I'm bored with my 696

[Monster Dave]

its been said before....

its more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow.

In my humble opinion, I'd say that many riders have so much more to learn from the bikes that they find to be insufficient than they ever realize. I've put about 25,000 miles on my Monster 620, have taken the Total Control course, and been out on the track with it, and each time I've found that I've learned something new about how to ride and moreover, how to better ride the bike that I'm on.

Getting to know your bike isn't an overnight experience. I love it when I have opportunities to ride with people who have more powerful bikes, that leave me in the dust, because 9 times out of 10 I can catch them in the turns and that is the difference between being able to open the throttle in a strait line and knowing how to really ride your bike and use proper throttle control consistently.

I think that taking yours on the track is a great idea if you desire to learn more. If you're merely interested in going fast, then get a bigger bike. But I think that most people would agree that skill far out weighs speed.



Good luck!

[Spidey]

its more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow.

Here's the opposing view in a post from a local forum.  It's worth a read. 

One of the things that you run into on some biker forums these days is all sorts of pansified handwringing when it comes time to talk about the joys and delights of big bore motorcycles, leading to people who are often clueless, shitty riders, pansies, white helmet short bus net gimps, or submissive smooth bottom sissy types holding forth like this:

"Oh, my goodness! You best get that crappy little 250 lest you hurt yourself! Laws no, don't want to hurt yourself. M-O-O-N that spells make the beast with two backstard. Wapner at 4:00, buy my underwear at K-Mart!"

Now, someone will chime in, "Yes, but certainly you must know that some of the finest people to ever mount the hill ride Ninja 250s and they do it for pleasure and not gentle like some." to which I would say "Yes, no shit. Riding a small, light and responsive bike will hone your skills like nothing else. I have owned, learned greatly from and ridden the piss out of a 250cc inline 4, Yamaha Fazer 250. The redline was something crazy for the day, 14k or something, but in theory it was limited to 44 rwhp or something, although they may have gone a couple over the line with this one. Also rode an NSR 250, which I got because I wanted to keep up with my friends and do lots of wheelies and stoppies, all of which I eventually did."

However, that said, there is something fundamentally right and comforting with riding a big, strong motorcycle. Something a bit burly and hard, with some torque. Not some crying emo pansy moped to ride down to the store in the rain to buy some PBR after listening to the Smith's, playing with stuffed animals and writing sad poems while wearing your sister's jeans. No. Not so much.

When I traded that NSR for a GSXR 750, that Gixxer was like a breath of fresh air. And later, when the 750 become an 1100 and the first time I rode it the tach and speedo raced up to smash me in the face when I whacked open the throttle - yes, it was at that point that I knew that I had come back home, back to my roots.

What I am talking about has nothing to do with building skills, I am a shitty rider and always will be. Nothing to do with what is right or sensible or even fastest A to C with curves at B in the middle. Nope. Nothing cerebral, well considered, thought out or rational. What I am talking about is the cro magnon old school thuggish joy of opening up the throttle on a big make the beast with two backsing beast of a machine with a shitgob or torque and bottom end. Yeah, in a world where there are 600s that are fast bikes, 750s that are expert level and godlike liter machines for the few, why not go big and reach for that 1300 or 1400 (or even 1352 if you must!) and go for it.

Everyone should own a literbike or better yet a hypersport like a Busa at least once in their riding career. Not saying that these are machines that will have a lasting appeal for everyone, but it is safe to say that when you talk to people who have owned big, bad motorcycles, there are those who still ride such machines and those who were glad they did. Very few and rare are the guys who will say "Oh, make the beast with two backs, that was horrible owning that Busa" or "Goodness that ZRX1200 was a steaming heap" or "ZX10? Boring piece of shit", for those most part even those who have moved on will admit to the joy of having owned and in many cases romped on some sort of uholy monstermotor beast.

Unlike some of the highly strung little revvers, machines like the Busa and other big mores trade on torque. Let out the clutch at idle and the flywheel carries you forward, even at 2000 rpm it is pulling eagerly. Full throttle even this low is big and strong, shortshift and it leaps forward. Lots of big machines have a similar effect. The Bandit 1200 is such a machine, Honda's elegant and refined Blackbird another. The Bandit is more a stone axe to the Blackbirds laser scalpel, the 'busa more like a bigger stone axe combined with the Milenium Falcon and with two different length velocity stacks in the intake, when you romp on a busa it generates a resonant howling growling what sounds like a wookie.

When you go for the big bore, shifting is optional and to be honest there are lots of times I like to enjoy the instant and immediate availability of vast amounts of forward thrust that a big motor gives. Without having to rev the piss out of it, you can operate in a vastly criminal and irresponsible way, yet not make to big of a ruckus. Big bikes visually look slower at the same speed as a smaller bike and with the motor being plenty more than useful at even 4000 rpm and able to play catchup with most sane people on the street without going much pass 5000 rpm, which cuts down on the appearance of hooning it up. A wobbler on a 600F4i with a D&D pipe is going to seem a lot faster screaming by at 10k rpm and 20 mph slower than a ZX14 just rumbling along.

When you go for a big bore, it has a certain presence, a certain gravitas. A big, romping stomping monster big bore imparts feelings of comfort and confidence.

Certainly not a first bike, and likely not second bikes for most, a big bore will make a lasting and lifelong impression. Sure they eat tires, swill gas and make no rational sense but in another way they are so right that riding most other machines is somewhere between a disappointment and a letdown.

