2002 S4 or 99 900? Looking for opinions, please.

[Autostrada Pilot]

So I've found 2 Monsters in my area, and am looking for opinions.

I had a '03 620 that I sold about a year ago.  I'm going to be replacing it and figured I might as well upgrade at the same time.

Couple points of interest-

Fuel injected vs carb'd.  I've never had anything that was carb'd.  Do they need constant fiddling to run right?  I know you adjust them for elevation, but I live at 4500 feet and sometimes ride in the mountains up to like 9000 feet.  Will it need to be adjusted to ride at the higher elevation?

I got about 46mpg on my 620.  Is the carb'd 900 or the S4 going to be a huge drop in gas mileage (I'll be commuting on the bike-18 miles each way, half city, half highway).

Maintenance.  What is the cost difference going to be for a valve job on a 2 valve vs. a 4 valve.



The S4 is actually a little less money, but this is going to be my bike for a number of years.  Is the power of the S4 worth the additional cost for valve jobs?  I read the board a lot, but am I missing anythign?  What are you thoughts, opinions and other things I should consider?

Thanks/help me pick a bike.

[Slide Panda]

The cost of valves on the S4 is going to be a lot more.  Twice as many, that are about twice as hard to get at.  Those Desmoquatro heads are a real PITA to work in.  900 is a workhorse of an engine, they don't give up easily.

You will see a drop in millage - figure around 10 mpg for either bike.

The S4 has more a good bit more HP, but not that much more torque. And the 900s make that torque early on, so it's very usable for road riding. Though it's only my butt-dyno tested I think my 900 was as quick or quicker to pick up in some real tight stuff than an S4R I got to tool around on for a few hundred miles.

Carbs to need a little more twiddling - but you don't need a computer to do it - just a screw driver in most cases.  You'd want to adjust it so it ran well at 4500

S4 probably has nicer suspension - that's a + to it.. but it also has those freak clip ons (if still stock)

[ghostface]

I went from an M800 to an S4 and although maintenance is a bit more (work), it was def worth the upgrade. The 4 valve power is immediate and wide open throttle seems to never have a capacity.

As for maintenance, factor in flaking rockers. If you perform maintenance yourself the s4 had double the valves and the vertical rear cylinder is a beeyotch to get to but take your time. If you pay for maintenance, there will be a greater expense with the S4 versus the 600.

The previous poster mentioned the St series bars on the S4. You can swap a top triple from another monster and add bars and risers or clip ons (which I've done both).

I'd say ride both then choose. Get what you want.

R.

[Triple J]

I'd probably get the 900, depending on price. It's a bomb proof engine that you can easily work on, with plenty of power for the street. It's also air cooled so you don't have all that ugly plumbing to deal with. You could easily make is really minimalist (which is how I like Monsters).

I believe the '99 has adjustable suspension. I might go S4 if it doesn't.

Why does the 900 cost more?

[corndog67]

My S4 gets it on.   I've had faster bikes, but this one is real fun to ride around.   More so than the 170 mph bikes I've owned, it just flats hauls banana's around town and scoots pretty good, real strong on the freeway.  It also eats rear tires.   I like it.