I know what you mean Rob. Back when I was young and indestructable I raced one of these. Now I take the grand kids around the yard on it!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1203541053.jpg

Sort of easy because of the huge flat torque curve. The downside to that is it also works in reverse, coming off the throttle or during downshifts.

Slipper clutches are becoming a requirment, if you want to ride a big twin, fast.

http://www.yoyodyneti.com/category.aspx?categoryID=2889

Go for it!!. I always liked the street fighter bikes. I had a 1995 & 2001 Triumph Spped Triple. Sure do miss them.

Ditto both Todd and 5axis. The 2valve bike is not only cheaper, but has more torque, more suited to the monster imho. A good slipper is probably mandatory w/ either, watch ebay. The duc maintainence thing is overblown, yes, the scheduled stuff is more frequent and more expensive, but it won't scare a Porsche guy off.

I agree that the 2valve is a great bike, (simpler, cleaner), but it does not have more torque anywhere on the curve than the S4R. I've heard that said, then researched it pretty completely and it's not true. That said, they are both wheelie machines in the extreme; the 2valve 1000DS motor is close to equal @ lower RPMs, but in say a rolling start 20-100mph race, the S4R will walk all over the S2. Not sure how you define torque but I equate it with twisting force. ;)

I made a mistake earlier in the thread; the '04 S4R has the 916 engine, not the 996. The newest S4 bikes have the 996 testretta motor.

1000 DS (S2R)= 95 hp
'04 S4R= 110 hp
'06-up S4R= 130 hp (all stock) :cool:

996 is a 916-derived motor. 998/999 are Testresettas. :p

As a former 94 900SS/CR owner, I heartily endorse air cooled 2v Ducs. I'd love an S2R...I miss my Duc and the Honda VFR750 that replaced it...

Actually, I really want a 92-93 750SS with the white frame and black wheels against the advice of EVERYBODY. Apparently the old Pantah-derived mill kinda sucks. I don't care....55 rwhp is fine for the back roads riding I mostly did...in fact my 90 FZR400 (1st street bike) was my fav of them all and kept up just fine with 2 childhood friends' 748s on weekend rides.

Monster? I am just not a fan of the naked bikes, but I can see the attraction.

Now a 1098 for example...

Tom, 1098s are beautiful and I'd love to have one, but as a DD/city bike it would not be very good. It's sort of like a GT3 911 or maybe more like a Lotus Elise in that it does one thing very well and everything else just sort of OK. The Monsters are relatively comfortable to ride and you could even take a few hundred mile trip on one. The 1098 is closer to a Yamaha R1 or the like, a true hyper-sports 1 liter bullet/race bike. If I woke up w/ a huge pile of $$ tomorrow, it's probably the very first thing I'd buy. Of course then I would have a small stable of bikes, one for every occasion. They take up a lot less room in a garage than cars. ;)

I find the comments on this thread interesting, it really is an individual thing what kind of bikes different people like. The Tuono is a great bike, but I do not like the looks of them. At all. Other people love them. It has to be a Duc for me, end of story. Maybe after owning one I'll get it out of my system, (this has happened to me before), but not before. :cool:

motorcycles are wonderful.

i don't live in the same los angeles as the rest of you. parking is never a problem. i've never had a commute take more than twenty minutes. $40 a week on gas. there are roads, whole regions of california that only riders seem to know about. couldn't really stand to live in this town if i had to drive a car.

it's not just a weekend toy. bikes are a viable way of life out here.

monsters are kind of common. every wanker wannabe actor north of franklin has one. but the S4R was done right. good engine, and decent suspension, finally. i don't know about the "easy to work on" thing. but they are easy to modify. there's a huge aftermarket. keep an eye open. i see 996s, 748s, and ST4s for cheap sometimes.

I haven't really noticed this, guess I'm just not paying attention. Or maybe I'm too far south of Franklin to see this. (In Koreatown). Not doubting you for a minute, but plenty of douches drive Porsches/Ferraris/BMWs/etc., most anything cool. Ducatis have a lot of style along with their performance, so they definitely attract aesthetes of many stripes including a lot of posers. I can live with it because I know who I am and have nothing to prove and no one to please other than myself.

