[shayne]

I find myself with having to make that choice that all bikers face many times in their lives: which bike to choose? In an ideal world we would all have many bikes: one to tour on (BMW 1200 GS or more appropriately for India the 800 GS or Yamaha Tenere), one for the track and how it sounds and looks like(Ducati 1198 or the new KTM RC8R), one japanese inline four (Suzuki GSX-R or Honda Fireblade) etc etc. The list can go on!

At this point i could buy a Ducati Monster 796 or the Yamaha FZ1. Both have their pros and cons. The Ducati has loads of character and a great sound, plus is 8.5 lakhs on road in Gurgaon. Its air cooled and not very high on technology though, and the reliability of Ducati is a question mark, or at least it used to be. On the other hand their showroom and service center is close by.

The Yamaha is an inline four, looks great, is water cooled and has around 45bhp more power than the Ducati. The japanese reliability is never a question mark. Its also exactly a lakh more expensive on road in Delhi.

What do i do?? I have a feeling neither will be great to tour on, but the Ducati might be more compelling to ride. Anyone has real life experiences with living with either bike and has any suggestions to either go for one or the other?

shayne

[manson]

Some very quick surface points:

• The answer lies in how much time and money are you willing to spend around your bike post after two months of bringing it home. From what I have read till date, you will definitely end up spending more of each with the Duke than a Japanese I4 machine.
  
  
• The Japanese I4 bikes have been here long enough now, to a point that even local mechanics feel at ease to work around the regular stuff and open up the simpler parts.
  
  
• Buying a naked bike for me is making a sensible decision, and have a no nonsense bike which doesn't ever break down, parts do not creak, electricals are always spot on, etc, this points out straight to FZ1.
  
  
• I have never ridden, let alone owned a Duke. But like they say, everything should be tried atleast once in your life, so I will have one someday, but that would be the 1098, or probably a more race bred machine that has an element I can be passionate about in order to hang on through the grim period in the ownership period. I would kick myself (very hard) for not buying an FZ1 everytime I had the Monster malfunction.
  
  
• Another simple theory, if I the Duke were to be rebadged to Yamaha, would you still buy it over the FZ1? Most probably not. On the flipside, if the FZ1 was to be rebadged to Ducati, you would surely buy one. So you are mostly buying into the brand than looking at any serious value proposition.
  40+ BHP on tap, Japanese reliability, much higher refinement levels are worth whole lot more than One Lac INR, had the FZ 1 been a Duke, you could surprise yourself silly at seeing it priced well over 13L INR on road.
  
  
• Marketing point of view, many may argue but the Monster does not have any serious snob value, atleast over the FZ1 as it costs a Lac cheaper. It may have had some snob value if it were priced a couple of Lacs over its Japanese competition. I look at it as the cheapest entrant to get into the SBK scene, cheapest being the keyword. So this is where all the snob value over the FZ1 goes out of the window.

To add, my next bike again is going to be a Japanese machine, V4, I4, I don't know, but after the now tricked out aftermarket 954, I am longing to own a bone stock Japanese motorcycle straight from the showroom to really experience the epitome of refinement one could possible have around.

manson.

[Sn1p3r]

Agree with Manson. If Yamaha would have been a niche player then it too would have been expensive as multistrada. I have heard rave reviews about Monster and also FZ1 however it's the FZ1 thats perefred for touring and Duke for in around city travel.

But monster will have a better road presence.

PS. I am a ducatista.

[black12rr]

@shayne , If I were you ,I would have got suzuki bandit 1250 cc . Its an excellent all round bike for Indian setup .

[shayne]

Hi guys

First of all, thanks for taking the time to share your views.
I took a test ride on the 796 over the weekend and what can i say. I was blown away
I had a Kawasaki ER6n for the last 2 years (in Malaysia), and the 796 was so different! Sure it was geared tall, so had to slip the clutch to get going, the handlebars shook like crazy low down, while accelerating, but the once above 4000rpm it became butter smooth. Pulled like a train.. and the sound: amazing!
Of course, the ER6n gave no trouble at all, ever. But it was 'soulless' compared to this. Truly, even though i loved the Kawasaki while i had it, it just wasnt special enough. The Ducati looks, sounds and 'feels' special.

An observation: how many things can go wrong with an air cooled L-twin? Other than the electrics, not much i would say.

Anyway, at the moment i am leaning towards the ducati due to the points above and also because it would be easier to ride in the city. Not to forget that it probably would not fry my legs in traffic during summer, like a water cooled engine with the fan on!

shayne

Originally Posted by black12rr

@shayne , If I were you ,I would have got suzuki bandit 1250 cc . Its an excellent all round bike for Indian setup .

I know, thought a lot about the Bandit, but it would does not have that special something.

[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by shayne

..........
An observation: how many things can go wrong with an air cooled L-twin? Other than the electrics, not much i would say.
.............

Haha.Nice observation.

Go to some ducati forums and check out the kind of issues they have faced.and the kind of response they have got from the dealer and factory.

Haven't you even surfed the tbhp motorcycle section.There was the story of a blown street fighter.

Ducatis are like Italian royal enfields.You love them and then they break down and you curse them.

let me show you somehting:

Motivate ME!: Motivate » Me » ducati-making mechanics out of riders since 1946.


:P


By the way i love the ducati for its fame.Yes i do.I love the new Diavel and the multistrada.But primarily because those are the only two bike i would ever fit on.LOL.
But would i invest 20 lakhs in a bike i know would fail me atleast once.I don't think so.
Thats why i have my trusty '05 12 with me.


Edit:If you only want a bike for the special something.To stand out of the crowds.To hear "ooh you own a ducati" every party you go to.LOL.Buy the ducati!

[shayne]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

Haha.Nice observation.

Go to some ducati forums and check out the kind of issues they have faced.and the kind of response they have got from the dealer and factory.

Haven't you even surfed the tbhp motorcycle section.There was the story of a blown street fighter.

Ducatis are like Italian royal enfields.You love them and then they break down and you curse them.

let me show you somehting:

Motivate ME!: Motivate » Me » ducati-making mechanics out of riders since 1946.


:P


By the way i love the ducati for its fame.Yes i do.I love the new Diavel and the multistrada.But primarily because those are the only two bike i would ever fit on.LOL.
But would i invest 20 lakhs in a bike i know would fail me atleast once.I don't think so.
Thats why i have my trusty '05 12 with me.


Edit:If you only want a bike for the special something.To stand out of the crowds.To hear "ooh you own a ducati" every party you go to.LOL.Buy the ducati!

Nah.. I buy bikes for myself. How i feel while riding it, not how i look on it or what others think of me when they see me on it

[Sn1p3r]

I heard that Ducati is giving discounts as these bikes are 2009-10 and on road on Mumbai was 8L so it should be significantly less in Gurgaon.

Can you please confirm the offer price?

[straight6]

I would buy the FZ1 from the two. Also keep in mind that it heats up like crazy since it has the R1 engine.

[shayne]

Originally Posted by Sn1p3r

I heard that Ducati is giving discounts as these bikes are 2009-10 and on road on Mumbai was 8L so it should be significantly less in Gurgaon.

Can you please confirm the offer price?

its 8.5 on road in Haryana, no discounts.

Originally Posted by straight6

I would buy the FZ1 from the two. Also keep in mind that it heats up like crazy since it has the R1 engine.

you mean you would go for the 796 as the FZ1 has the R1 engine that heats up..?

[straight6]

I would go for the FZ1 even though it heats up.

[DirtyHarry]

Interesting thread! I'm contemplating a 796 monster too and will probably stick to it. A friend of mine who has had a blade for last 5-6 years is also planning to switch to 796.

[shayne]

Seems the best bike for me. I think i will take mine in red

[zulfi hansi]

The Monster 796 produces 84hp (64kW)@ 8250rpm of power and a torque to 58lb-ft (78Nm) @ 6250rpm.

The Monster 696 produces 80hp (58,8kW) @ 9,000rpm and 50,6lb-ft (7,0kgm) of torque @ 7,750rpm.

I feel there isn't much of a difference, how much is the difference in the cost?

