the joy of the dry clutch and sss to go with it.  

I hate that I can't get a 696 like that.  That SR800 might be a great choice, if i could find a good used one..  hmmmmm

You guys are doing great... keep it up!!  Thanks!!

Judd

well if you can control your wrist, then and a pair of S2R's one 800 for her and one 1000 for you sounds like your premier choice.

[jdubbs32584]

Beater bikes aren't that expensive. Maybe patience is the best way to go and learn how to handle the street first before getting a big S4R/S2R. You're still going to be able to find used ones and you don't want to bust up your sweet blue/white S4R with a newb mistake.

If you're absolutely stuck on buying a bike with a dry clutch and SSS, buy Mr.Incredibles S4R since its an absolute steal, but also get a cheap used ninja 250 or sv650 for 6 months then sell it to another newb. Your bicycle experience gives you some two wheeled experience, yes, but it doesn't give you any experience with a throttle or a clutch.

The Monsters for sale board is here: http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?board=9.0

Craigslist will have a ton of bikes too.

geez. you guys do background research on thread posts?

It wasn't that hard since he only has 7 posts. Helps when you're looking for a local board for someone.

[Major Slow]

well if you can control your wrist, then and a pair of S2R's one 800 for her and one 1000 for you sounds like your premier choice.

That is mighty sexist. Why shouldn't she have the 1000 or the S4R or the SBk.

[Raux]

That is mighty sexist. Why shouldn't she have the 1000 or the S4R or the SBk.

cause he said he was looking for a smaller bike for her. " Looking for a 600 series for her."

[Slide Panda]

Thanks for the info..  I am not against a 696 at all.  I did say that I don't have real experience  with one.  I have two wheel experience but it's racing mtn bikes for the past 5 years.  I hope some of those skills at least carry over.  I am 32 years old and am pretty level headed.  I don't want something that I am going to be disappointed in early on and kick myself for buying.  I will be taking the MSF course for 100% sure.  This bike will be used.  I am actually looking for two bikes in the next year.  One for me and one for my wife.  She has had a bike before, an HD sportster.  Looking for a 600 series for her.

I understand the power and I am ok getting a smaller bike if I just must.  But i feel if your going to own a Ducati, you should get the joy of the dry clutch and sss to go with it.  

I hate that I can't get a 696 like that.  That SR800 might be a great choice, if i could find a good used one..  hmmmmm

You guys are doing great... keep it up!!  Thanks!!

Judd

The balance you've refined on your MTN bike will help and some of the feel for tipping things in as well.  But a bike like a bigger duc or any bigger bike is like strapping a rocket to your ass.  Besides the power factor there's a additional layer of complication regarding throttle, gear changes, braking the effects on your traction, suspension etc etc etc.  Those complications can be mitigated more when on a less powerful bike.  

I started off on a 620 and that went just great - I probably would have been good on an 800 too - though I might have had a couple more 'oh shit' moments.  After some solid time on my 620 I got a 900.  Great bike, but well down on power from the S4R.. and it was a transition.  

Despite me 'experience' the bigger engine and dry clutch punished a couple of my mistakes quite quickly  - needing a trip to the cleaners for my shorts.  One, my fault, was a ham fisted down shift.  Would have been fine with the ATPC of the 620, but the non slipper dry clutch locked my rear wheel, chirped my wheel at 60mph and lead me to cross a double yellow briefly.  No bad cam of it.. but scared the crap out of me.

The other was a near crawl (walking pace) in heavy traffic.  I was being 'good' and keeping the bike in 1st, holding the clutch in as taught in the MSF.  I hit something slippery while on my front brake causing the front to shimmy real fast.  I lost my grip on the clutch lever and *bam* me and bike are pointed at the sky.  Again, scared the shit out of me - and the sky bit would not have happened on a 620 - with my size (200 pounds in gear) it would probably have stalled.

So, for me, going to a bigger bike brought some humble and perspective.

For reference a 620 has similar power numbers to an 883 sporty.. but it's a lot more bike.. well weights a lot less.  A 620 will do everthing with a good bit more immediacy than any flavor of sporty.  

[Raux]

+1

The 696 I have is plenty fast enough. it won't send the front wheel up but that's not a bad thing. i have plenty of power, have great handline and very little weight.
The 900 I had, was faster because of the torque, sent the front wheel skyward with a bad clutch drop or twisted too hard and handled not as great and weighed more.

in short, i love my smaller bike. i'm only looking at a larger bike in the future for 2-up touring duty.

[erik822]

People tend to focus a lot on displacement when they buy a bike. I think that's a little misguided.

