I don't actually want to sell my 696. The memories alone are worth what I paid to keep it. On the other hand, I am in such deep financial buffalo shit, It would feel really nice to have the extra thousands and get me through the rest of the year.
I've done this before. I sold my m750 a while back, for the money, and when I bought another monster (basically the m750 v2.0), I felt a little bit silly. But no other bike was appealing at the time.
I didn't lose too much selling the m750 (I lost about 30% of $4,000, owning it for over a year), but I will lose a lot selling the 696 (more than 50% of > $15,000 after upgrades and maintenance plans). I have had this bike for 2 years.
One of the things that kept me with the monsters (esp. the 696) is the ride height. I'm only a 5'7" guy. Not many good bike options that are comfortable mounting/dismounting and riding. I felt like the 696 was the best bike out there at the time for me, but at this point I would not mind a more powerful bike one bit. Then again, if no other bike fits me better, I will not want to sell it just to buy the same bike next year, and lose $8,000 in the process. I know the money is already lost, but like I said the bike's got memories with me, and that is worth something to me.
If I sell my bike, what kind of bike should I replace it with later?
I've got the same vertical challenges you do. Once you're finances are once again in the black, older model monsters are pretty awesome. I have an 08 695 and love it and am purchasing a 05 S2R for a little power bump. If you want more power without a heavy price tag, try an S2R1000. Plenty of torque, power, but similar ride height might find one fore around 6K
