How's everyone doing. My name is Peyton and my wife Kristan and I are considering a 696 for our second bike.

A little about us. I'm in the military, she's in school. I met her in Alaska and we got married in October of 08. My first bike was a 2002 620 Monster Dark. The day I showed up to the guys house in Long Island to buy her, he had his 2002 Harley Davidson V-Rod nosed up to my "new" Duc. I'd never seen a Harley I liked enough to want to buy one, but the second I saw that one, I told myself I'd own a V-Rod some day. Well, after a buddy dropped and ruined the Duc, I was bikeless when I moved to Alaska. A deployment later, I came home to await the delivery of my 2007 Harley Davidson V-Rod Night Rod. Still in the back of my mind I knew I needed to complete the family with a monster. Just recently my wife started riding with me on the Rod vs tolerating my consuming obsession with it.  After the first ride she basically said "oh my god, now I know why you love riding so much, that was amazing" Now she's always wanting to go for a ride and has decided that a monster could be the bike for her. I personally agree but then again I'm fairly partial to this particular Duc. The 2009 models are just incredible. It's about time they changed the headlight and upgraded to a digital speedo/tach. I think that was one of the bigger draw backs to the old models. We've already got an 1130cc bike that just screams so a zippy lil 696 will be the perfect addition.

At this point I'm still trying to determine what I'm going to ask for. I understand there isn't a ton of wiggle room but I don't believe that "it's our most popular bike/cheapest" is a valid excuse to pay MSRP. It's just like any other vehicle.

These two pictures are of me and the V-Rod during a road trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage AK. we made about 800 miles in three days. I don't roll with bags unless it's a trip like this

Welcome Peyton!  Good luck in your bike shopping.

Your road trip looks very cool, thanks for sharing.

welcome to the board Peyton!
glad you are looking to get back into the ducati family. There are already a bunch of lightly used 696 on the market as people move up into the new 1100 monster (assuming you would consider used.) also, unless you are set on the new model styling, you can probably find a 695 or even a 620 for a good deal. my first monster was a 620, and i loved the bike.

Definitely set on the new model styling. I think the changes they made were aesthetically long over due. We've been looking at lightly used 696's as well, but Ducati is offering some pretty great financing right now so it's a toss up. We're still weighing our options.

Somegirl: Maybe this is weird, but I noticed your Avatar is veggies. Are you Vegan or into some type of Paleo/zone dieting program?

Quote from: Peyton696 on April 20, 2009, 09:39:06 AM
Somegirl: Maybe this is weird, but I noticed your Avatar is veggies. Are you Vegan or into some type of Paleo/zone dieting program?

Good guess. 

Actually, I used to be msincredible and had a picture of Violet Incredible as my avatar, but when I married someguy on the board we traded avatars/handles.  He became MrIncredible (with matching avatar) and I become somegirl.

His avatar used to be a plate of bacon (he is a big bacon-lover) but I am vegan so I went with the plate of veggies.

Was it a forum induced romance? I'm part of a V-Rod forum and a few of those have happened as well. Thats cool either way. I'm more or less a strict paleo guy myself. It helps out with my CrossFit stuff.

Oh and the damned DD isn't open on Mondays!? I have to wait till tomorrow to go shopping, which is extremely annoying lol.

Quote from: Peyton696 on April 20, 2009, 09:51:18 AM
Was it a forum induced romance? I'm part of a V-Rod forum and a few of those have happened as well. Thats cool either way. I'm more or less a strict paleo guy myself. It helps out with my CrossFit stuff.

Oh and the damned DD isn't open on Mondays!? I have to wait till tomorrow to go shopping, which is extremely annoying lol.

There's actually a couple of forum induced romances on this site. Mother and I are another pair

And yeah, if you're talking about the Ducati shops not being open on Mondays, I haven't found one that is. In fact, the ones I've been to seem to be closed Sundays as well. 

Good luck with getting the new bike! Post pictures of it when you get it.

Quote from: Peyton696 on April 20, 2009, 09:51:18 AM
Was it a forum induced romance? I'm part of a V-Rod forum and a few of those have happened as well. Thats cool either way. I'm more or less a strict paleo guy myself. It helps out with my CrossFit stuff.

Yep, we actually met through the DML (predecessor to this board).  Our first meeting was at a gas station, all geared up, heading to a local event together.  Then we were friends for several months before he finally decided to ask me out.

Awesome! Well hopefully I can get to the dealership soon and determine whether we'll actually be getting one.

Quick question: I do most of my own scheduled mx work on the Harley. Doesn't take much if you have a service manual, the ability to comprehend and forum full of members with a wealth of knowledge.

With that being said, what is the general trend for Monster owners. Do you guys disdain the dealership unless it's something big like valve lashing, etc or do you take it in for all the work every time? I should add in that most HD stealerships don't know caca doo doo about the V-Rod so it's more imperative to take matters into our own hands. I doubt that's the case with DD's

Quote from: somegirl on April 20, 2009, 10:05:32 AM
Yep, we actually met through the DML (predecessor to this board).  Our first meeting was at a gas station, all geared up, heading to a local event together.  Then we were friends for several months before he finally decided to ask me out.

Hmm....dave says you were dancin on a table.... 

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=19442.0

Quote from: Peyton696 on April 20, 2009, 10:32:36 AM
Quick question: I do most of my own scheduled mx work on the Harley. Doesn't take much if you have a service manual, the ability to comprehend and forum full of members with a wealth of knowledge.

With that being said, what is the general trend for Monster owners. Do you guys disdain the dealership unless it's something big like valve lashing, etc or do you take it in for all the work every time? I should add in that most HD stealerships don't know caca doo doo about the V-Rod so it's more imperative to take matters into our own hands. I doubt that's the case with DD's

A lot of people here choose to do their own work on their bike, especially if you have a hard time finding a good local mechanic.

You'll find lots of knowledgeable help in the Tutorials and Tech forums.

Quote from: JBubble on April 20, 2009, 10:36:03 AM
Hmm....dave says you were dancin on a table.... 

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=19442.0

Well, that's what convinced him to ask me out.

Congrats on the new bike!

Where are you located in FL?!  You making plans on stretching that 696?!   

Seems like that's all FL was..stretched Busa's.

Well, that sounds like a hellava trip you went on in AK!! 

I was watching Discovery channel's Alaska week and saw the "Bear Attacks" episode.  Man..how did you go outside at night without getting eaten?!

BTW..if you're one of those crossfitter-types..you'll have a lot to talk about with a few of the members we have on here. 

Quote from: IZ on April 21, 2009, 08:40:24 PM
Congrats on the new bike!


I was watching Discovery channel's Alaska week and saw the "Bear Attacks" episode.  Man..how did you go outside at night without getting eaten?!

:] They probably made Alaska seem way cooler than it really was... I don't think I saw a bear there my whole life!

Welcome.

I know I've seen lots of 696's on CL over the last few months...today in fact I saw a couple in CA.
Happy hunting.