FWIW, I also know some actors that are definitely not wannabes who ride Ducs. But that's another story. I agree wholeheartedly w/ the rest of your post, riding a good bike is sheer bliss. I've rode for ~35 years w/ some long breaks, last summer in the midwest I rediscovered the joy of riding instead of driving and am hooked worse than ever. I'll be 49 in '08 and I am getting more pleasure out of the good, simple things in life than ever before. Things like motorcycles, a good steak, a little vitamin P, you get my drift. Thank God some things never go out of style. :cool:

PS: $40 @ week on gas? You must ride a lot of miles. That would be close to 900 miles a week on my last bike.

I've lusted for Monsters ever since they came out in '93. I'd pick one up in a heartbeat. Well, if I had more garage space, I would.

Personally, I lean towards the 2-valve end of things. Simpler for maintenance. None of the pesky "flaking rocker valve" worries. And a bit cleaner in styling. Then again, it's not like you see that radiator up front while you're riding the thing. And I've already got a 4-valve Duc to scratch that Superbike itch. Admittedly, maintenance is a bit more complex/expensive for the 4-valve motors. But c'mon--if you can afford the bike and a car habit, you can afford the few extra hours (or few extra couple of hundred dollars) a year that routine maintenance will run you. That S4R is gorgeous.

I agree with trying out the Speed Triple, too, before you buy. But at the same time, that rumble of the Ducati V-twin makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up as much as the sound of our beloved flat-6s. I've found that similar to our Porsches, where outright speed/acceleration doesn't tell the whole story about our cars, it's more about the feel of riding a Ducati that sets it apart from other manufacturers.

In the last 15 or so years, there are certainly a lot of Ducs around LA. They're everywhere, now. Who cares? If you like it, you like it.

Back in the day used to hang at a place called Al Dowds Beefalo's.

Was a favorite of the 1% group.

If you were a "known" entity you could pull up on pretty much anything.

If you were not and you pulled up on a rice rocket you might come back out and find it stuck up in a tree.

Unless you were riding a Duc. For some reason was instant props. Not so much for the rider but definitely for the machine.

Those are cool. I toyed with the idea of one for a while, but then again, I am so tall, I look like a praying mantis sitting on it. GO for it.

I know what you mean, smaller guys fit most sport bikes a lot better. They fit sports cars better, too. I'm 6'0" and the bike feels perfect, I probably even look slightly large on it. :cool:

I haven't really noticed this, guess I'm just not paying attention. Or maybe I'm too far south of Franklin to see this. (In Koreatown).


L.A. has it's own balkanized enclaves. with ethnic and stylistic differences. quite possible that my part of town is full of monsters, and they're virtually non existent elsewhere. the valley is full of harleys, around here hollywood it's all hayabusas.

go for the SaR. it's a good bike. and you can customize the hell out of them.

Verrrry fun bike. The only downside is that it is a Ducati. Ducacti have become the sportbike equivilant of HD. Marketing every scrap of gear and such for the owners to pose at the local starbucks.



Must be a different type of Duc owner there. THe guys I ride with hit the track quite often and only stop for coffee after several blasts thru the canyons.

I've always like the Aprillia. Regardless hurry up and get something the riding weather is going to be getting good pretty soon.

I recently had some problems with my Duc. Found out at the 6000 miles service that the valve guides were shot. Also had to have the gas tank and the oil cooler replaced. AND on of the belt tensioners had frozen up. The Bill came to alittle over $4500:eek: Thank god for the Warranty. I ended up paying about $650 for the service. The bike runs great and like you mention Jeff, I've never regretted it.

Denis, have you thought about one of these.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1203719098.jpg

That bike is cool, but I love a well set-up Monster the best. Between the looks/sound/performance characteristics, they cannot be beat, IMO. Unless we're talking 1098S. :cool: