Monster 696 ... Cold Start Lever?

[slowrider]

Hi... just joined this forum the other day.  Used to participate at the previous Monster site that changed hands....

So, I just took delivery of my new Monster 696... my previous bike was a Monster 600 Dark that I sold last summer.  What's the deal with the Cold Start Lever on these bikes?  I thought with EFI, that kind of thing would not be required.  Seems to start easily...and seems easier to regulate than it was on my carbed 600, but it kind of surprised me.  Did the 620's and 695's have that?

As for the bike...unfortunately I have not had a chance to ride it yet...as we picked it up late last night and it's been nothing but rain here all day, so all I can comment on is starting it and making vroom noises in the garage 

-Craig (aka. SlowRider)

[the ron]

that bike should come with a NO-START lever, illthe ron

[herm]

Hi... just joined this forum the other day.  Used to participate at the previous Monster site that changed hands....

So, I just took delivery of my new Monster 696... my previous bike was a Monster 600 Dark that I sold last summer.  What's the deal with the Cold Start Lever on these bikes?  I thought with EFI, that kind of thing would not be required.  Seems to start easily...and seems easier to regulate than it was on my carbed 600, but it kind of surprised me.  Did the 620's and 695's have that?

As for the bike...unfortunately I have not had a chance to ride it yet...as we picked it up late last night and it's been nothing but rain here all day, so all I can comment on is starting it and making vroom noises in the garage 

-Craig (aka. SlowRider)

interesting.........
i am surprised that the 696 still has a cold start lever. my 03 620 had a cold start lever, but i thought all the newer bikes had the new, integrated cold start system (built into the ecu,efi, ect...)

anyone want to chime in on the 695 and 800?

[Triple J]

It seems ducati may be going away from integrating the fast idle levers into the ecu program...at least for the air colled engines.  My 2004 MTS1000 doesn't have a lever, but the newer ones do I believe. 

Personally I hate not having the lever.  I'd rather control the fast idle myself...one less electronic thing to break that way.

[somegirl]

The 695 also has the fast idle lever, I haven't found it a big deal.

Congrats Craig!  Looking forward to the ride report. [moto]

[scooby]

Personally I hate not having the lever.  I'd rather control the fast idle myself...one less electronic thing to break that way. <SNIP>

+1 on that....

[Augustus]

Give us some feed back as to how the new bike rides.  I'm sure a lot of us would like to know.

Thanks

[slowrider]

I was able to sneak a quick 30 mile run in this afternoon...just to get dumped on with a downpour in the last mile...

Despite that, I love the bike.  It obviously has much more power than my old 600 did. The suspension seems very nice, though I have done no tuning of that yet.  I'm in western, NY so finding a twisty road is often a chore, but I did get a chance to run it down a relatively winding 6 mile stretch of road a couple times and it handles great.  Seating position feels very similar to my 600, though the seat may slope downwards to the tank more than my last one.  It has a great exhaust note.  Not sure if it's just that much different, or the higher pipes make it more evident, but it sounds very tough.  It's geared quite high...might consider doing something about that.  When I first saw the bike, the tank seemed a lot larger than that of my 600, and I believe it is, but once riding, I never even noticed it.

As for performance, I'm trying to be careful with the break-in RPM's, so I have not horsed it all that much yet. 

Here are a couple pics from today's ride...





-Craig

[flanman]

I think if they make a SSS and different exhausts I will really like them. I like the 696 now but those two additions would be great. Nice bike slowrider . why don't they call it a choke not coldstart lever?

[Ducatista]

why don't they call it a choke not coldstart lever?

Because there is no "choke" on an EFI motor.  It would be like having a blinker fluid reservoir.

[danaid]

  The cold start lever is more like a manual choke for me. After being away at work for 2 days, The initial start -up of the bike will be difficult without it, even here in sunny california.

[CairnsDuc]

Because there is no "choke" on an EFI motor.  It would be like having a blinker fluid reservoir.

I've been told my Headlight fluid (Halogen?) is getting low, But my dealer won't tell me how to fill it up.....
Bastard! He'll want to only fill it with genuine Ducati fluid to!!!


By the way slowrider, very nice 696, I use the cold start lever on my S2R 800 all the time in the morning's, whenever the engine has been sitting all day the slightly higher revs gets the oil up and around the top of the engine quicker.

[flanman]

Because there is no "choke" on an EFI motor.  It would be like having a blinker fluid reservoir.

Thank you for clearing up the misunderstanding on my part. You learn something new everyday 

[Grappa]

I have a fuel injected 2001 M900 and it has the fast-idle lever.  I always have to use it when starting the bike.  When using the fast-idle lever, you are never supposed to touch the throttle.  Not when starting the bike, not while bike is idling.  Don't forget to turn the lever all the way off before riding away.  I put mine on fully, hit the start button, engine starts, then the idle will slowly climb.  As the idle climbs I adjust the lever accordingly.  Don't think you want to walk away from bike when using the lever, but that's just my bike and it's old.

[Statler]

that bike should come with a NO-START lever, illthe ron

<admin hat off>

We'll let you know when you manage a funny response to a 696 thread.  So far you're shooting blanks.