25 Years. 425 Million Readers. 54 years of Motorcycle Guides ∙ Reviews ∙ The friendliest motorcycle community on the internet!
https://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/
I guess mechanically it's a better bike than the old Monster, but I just can't get myself to like the looks of it. It doesn't help that the old Monster was one of the best looking bikes ever made.High_Side wrote:So Mrs. High_Side is looking for a new bike, something more practical for touring, better for hauling luggage......But this is the bike she ultimately wants and she kicked in to full gear on it at the show:
It's smaller than her current bike (the 800 Monster), but it goes better and feels much more modern than the old 800 (my take on it from my test ride last year). It's also a hell of a lot cheaper than what they were a few years ago. Not so much on the practical side of things however....
Must keep the wife happy.
They do look better in the flesh.....and outdoors. Her quote to me on the looks is that she never fell in love with the S2R like she has the 696 (the S2R was my idea - she wanted the 620 based upon looks and ride height). It will be tough to let the old Monster go as it is one of my favorites of all time.HYPERR wrote:I guess mechanically it's a better bike than the old Monster, but I just can't get myself to like the looks of it. It doesn't help that the old Monster was one of the best looking bikes ever made.High_Side wrote:So Mrs. High_Side is looking for a new bike, something more practical for touring, better for hauling luggage......But this is the bike she ultimately wants and she kicked in to full gear on it at the show:
It's smaller than her current bike (the 800 Monster), but it goes better and feels much more modern than the old 800 (my take on it from my test ride last year). It's also a hell of a lot cheaper than what they were a few years ago. Not so much on the practical side of things however....
Must keep the wife happy.
Couple of the weak points styling wise are the trellis and the grotesquely routed header. I assume the new trellis is an improvement over the old but it looks very cold, generic, and industrial. The old one had a very aesthetically pleasing look to it and looked like it was lovingly hand welded by Paolo in Bologna.High_Side wrote:They do look better in the flesh.....and outdoors. Her quote to me on the looks is that she never fell in love with the S2R like she has the 696 (the S2R was my idea - she wanted the 620 based upon looks and ride height). It will be tough to let the old Monster go as it is one of my favorites of all time.HYPERR wrote:I guess mechanically it's a better bike than the old Monster, but I just can't get myself to like the looks of it. It doesn't help that the old Monster was one of the best looking bikes ever made.High_Side wrote:So Mrs. High_Side is looking for a new bike, something more practical for touring, better for hauling luggage......But this is the bike she ultimately wants and she kicked in to full gear on it at the show:
It's smaller than her current bike (the 800 Monster), but it goes better and feels much more modern than the old 800 (my take on it from my test ride last year). It's also a hell of a lot cheaper than what they were a few years ago. Not so much on the practical side of things however....
Must keep the wife happy.
That's actually the main reason why we need to change. The old header location is too low once the bike has been lowered and she has actually damaged it a few times. The new 696 doesn't even need to be lowered in stock form so it works much better for her short legs!HYPERR wrote: The header problem is easy. Route it like the old Monster or the Hypermotard.
Oh I see. Yeah the Hyper is much taller so that's not an issue.High_Side wrote:That's actually the main reason why we need to change. The old header location is too low once the bike has been lowered and she has actually damaged it a few times. The new 696 doesn't even need to be lowered in stock form so it works much better for her short legs!HYPERR wrote: The header problem is easy. Route it like the old Monster or the Hypermotard.