Originally Posted by shayne

Seems the best bike for me. I think i will take mine in red

Monster sure looks SEXY. A real style statement I would say, you want it or not, you get that 'special' attention from the opposite sex for sure. You will be with all that attention. Buy from the heart, it is the Monster, buy from the head, it has to be the FZ1. Look at it this way, you get all the crazy attention from age group of 8 to 80, for a lakh rupees less!

But for sure your wife will make your life miserable for spending that extra time with your 'new hot blond'

[sen2009]

Ducati it has to be.
Looking at it practically - nobody buys a super bike for practicality in India. One may not come across more than a very few chances of truly exploiting the extra 45 HP on our roads. On the other hand, one shall come across plenty of chances of getting noticed.

Surely, Ducati maintenance will be a greater hassle compared to a Japanese bike.
But, take a moment and think about the zillion Royal Enfield Owners. They are withstanding the maintenance hassles for ages and are still smiling through it. Nobody can ever claim that maintenance hassles for a Bullet can even be compared to a Bajaj Plasticar. Has that have any impact of the phenomenon's popularity... like ever?!

And, then the Ducati service station is not very far from your house. So, you can either take the occasional maintenance trips as hassle or you can take them as opportunities to be in company of her other hot friends.

I personally own none, may never be able to. Hence my thoughts are just that... thought only. And, I am plenty sure that your decision to buy either is also based on your dreams.
So, go for it dude. FZ1 is just a faster version of FZ16. Ducati Monster is a phenomenon, nothing else compares.


Someone in another forum has posted this -

You see you don't get a ducati by comparing it's power and torque curves. You don't talk about the vibrations, or the *** really high in some sort of power yoga pose driving. It is not about biking at all.

No sir.

It is about childhood.

Remember when we were young, most of us had posters of stuff we wanted in life when we grew up. Sometimes it was decided by the availability factor, the brooke shields one i had was free with some magazine, and sometimes by even more illogical reasons.
I had an F50 poster on my wall. Was bought for the princely sum of 150 bucks, it was late 98.
If you asked me why was it there, i would have been a mumbling idiot in front of a pretty girl. I couldn't defend it logically.
But gosh it was pretty. Not a chitrangada singh pretty, but an alien warship meets a wormhole pretty.

(Honestly it is not the prettiest Ferrari, let alone the prettiest car, but it is what i grew up wanting, believing to be the coolest thing.)

And as you get old and start understanding torque and stuff, you start liking other cars - sober, practical and other assorted anal blasphemy like that. And the more you do that kind of stuff the child in you dies and you become a grown-up. And as the resident expert on all things cool Calvin says "grown ups don't have any taste".

I agree with the food critic who said, in Ratatouille, that a good dish is essentially the one that takes you back to your kiddy days, in all its glorious Full HD detail.

And so is with a Ducati.

A Ducati is not a trump card. Or at least it is not the trump card that will make you win, but the one that you will not trade for anything else in the world.

It is you, a mere mortal, with a paunch and 4 white hair on your beard and a bald patch on the head, bedding Monica Bellucci. It doesn't matter whether you are good in the bed or she is, but if the next day you stand next to her and the tabloids get the photos, you will feel like a million bucks.

Hugh Hefner wears the worst of dresses, basically a bathrobe, but have you looked at the *******. He looks like what Moses might have looked like, when his party trick worked. You know parting the sea thingy.

You wear deodorants to not smell bad, but you wear a perfume to smell good. The R1s and Gixxers and beemers are all kick *** bikes but they are deodorants, Ducati is Burberry Beat. You wear it and you know you have got lady, no not gaga, luck in a lip lock, let alone just on your side.


It is not a bike, it never has been and it never will be. And hence it is pointless to even compare or discuss it in the same vein.
It is confidence bordering on arrogance on two wheels.

It is the smile on your face when you lie flat on the bed at the end of the day because you got her number. And she replied.

It is that multi button pencil box that made you look like an idiot in the class, because you were grinning all the time, but it made you feel like 6 foot two in a court full of midgets.

And for that, Ducati is the best bike.

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