Hi everyone. Just joined today. I moved to Japan many years ago, love bikes, but never owned any yet.
I've decided to buy a monster, because I just love how they look, sound and feel . I've test rode quite a few naked bikes, Japanese and European, since getting my license a couple months ago, and I think monsters simply rule [evil] !!! I should have gotten my license way sooner [bang] I also test rode other Ducatis (superbike, hyper, multistrada, streetfighter) but decided to stick with the monster (cuz I want a naked Duc ;D that's also affordable to me = can't afford a SF now...)
Been reading up many threads on this forum, and I'm feeling fortunate to have found such a wonderful place with lots of knowledge and great people willing to share it. You guys rock [bow_down] !!!
I'm still undecided whether to get one of the running monsters (M796, maybe M1100) brand new, or one of the used ones (S2R800, S2R1000, S4R etc). My reasoning is that - and correct me if I sound totally stupid, which I probably do - a new one would cost me more; Ducatis are generally more expensive in Japan than in the US (the 796 was announced last week with a MSRP of 14K US dollars excl. sales tax); which means not much cash left for customizing it, whereas an older second-hand monster would be cheaper, but would be less forgiving to a first time rider, ease-of-riding-wise that is (or so I was led to believe).
In any case, feels good to join the forum and I'll be posting more and more [beer]
Welcome, I see you decided to go with a 796, congrats! [thumbsup]
We will want to see pictures. ;D
There is actually a Japan sub-forum, although it's not very active: Rising Sun Ducatis (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?board=45.0)
Have fun, looking forward to updates! [moto]