[sen2009]

Awesome looker. The image of the monster confined in the box appears similar to king kong brought to the civilization in shackles. Be careful when you unchain the beast.
Great Buy.
Keep updating the thread with photos, videos and reviews.
And, as a devoted follower to your thread, I request you to take a video of the monster thundering down a tunnel.

[hell yeah]

@shayne: Congratulations! Waiting for pictures and your ride experience.

While I would love to own both FZ1 & 796, as am getting confused to death. The mental turmoil is taking its toll. While I do completely agree that its about listening to heart or head, my dilemma is both are not willing to cooperate or contradict. Looks like I will have to go back to basics of what is Inline 4 engine as compared to L-twins & V-twins.

Not wanting to hijack your thread here Shayne, but assuming you would have gone through the same beforing zeroing on Duc.

Pls do post pictures and your experience soon!

Cheers,
R

[shayne]

Hi guys,

Sorry was busy riding Scarlett O'Hara the last 2 days Thats what my wife has decided to call the 'other' female in my life haha...
here she is:

[shayne]

Originally Posted by hell yeah

@shayne: Congratulations! Waiting for pictures and your ride experience.

While I would love to own both FZ1 & 796, as am getting confused to death. The mental turmoil is taking its toll. While I do completely agree that its about listening to heart or head, my dilemma is both are not willing to cooperate or contradict. Looks like I will have to go back to basics of what is Inline 4 engine as compared to L-twins & V-twins.

Not wanting to hijack your thread here Shayne, but assuming you would have gone through the same beforing zeroing on Duc.

Pls do post pictures and your experience soon!

Cheers,
R

I know exactly what you are talking about!
A piece of advice: go and take a close and long look at both bikes. Don't even test ride them, just look at both closely. You will see that each part on the Ducati is beautifully made, a piece of art. Not that the FZ1 is not nice.. the 796 is just more beautiful. You could park it in your living room! (i tried, was overruled!)
As for the riding experience, if you want outright power, its the FZ. If you want practical power for an everyday ride on Indian roads, its the 796.
Another thing: the 796 is raw, while the FZ is civilized. The Ducati sounds amazing, and is much louder than you would expect. Don't know how they get it past the sound regulations. It vibrates a bit as well.
The best part: the ducati is LIGHT. It weighs only 167 kilos, thats about as much as the old Enfields, but with 87bhp. This makes it extremely easy to ride.
Am still running it in, so have not gone over 5000rpm, but at that point in 5th gear its already doing over 110kmph, so its good enough to keep ahead of the traffic on the Gurgaon expressway.
I had a Kawasaki ER6n before this and i can tell you the feeling i get when i look at the ducati or even think about it now, is miles away from that of the Kawasaki, which was my first big bike, so was very special.
Will try and put some videos of my rides over the weekend, even though they will be through Delhi traffic!

[hell yeah]

Originally Posted by shayne

I know exactly what you are talking about!
A piece of advice: go and take a close and long look at both bikes. Don't even test ride them, just look at both closely. You will see that each part on the Ducati is beautifully made, a piece of art. Not that the FZ1 is not nice.. the 796 is just more beautiful. You could park it in your living room! (i tried, was overruled!)
As for the riding experience, if you want outright power, its the FZ. If you want practical power for an everyday ride on Indian roads, its the 796.
Another thing: the 796 is raw, while the FZ is civilized. The Ducati sounds amazing, and is much louder than you would expect. Don't know how they get it past the sound regulations. It vibrates a bit as well.
The best part: the ducati is LIGHT. It weighs only 167 kilos, thats about as much as the old Enfields, but with 87bhp. This makes it extremely easy to ride.
Am still running it in, so have not gone over 5000rpm, but at that point in 5th gear its already doing over 110kmph, so its good enough to keep ahead of the traffic on the Gurgaon expressway.
I had a Kawasaki ER6n before this and i can tell you the feeling i get when i look at the ducati or even think about it now, is miles away from that of the Kawasaki, which was my first big bike, so was very special.
Will try and put some videos of my rides over the weekend, even though they will be through Delhi traffic!

