Hi All,
Baz from Brisbane, Aus and it's great to be here! Brand new rider and Ducati owner and loving it! Finally got my QLD bike licence about just over a month ago and was super keen to get a bike. I'll be honest, for the longest time I couldn't figure out if I wanted to go sports or cruiser. I knew I loved the naked bike look and after lots of internal debate I decided to buy a brand new Australian LAMS 2014 Black Ducati Monster 659. Specs here:
http://www.ducati.com.au/bikes/monster/659__learner_legal/tech_spec.do I weigh about 80kgs in summer and 85 in winter haha so i'm at least 5kgs under the 90kgs rider weight for the specs.
I've been riding it to and from work everyday and around Brisbane city and feel my confidence and control have improved rapidly. I'd accredit that to the bike, it makes me want to ride it, all the time. For a learner/restricted rider everything about the 659 beast is perfect. It's light as, so it's super easy to ride, I can throw it around and have a great time. It's super low so a short shit like me can get both feet on the ground comfortably. ABS brakes so I can stop suddenly without locking up and sliding to a noobian death. APTC wet multiplate hydraulic control clutch so I don't get launched over the bars if i accidentally drop to many gears at once plus the changer is really soft, gears change with a light tap. It's got buckets more power than most LAMS bikes in Aus which means I won't get bored of it in the year that I have to wait before getting my larger bike class licence plus it looks freaking sexy and that deep twin note sounds amazing, especially with the de-silenced carbon fibre Termis' I put on it.
I'll admit, it cost WAY more than I was expecting to pay for a first bike but I honestly don't care because it's just that good! I get the whole Ducati lifestyle thing now.
So far i've put OGGY's on both axles and the engine mount, installed the official Ducati tail tidy kit (which is JUST AWFUL, don't do it, I regret it a lot) and put some nice colour coded adjustable PAZZO shorty levers on it, which I love. I'm thinking of getting a personalised black licence plate, some red full rim stickers (your thoughts?), maybe some sexier/more comfortable grips (any suggestions?), black pegs (any suggestions?) and some replacement bar end mirrors (any suggestions?) because I hate the stock dragonfly ones. Otherwise I probably won't change it too much. I've discovered Ducatis keep their resale value better than most bikes and in Aus keeping it close to stock with the LAMS ticket will make it easier to sell if I end up wanting to. I know the Termi's have already busted the LAMS ticket but shhhhhh... they don't really check that hard most of the time
I'm serious about the official Ducati tail tidy kit though! That thing was like $300, I had a bunch of issues with it and it's still not that "tidy". Plate sticks out further than most other kits. The indicators(signals) don't fit/stay up properly no matter what you try so I had to custom create some little plastic wedge inserts to make them stay in place. The mount for the plate doesn't fit Aus plates properly horizontally (had to bend mine) and it's way longer than it should be vertically too. I think it's a Euro plate mount which would make sense given Italy. Plus the tension cable for the seat lock is REALLY short making it almost impossible to put on and it has actually come/broken off of mine whilst riding so the key-lock to release my seat isn't working. That's going to be a fun fix. You'd think the actual Ducati kit would work perfectly on the Ducati bike right? That's why I bought it on a whim, I didn't want any hassles...mistaaaaaaaaake! Anyway, i'll probably get a better kit eventually. In October, registration stickers won't be required in Australia anymore so in the meantime, i'll at least chop off those two big extra prongs below the plate. FYI
https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/news/features/label/index.htmlIn the long run I really want to start my own hipster-esque vintage Cafe Racer build on an old bike. Something like a 1970's era Ducati 750 or Honda CB550. I've seen a few done and they're damn beautiful. My kinda art.
Sorry to yammer on, just needed to share/vent all that with people that might actually understand my excitement! None of my mates get it. hahaha Anyway, glad to be part of the community and if you're in Brisbane and you see (you'll probably hear me first) a Black 659 with a rider wearing a Shark RAW helmet which makes him look like a fighter pilot (I love it, DANGER ZONE!) that's probably me
Ps. I hate how the import plate is right on that beautiful frame, how hard is it to move it and where would you put it?
Cheers, Baz.