Pay it forward to yourself. At least once in your life, own a boomer and enjoy it for what it is.

Life is short. Make it mean something. Go big. Go really big.

[Monster Dave]

Good and fair post. It's all about what you as a rider want to get out of the experience.   

[silentbob]

Do you live in flatlands or twisty country?

You don't have to even remotely tap into the potential of a 696 to have the thought "I wonder what it would be like to have 30 or 50 or 70 more hp?".  I get that.  It's why literbikes and 400+ hp cars are so much fun.  There's almost no way to properly tap into all that power, but it's pretty fun to try.     Neck-snapping, straight line speed is its own form of adrenaline.  If your riding buddies have that and you don't, I can understand how you'd want "more."

That said, if you're actually bored with your 696, then you're doing it wrong.  Terribly wrong.  Start saving up.  Don't use that $ for a downpayment on an 1100.  Go to a track day.  You won't be bored with your bike.  I *promise*.

Any bike will be more fun in a fun environment.  It doesn't mean he shouldn't upgrade or that he still won't be bored with the 696 or won't be happier with an 1100.

You hit the track a lot.  Do you ever get passed by lesser bikes?  I am sure you do.  So, you obviously haven't reached the potential of your bike and yet you continue to buy better bikes and pour money into upgrades on the ones you have.

No other Ducati rider in WSBK rode the 1098R anywhere near as fast as Bayliss did last year.  They obviously aren't getting the same potential out of the bike.  Should they step down to an RS250 until they are better riders?

[Spidey]

Any bike will be more fun in a fun environment.  It doesn't mean he shouldn't upgrade or that he still won't be bored with the 696 or won't be happier with an 1100.

You hit the track a lot.  Do you ever get passed by lesser bikes?  I am sure you do.  So, you obviously haven't reached the potential of your bike and yet you continue to buy better bikes and pour money into upgrades on the ones you have.

I track a Ninja 250.  So no, I don't get passed by lesser bikes.  There is no such thing.  I do, however, go around Gixxer 1000s a lot.   

Re being bored, you missed my point.  We're on the same page.  What I was saying is that there is a difference between wanting a bigger/better bike and being "bored" with what he has.  If he discovers a little more of what his bike is capable of (by going to the track), I don't think he'll be bored with it.  It's a cheap (relatively) way to revive his love/respect for his current bike.   He might still want an 1100 or streetfigher and may get one.  But it won't be because he thinks the 696 is a "boring" bike.  It'll be because he's decided he wants more.

If he's in flatlands, he should get as powerful a bike as possible.  Riding a less powerful bike in a straight line is not as fun as riding a bizillion horsepower rocketship in a straight line. 

[Triple J]

Not some crying emo pansy moped to ride down to the store in the rain to buy some PBR after listening to the Smith's, playing with stuffed animals and writing sad poems while wearing your sister's jeans

[silentbob]

I track a Ninja 250.  So no, I don't get passed by lesser bikes.  There is no such thing. 

[That Nice Guy Beck!]

I hear you even though I'm not the best rider I was bored with my 695 as well
just doesnt have the juice on the highway feels weak, I know you want that POWER that rush
just get a bigger bike man go for a liter bike, when you need the power at least its there

[amcloud]

You'll love it, get it.  Life is short. Have fun.  If you sit around waiting until you are able to use every bit of potential your bike has before you consider an upgrade, most of us would be stuck with our first bikes forever.

[danaid]

 Thanks for the responses, All are excellent points. I was definitely ranting but I should have explained myself better, some of the responses were starting to go in all differant directions.
First of all I'm in California and mostly ride hills, twisties. no formal rider training except msf beginner course, The point I was making is I'm a good rider and do keep up with my buds on the bigger bikes, but this is my second "beginner" bike and I would like to deserve, a nicer bike with more power (I'm definitely shifting and revving alot to keep up) and suspension I  can tailor to my weight and riding style (696 has fixed suspension).
I'm 38 with young kids and the need for a rush, and to do stupid things is mostly past me. I've just decided I need "more".

Dan
 

[herm]

hey, if you are looking for backup/justification for this plan with the SO, you should have said so in the first place....

pm for payment details

[GLantern]

hey, if you are looking for backup/justification for this plan with the SO, you should have said so in the first place....

pm for payment details

+1 i think ducati is running 5% on the 1198, i got my 1098 on 2% its a win win situation! 

[w7ck7d]

This is a good read..i've been thinking about the same thing to change my 696 to 1100s.but thinking that there is a lot more in my 696 that i need to know about before i switch.just have to  [moto] it more while i can.

[trpletme]

Buy MR Incredible's S4R. I think it is a heckuvadeal, and you'll probably be much happier with the power.

[gearhead]

I've owned many bikes and owned a 696 and went with the 1100. I loved my 696 and could keep up with anyone in the twisties. I came into some money and someone came to me about my 696 so I bought the 1100. I extremely happy with the big monster but agree with many that the 696 is a serious street bike and in the right hands will give any "sport bike " fits when there are corners in the road. It's a slippery slope listening to that inner voice and looking for more power for doing crazy stuff on the street with your sport bike buddies. Don't take it the wrong way but I prefer to be the under dog on the 696 than the squid on the GSXR1000 that can't ride. I'm not saying your a squid by the way but we all know one like that. He's the guy who likes to destroy 200 dollar tires in a single smoke show or has gone over in a wheelie at least once.