Thanks buddy! Am going to the dealership today with Her Highness. Hope Duc plays her charm to get a final nod

Just a quick question - you said it vibrates a little. Is it a good or a bad thing?

Looking forward to the videos through Dilli 6!

Cheers,
R

[shayne]

vibrations below 4000rpm are high frequency, not a bad thing, just there. The inline 4's are smooth, so compared to that you do notice it.

[maddy42]

Congrats on your ride.. and yours has become the thread for every person who is confused between the options. But to think of it for a first time rider it would make one nuts.

Anyways time for me to decide but before that i plan on going for riding lessons as i have only riden bikes in the 150cc range frequently and had devilish experiences with the 350 range ones. So my initial would be in the 600cc range but only time and a bit of moolah will tell if its head or heart which wags the tail.

Happy riding and your bike surely looks delicious!! Yummy. Am sure your like a kiddo who got his candy

Cheers and ride safe
Maddy

[Mr. Nobody]

great choice on the bike and the color shayne , would love to hear your bike on the ggn expressway

[shayne]

Update: have been using the 'speed' fuels all this time. Read the owners manual, which says that it needs 'at least' 95 Octane. Speed petrol is at best 93. Filled up with Speed 97 today and what a difference! the vibrations have reduced drastically and the bike now can cruise along at 110kmph in 6th, where earlier it would vibrate and would only be comfortable after 120 in 6th. Planning on going out of delhi after the first service, which mean Octane boosters! Dont know how effective they will be though..

[djpeesh]

Shayne. It's a wonder how many people have the same sort of question but here goes: Went to Kamla Yamaha yesterday and was bowled over by the FZ1 but no test rides. The Monster on the other hand was a blast to ride. (begged the Atria showroom guys to give me a test ride). The missus however wasn't impressed with the perch for her on the Duc and preferred the Yammie. So, can I get your input on whether the back is really comfy and also, how much does service cost? The mumbai duc folks said that it would cost me 7.5k-10k a service, almost double the cost of servicing the Yammie. And the Yamaha service center is just next to my office. I'm so confused

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by shayne

Planning on going out of delhi after the first service, which mean Octane boosters! Dont know how effective they will be though..

Please do your homework before dunking any octane boosters in the bike.

I have come across articles which mention that Octane Boosters actually harm the engine.... more damage than good.

Here are some links:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ally-work.html

Octane Boosters and the Truth Behind Them

What Is an Octane Booster?

[Sn1p3r]

I agree with n_aditya. The additives are not safe. IIRC fifth gear once showed that Octane boosters bring down the output of the engine. It is no replacement for the 95/97 Octane petrol.

Shocking truth about Octane Boosters / Fuel Additives.

YouTube - Fifth Gear - Do Fuel Additives really make you faster?

Cheers!

[shayne]

Thanks for the advice, was also thinking the same thing. Anyway the bike doesn't backfire or 'knock' on 93 octane, so will probably just use that while out of town.

@djpeesh: got to decide for yourself Just a thought: you are probably buying the bike for yourself right? Anyway, the back of a Monster is uncomfortable.. seat is too small, the pipes get hot and there are no handrails. Only for short distances.
I have no idea about service costs, my first service is due in 400km. Am sure its more expensive than the Yamaha. Consider that major service intervals for the Ducati are probably only going to come once a year for most people as valve adjustments are at 12,000km. Probably talking about Rs5000 extra on service costs per year compared to the yamaha.. worth it considering its a Ducati.

[niks_devil666]

for fz1 , valves need to be adjusted every 40000 kms. Service interval is 10000 kms and average cost of servicing is less than 5k.
fz1 offers better pillion comfort. Pillion can even sit when the rider is sitting with a backpack.

[neil.jericho]

Congratulations Shayne, am surprised that you had to encounter such a delay to receive your bike. I guess somewhere down the line I too would be caught up in the European (Aprilia / Ducati) vs Japanese (I love all their litre class offerings!) dilemma.

One query, I noticed in your third pic that the tank looks black. Is it actually black with a bolt on red cover (simplest thing i could think of) ?