I started out with a Sportster 883. It was a pretty good bike to start on. When I bought my Monster, I bought a used 900. Waaaaay faster than the sportster. I was actually looking for a 620 at the time, but a 900 is what I found in my price range. I really would suggest sticking with a 620, 695 or S2R800 as a first bike. If you want more speed, buy a smaller front or larger rear gear. If you haven't ridden before I swear to you that a 620 is fast enough that you'll find plenty of opportunity to soil yourself. If, after a while, it accelerates too slowly, you can always change the gearing (front sprockets are about $30, rear ones double that). There are easily dozens, if not  hundreds, of people on this board who race 620s. So they're by no means slow.

As far as the single sided swing arm goes, well, they're cool. Not much else I can say about that.

Dry Clutch. This is a tricky thing. It is one of the things that makes a Ducati a Ducati. BUT, and there's a pretty big but, they tend to be pretty grabby. When you first start out (heck, even after you've been riding for years) it's pretty easy to kill the bike by letting the clutch out too quickly. And that's more true on a dry clutch. The wet clutches are much easier to use and easier on your wrist if you're in stop and go traffic.

Oh, and if you haven't signed up for a motorcycle safety course yet, do that before you buy anything.

And lastly, Ducatis aren't Harleys. The cool people on Ducatis are the ones wearing full safety gear. So when you look at the price of a motorcycle, add a $1000 for mandatory stuff like a helmet, jacket, gloves etc.

[psycledelic]

If you are gonna be looking for a used bike, the S2R800's are a great starter bikes (pretty forgiving when you do something stupid).  They also have enough power that you won't get bored with it as you get more comfortable.  They have the styling of the bigger SR's ( single sided swingarm, shotgun exhaust).  They are a wet clutch, so you won't be able to open it up and unleash the Edward Scissorhand's sound.  With the right exhaust, they make a lot of noise.  If you shop around, you can find one pretty cheap.  I love mine. 

[juddmyers]

Yea a MSF course is on my list. 

For the wife, I think a 800 or so is to large.  I really think she needs the small 600.  She is very short, like 5'2.

I wasn't comparing a HD to a Ducati or wasn't meaning too.  I am a firm firm believer in gear.  I don't get on my bike without a helmet.  i will be buying all the gear.

A little more about me:  I grew up on 4 wheelers.. I have experience with a clutch.  I love riding.. 4 wheels, 2 wheels it doesn't matter.  I love it.  I hope that will be the same for a motorcycle.  I have always been the buy that only needs a bike and a trail.... and i am good to go.  Also on my motorcycle, I really am not interested in the speed... more interested in the ride.  Also again.. racing my mtn bike I have learned a lot about traction.. low siding.. high siding and all that fun stuff.  I AM NOT SAYING ITS THE SAME AS A MOTO

You guys are great!!!  Thanks again for the help.  If I could but today I would be all over that one for sale here.

[PizzaMonster]

Welcome to the disease!   [moto]

I'm a little predjudiced because I own one but I think the S2R800 would do you just fine.  The S4r is just a crazy wheelie-machine so don't even think about it.  I debated over the S2R1000 and the S2R800 and finally decided that even though a dry clutch and slighty better suspension would have been nice I didn't need the extra power.  The 800 can't be called a rocket ship but then again it's certainly not cruiser bike slow.  It handles well and has enough torque to pull the front wheel if you try a bit.  I've ridden mine for two seasons and haven't tired of it at all (especially with the Termignoni exhaust installed).  Although the 800 has a wet clutch it is also the only S2R with a slipper clutch so if you do get a bit rough on a downshift it will be less likely to lock the rear wheel and send you on a scary ride.  Without your mountain bike and dirtbike experience I'd probably be recommending a first time rider to a 620 or 695 instead but you like the look of the single-sided swingarm.  (so do I)

If you do go for an 800 you will have to settle for used as they stopped production last year.

The 620 apparently has a slightly lower seat height so that may be a plus for the wife.

[stopintime]

 

For the wife, I think a 800 or so is to large.  I really think she needs the small 600.  She is very short, like 5'2.

We have a few threads about lowering bikes and/or seats. I'm sure you'll get good advice and links if you post/ask specifically

[jdubbs32584]

Yea a MSF course is on my list. 

For the wife, I think a 800 or so is to large.  I really think she needs the small 600.  She is very short, like 5'2.

I'm 5'2 when I have boots on and I ride an 800. She's not gonna be able to flat foot the 600, 620, or 695 either. If she's got the experience and likes the style, get the 800 and get a shallow seat like I did. Her height will be a factor no matter what.