Ginger
29-07-2009, 09:50 AM
Well it has been 2 weeks of riding my M600. I have probably 2 dry days to ride it and the rest has all been wet or damp rides mainly to work and 500miles covered and it hasn't been what I imagined.
You should never meet your heroes becuase they always let you down. Well that has happened... But let me explain.
When I first saw a picture of a monster several years back it gave me the same sensation as "accidently" walking in on Kelly Brook in the shower and now that I have my own Monster I get the same sensation when I look at it and almost have "sudden moments of esctacy" when riding. However not is all that it seems.
When I imagined riding a Monster I thought it would be like riding Casey Stoner's Ducati - an untamed beast. A monster breaking loose if you will. However what I have found is something that is comfortable and easy to ride and this has suprised me no end. When you get on it and ride through the daily traffic through the cities and towns it behaves like a small 125 commuter albeit with it's aggressive looks.
But commuting riding is not what it was built for. If you want that go and buy a Honda CBF600 and play with the corporate, soulness, no nonsense that is Honda. This is a different machine. The monster craves the big open country roads. It wants to be thrown into corners and wants the power to be applied.
Unlike my little 125cc Yamaha it doesn't allow mistakes. If you make a mistake on the Monster it punishes you and you have to thank it for pointing out your error (like a dominatrix... Wait I'm dressed in leather when this happens...) This in no-nonsense riding. While a simple middle weight can make you a good rider, the Monster can make you great.
The next issue I have is the reliabilty. Aren't Ducati supposed to be unrealiable and impractical? I am so dissappointed at this as mine doesn't live up to the stereotype. After changing the plugs when I first got it (as it wouldn't start at all) it has been bulletproof. It starts first time everytime. I have left it in the rain outside and after a 7-hour evening shift I walk to the bike praying to the Gods of sparkplugs that she will start and sure thing it does! What a disappointment.
With that all said, the monster has the one thing that I am not disappointed with at all - SOUL. Soul in a machine is something that cannot be bought or engineered. It's crafted in with every touch of a draftsman's pencil. With everyline of the designer's imagination. It's there.
How can this be defined? Its in the way that you walk away from it backwards because you don't want to take your eyes off of it. It's the way that you rev the engine at traffic lights just to hear that engine. It's the way that it makes you feel like Steve McQueen when riding.
This has been prooved to me over and over again over the last two weeks. I pulled into a service station to adjust my helmet this week and all people who were sat in the cars around me had their eyes glued to it. One guy who was trying to control his kids even got distracted by it even though he had a 5 - year old screaming at his heels. As I rode out, 2 suits drinking coffee smiled and stared longingly at it. - It's a work of art.
Just this morning when pushing it up my drive in the pooring rain, a little old lady walked passed me. Stopped. Turned around and said to me "Wow what a lovely bike: great colour". That is the essence of the machine. Something that makes men feel like boys, something scary yet refined.
Okay, so it's not the fastest bike on the planet and it does have it's faults but when it comes down to it the monster has the one thing that is becoming more and more rare these days - Soul. That's why I am buying a Batman costume so I can pretend to be Batman when I ride it. :)
You should never meet your heroes becuase they always let you down. Well that has happened... But let me explain.
When I first saw a picture of a monster several years back it gave me the same sensation as "accidently" walking in on Kelly Brook in the shower and now that I have my own Monster I get the same sensation when I look at it and almost have "sudden moments of esctacy" when riding. However not is all that it seems.
When I imagined riding a Monster I thought it would be like riding Casey Stoner's Ducati - an untamed beast. A monster breaking loose if you will. However what I have found is something that is comfortable and easy to ride and this has suprised me no end. When you get on it and ride through the daily traffic through the cities and towns it behaves like a small 125 commuter albeit with it's aggressive looks.
But commuting riding is not what it was built for. If you want that go and buy a Honda CBF600 and play with the corporate, soulness, no nonsense that is Honda. This is a different machine. The monster craves the big open country roads. It wants to be thrown into corners and wants the power to be applied.
Unlike my little 125cc Yamaha it doesn't allow mistakes. If you make a mistake on the Monster it punishes you and you have to thank it for pointing out your error (like a dominatrix... Wait I'm dressed in leather when this happens...) This in no-nonsense riding. While a simple middle weight can make you a good rider, the Monster can make you great.
The next issue I have is the reliabilty. Aren't Ducati supposed to be unrealiable and impractical? I am so dissappointed at this as mine doesn't live up to the stereotype. After changing the plugs when I first got it (as it wouldn't start at all) it has been bulletproof. It starts first time everytime. I have left it in the rain outside and after a 7-hour evening shift I walk to the bike praying to the Gods of sparkplugs that she will start and sure thing it does! What a disappointment.
With that all said, the monster has the one thing that I am not disappointed with at all - SOUL. Soul in a machine is something that cannot be bought or engineered. It's crafted in with every touch of a draftsman's pencil. With everyline of the designer's imagination. It's there.
How can this be defined? Its in the way that you walk away from it backwards because you don't want to take your eyes off of it. It's the way that you rev the engine at traffic lights just to hear that engine. It's the way that it makes you feel like Steve McQueen when riding.
This has been prooved to me over and over again over the last two weeks. I pulled into a service station to adjust my helmet this week and all people who were sat in the cars around me had their eyes glued to it. One guy who was trying to control his kids even got distracted by it even though he had a 5 - year old screaming at his heels. As I rode out, 2 suits drinking coffee smiled and stared longingly at it. - It's a work of art.
Just this morning when pushing it up my drive in the pooring rain, a little old lady walked passed me. Stopped. Turned around and said to me "Wow what a lovely bike: great colour". That is the essence of the machine. Something that makes men feel like boys, something scary yet refined.
Okay, so it's not the fastest bike on the planet and it does have it's faults but when it comes down to it the monster has the one thing that is becoming more and more rare these days - Soul. That's why I am buying a Batman costume so I can pretend to be Batman when I ride it. :)