New to motorcycling and Monster

[ManaloEA]

mrPete,

Just to add some more perspective on some of your questions:

Crashing - keeping in mind that you will crash is more of a mental state and an attitude of riding safe more than anything. As soon as you begin to feel like you will not crash is when you will invariably crash. You can find a ton of videos on YouTube of guys with the wrong attitude. Search for "idiot motorcycle".

Steering - Look at where you want to go, not what you want to avoid. You might have heard the term Target Fixation. A tough habit for new riders to break, but very important. The bike will go where you are looking.

Exercises - A good place to learn to ride is suburban developments. You will be able to get enough speed to practice countersteering, and will not be able to get enough speed to get into too much trouble. And you will get used to being around cars. Parking lots are a good place to start, but often are too short, and are only good for clutching and u-turn practice.

Street vs Motard - The best way to learn to ride is to ride a lot. Will your knees be comfortable in such a bent position for hours at a clip? You mentioned that the bike is mainly for commuting, but once you get the hang of riding, you will want to take longer and longer rides. And when you hook up with friends, the first that that everyone wants to do is take a 4 hour ride out of town.

New vs used - Learning to ride on a brand new bike has a much higher price tag. I would rather stall and drop a $2k used bike as opposed to a $9k bike. Besides, you can keep the $7k for when start to really figure out your preferences (right now, you are only thinking about how you look, and are not sure the type of riding you will like to do).

[mrpetebojangles]

Here's a pic of me on the bike I'm looking at. Do I look too large for the bike? It feels nice and comfortable.

[Slide Panda]

Some good points from Manalo

- MrPete. You might go for a 'test fit' again. This time position your foot so that the ball of it is on the pegs. You should not be riding about with your heels hanging on the peg, but with the ball of you foot on it so you can press weight into it to help control the bike.

That's going to tighten the bend of you knee a good bit. Now imagine holding that for 20-30 min and ponder.

[mrpetebojangles]

I did as you said, and I certainly did feel a bit tighter but nothing i can't learn to deal with. It's an awkward position for a non-rider, so I wouldn't imagine those muscles to be developed in that way yet.

[Slide Panda]

Ah, to be young(er) and not had an ACL reconstruction...

Well - guess it's pretty much up to you to decide your path. Just remember to set aside sufficient cash for a suite of gear. And on that note, if you do go the new bike route many dealers will offer you a discount on gear and accessories as part of your purchase... And a number of retailers will have higher prices on their floor tags, but will match best price you can find online - from a reputable vendor.

I know a bigger shop near me enacted that matching policy a bit ago and that netted them my recent helmet purchase

[ducatiz]

I did as you said, and I certainly did feel a bit tighter but nothing i can't learn to deal with. It's an awkward position for a non-rider, so I wouldn't imagine those muscles to be developed in that way yet.

You can also get aftermarket pegs to extend it back and down a bit for your long legs.  Also, you might considers restuffing the seat to give it some rise.  I think the most you can get is about 1", but that's a lot..  You want to keep your knees below your hips so your lower body isn't "locked" into the seat.  That also allows you to "spring" more and to clamp the tank with your knees/thighs.

But yes, your feet should be positioned on the ball, not behind it. 

[bikepilot]

I'd suggest also having a look at taller bikes that might give you a bit more room.  You can certainly ride the 696, but you might end up not wanting to ride it very long.  Try on a Hypermotard, KTM Super Duke, KTM Duke 690, and KTM SMT990 and/or 990SMR for size if you can -- all of those, especially the latter three, have a bunch more leg room than the monsters.  If you are comfortable on the 696 go for it, its a great machine.

[DRC]

I have a somewhat contrary opinion:

I suggest reading this and this and then doing a Google search and reading the many forums on the topic.  The story typically goes like this:

Guy comes in with his heart set on a particular bike.
Guy asks the internets what they think of his choice of bike, not really wanting an opinion, but looking for affirmation of his choice.
Wise portions of the internet suggest starting on a smaller, less expensive bike.
Guy asserts that he’s any combination of mature/good driver/level-headed/etc so his choice will be a good one despite what’s happened to other people.
Wise portions of the internet rebut that maturity has nothing to do with riding skill, which is what really matters.
Guy replies that he’s heard anecdotal evidence of people starting on a big bike and doing just fine, so he should be just fine too.
Wise portions of the internet reply that those are mostly tall tales, and Guy should not expect the same results.
Guy gets huffy and leaves intent on getting a big bike anyway, gets himself hurt, is out of thousands of dollars on his shiny powerful bike, and gets turned off riding thanks to a bad experience.

I don’t have the experience of many members of this forum being a relatively new rider myself with roughly a year of riding experience.  I can tell you though that I took the smart route, bought an inexpensive 250cc, and spent my first year riding and improving my skill on that.  Now I’m ready to upgrade to a bigger bike.  I think patience pays off huge dividends in this area.  

Also, keep in mind that when you come out of the MSF course, you have just spent two days riding around in a parking lot.  This means you’ve gained skill in how to ride around in a parking lot (albeit skills analogous to many real-world situations).  Taking your new bike on the road right out of the MSF would be a huge mistake.  In my first couple weeks of riding, the longest trip I took was two miles to a nearby stadium parking lot to practice practice practice.  I then started increasing the distance of my trips and speed of the roads I was on gradually.  Within a couple months, I took myself into the mountains for the first time to take on some twisties, and had a great time.  I think my patience and preparation paid off.  

That monster you’re sitting on looks awesome -- I’m looking at a similar bike myself.  But please, do the smart thing and work on your skill first.  You won’t regret it.  When you finally do get that bike you’ve had your heart set on, you’ll feel like you earned it.

Edited to fix html code.

[OneWheelDrive]

+1 for sure.

I went through a very similar evolution about two years ago.  I was itching for a bike, having ridden my buddy's older 750 monster.  I had ridden dirt bikes as a kid, spend a lot of time in the saddle of a road bike, and after taking the MSF course, thought I was ready to jump on a new bike.  I test rode several, from Japanese sport bikes to dual sport Bimmers and the new Monsters and Hypers.  I nearly bought a brand new bike, but at the last minute, I went a totally different direction. 

I happened upon an old '74 Honda CB550 that had a blown top end and was in pieces.  $500 for 7 milk crates and a rolling frame to be precise.  I spend the better part of that winter learning every bolt and component of that bike while rebuilding it.  By spring I had a beautifully running vintage bike that I could learn to ride. 



End Result :-D


That little bike only had about 50 hp, but it was damn quick.  First generation disk brakes, archaic suspension, and skinny little tires made it handle like crap relative to new generation bikes, but it was perfect to hone my skills and after about 3 months I was getting better at flicking that little bike around. 

Long story short, I sold that bike for a nice profit, and over the next two years bought, fixed, rode, then sold two more CBs and eventually was able to put my profits towards the bike I had been dreaming about, an '07 S4RS.  The bike is a beast, but having ridden those Hondas  gave me the knowledge base to really respect what this bike was all about and I had a blast in the process. 

I know it's easy to justify the impulse to buy a brand new bike, but there's nothing wrong with starting small and learning on something that isn't going to get you in too much trouble.  Plus you get the benefit of spending some time in the saddle figuring out which type of riding you're going to be doing.  You would feel pretty dumb if you forked out the cash for a new 696 only to find out after 30 miles how uncomfortable you were on it....     Whatever you end up doing, think it through and know that there's plenty of time to eventually end up on a Monster.  If you're anything like me, it's inevitable once you fall in love with everything they have to offer!

[mrpetebojangles]

I truly value the opinions of those that have left feedback, and again I'm not looking for reasons to get this bike, but being the noob that I am, just looking for feedback. It's funny, I mentioned the motards to the salesman at the dealership I'm at, and he said that that would truly be a great way for a new rider to end up as a statistic. He said they require aggressive riding and are not the best things to learn on. Idk. The riding I am looking to do primarily is a 15 min commute to work, riding around the city occasionally, and as my skill improves I wanna take on the mountain roads around Lake Tahoe which are only ~15 min from my house. When I first started looking at bikes, I made it clear to myself that I didn't want anything with too much excessive power that could easily get me into trouble. Also through web articles such as http://motorcycles.about.com/od/howtostartridin1/tp/TenAdvancedBeginnerBikes.htm this one, the monster name I saw often. I then sat on a few bikes at a few dealerships and I really liked the feel of the saddle on the monster. So I guess what Im trying to say is, with the type of riding I'm looking to do, work, day trips etc, is this a good bike for that? This is by no means an impulse buy. Also a major reason for looking into the monster, was the simple fact that it didn't look like most every other bike I see. It seems to have a unique character. Looks should obviously not be a major factor in such a decision as this one, but it doesnt hurt that it's such a sexyyy piece of machinery.

When I do get a bike, not necessarily a monster, I don't plan on doing any major riding until next summer. I want to hone my basic skills and slowly graduate up to greater speeds and more difficult environments. Would it be stupid to start on a bike of this caliber? At the end of the day I guess it depends on the rider. But do any of you know of any, who like myself got this bike as their FIRST bike, or something similar and ended up fairing ok?

[mrpetebojangles]

Sweet vintage honda by the way!

[Slide Panda]

FWIW the dealer probably thought you were referring to the motard line from Ducati. And yes, those would not be the best beginner bikes. The 'baby' of that line has the 796 and the biggy has the Evo 1100. While I don't think the 796 one would be something terrifying, they are know to get lighter in the front when you get on the power than some bikes. You don't need to be super man to ride one od the Ducati flavors, but experience would be wise

But, there's lot of other companies that make motards and most aren't running such big power plants like the Ducs

[mrpetebojangles]

Here's another pic of the one I'm looking at. Beautiful thing isn't she? Like every other Monster I see on these forums