My wife and I were having dinner at a local restaurant earlier this evening when she looked at me levelly and said "you should never have done that."

"What?" I asked, as innocently as humanly possible.

"Letting me ride your Monster" was the reply.

We'd ridden to the local high school parking lot to practice some low-speed maneuvers, she on the Vespa, me on the Monster. She'd decided she wanted a motorcycle that would be appropriate for joint rides around the local twisties, so we were planning to go test-ride some bikes on Friday - certainly a Hyosung GT250 Comet, probably a Kawasaki Ninja 250, maybe a Suzuki SV650. She is signing up for the MSF Intermediate RiderCourse for a refresher since she hasn't ridden a shift bike since we took the BRC. She's been unwilling to get on the Monster because she thinks it's too heavy for her and because she's too afraid she'll scratch or drop it.

While we were taking a breather, I asked her to get on the Monster "just to sit." I told her I'd hold the forks so she couldn't drop it and had her rock it back and forth. She was initially uncomfortable that she couldn't flat-foot in bilaterally. However, she soon learned that she could easily do so on one side without leaning enough to worry about falling. When I asked why she didn't go ahead and start it up, she decided to go for it. With the bike in neutral, she experimented with the throttle to get a feel for it. I expected that was going to be about it, but she wanted to ride it. I warned her about the difference between the Monster's brakes and the Vespa's, and she was, slowly, off. Tracy had way less difficulty using the clutch than I did when I started out.

After riding around the parking lot for a while, we headed off to dinner.

Obviously, the reason I should never have gotten her to ride the Monster is that she now wants one. Instead of the Hyosung dealer, we'll be heading off to BCM to check out what they've got. This is a problem I'm happy to have.

Why is this a problem, though? There are a few reasons. One is the question of whether we look for a second used Monster. I got my '05 620 in January of '07 with under 600 miles on it for $5,000 in pristine condition. I don't expect to manage that again. We could also get a new bike (either a 695 or a 696), which would obviously be much more expensive but would leave less to chance. I've also wondered about getting an ST instead of a second Monster. On a recent group ride there was a sweet yellow ST that looked really interesting, and would allow for some 2-up trips (or some actual trips as opposed to outings on Monsters), and I've been wondering about looking for one of those.

So, any input would be welcome. Neither one of us really wants to go with anything much bigger than the 620. Any thoughts about an ST instead of a second Monster? How about good sources for low-mileage, unmolested recent Monsters at fire-sale prices in northern New England?

Your right. I don't see your problem. My wife wants a Mercedes.

Congrats!

Did you say fire sale?

I have the perfect bike for you.   

Quote from: Rameses on July 08, 2008, 07:57:26 PM
Did you say fire sale?

I have the perfect bike for you.   

Yeah, I saw your thread about your bike. I think it now counts as "heavily modded," though.

You could get an ST, but they're a good bit bigger and heavier than a 620.
However, anything remotely suited to 2-up riding will be...

You can tour on a Monster, just not as comfy as a more targeted bike.
A little soft luggage, and away you go.
With 2 bikes, it's easier than on one, in some respects.

I don't see the problem at all.

She likes your 620 right?

So let her have it.

Get yourself a nice clean 05 S2R, S4R or Get an 1100 Multi Strada. 

Theres plenty of both of those out there in almost stock condition for just a bit more than your 620 cost you.

Don't let her get one faster than yours 

I agree, that is a huge problem. I hate to add insult to your injury of a wife that wants to ride ducatis with you but.... my wife asks me over dinner which Ducati I want next and how we can afford it.



BTW, love the new
it's gonna give me the munchies every time I see it!

that's great your wife wants to graduate from the vespa  [moto]

i'd look for something bigger for you and give her the 620.
do you think she'd be willing to let go of the vespa, or would she want to keep that?

don't forget to introduce her to the DMF
and good luck on your search!

Sounds like a wise decision versus riding two-up, especailly if you have any children. One simple screw-up by you or someone else when riding two-up, and your children could become orphans.

As others suggested, give the 620 to her and buy yourself something else, or......look at any older Monster 600, 620, 695, or 750 as they are all roughly in the same boat for size, weight, and ability. The older M900 bikes aren't too bad, either. 80 crank HP is very managable.

As for an ST, they are great "everything bikes" and they are fairly inexpensive. They have terrific wind protection, are comfortable enough for 1000+ mile solo rides and 400+ mile mountain twisty 2-up rides, you can drag a knee, haul a 12-pack in each side case........they are about 470 pounds wet, have taller seat heights, and feel top-heavy in really slow-speed curves, but.......I'm a big advocate of the ST bikes. If I had to drop my inventory to only one bike, the ST2 would be the one to stay.

Quote from: Hank on July 09, 2008, 01:11:56 AM
Don't let her get one faster than yours 

Until we picked up the Monster and another ST2 for my wife, both of her bikes (R1 and GSXR) had at least 20 HP over my most powerful bike....and at least 20 mph more top speed.

What about getting a different bike that you also really wanted to ride and trade back and forth with the wife?

Perhaps a 'motard and the monster? Or a 916 and the monster?  Heck, you can even go vintage Duc or some other brand

give her the 620 and go buy you something better. 

like others said you could give her your 620 and get another bike but then you would be spending a bit of dough on a new bike possibly more than the 5k you orignally bought yours for.

what you can do is this, look for an 02-05 620 and you might luck out and find something with a few miles under 12k miles on it that is stock and if its an 03 you can probably pick it up for under or just over 4k dollars, which isn't bad, unforturnatley, you are looking for a used bike at the worst possible time middle of the summer and peak riding season so dont' expect to find a great deal unless you find someone really needing to get rid of a bike.  you know as well as anyone that finding a bike is tough at times.

check craigslist and the normal channels and be willing to see what is out there and you could find the right bike.  goodluck.

thats one cool chick man