[unforgiven]

My wife is looking at picking up a 2009 Ducati 696. She loves the 2008 ZZR600 but we have had to lower it so much for her that she was looking for something that fit her pretty well stock. The 696 is the best fitting bike but neither one of us has ever owned or ridden a twin before so we have no idea on how the performance of the 696 will compare with the ZZR600. Obviously if it is not at least comparable, she is not going to be happy. I would guess the twin would have more torque but not sure about the upper RPM bands. She will be tracking the bike so overall performance is importance.

Anyone here have some seat time on both and can give me an honest assessment or know enough about them to offer some input?

Thanks :cheers

 

[PorkCereal]

Lower mid power is what the twin will give you. Anytime you say ducati figure expensive to own and maintain. And they require a little more maintence then the others. From what i know, anyone that owns ducs luv them, just not the expense of them. And i wouldnt track my duc if i owned one.

I think she would be better going with a new SS bike. From what ive sat on recently they all have a narrower tank area.

Why does she want to go to a naked bike? Hope she realizes shes going to get beat up a little more.

 

[unforgiven]

Lower mid power is what the twin will give you. Anytime you say ducati figure expensive to own and maintain. And they require a little more maintence then the others. From what i know, anyone that owns ducs luv them, just not the expense of them. And i wouldnt track my duc if i owned one.

I think she would be better going with a new SS bike. From what ive sat on recently they all have a narrower tank area.

Why does she want to go to a naked bike? Hope she realizes shes going to get beat up a little more.

It's more of a comfort thing and finding a bike that fits her that does not have to be lowered. The new GSX-R 600 is the closest one that fits her but still needs to be lowered. Tracking it would only be a few times a year if she tracks it at all. She will probably keep the ZZR600 and raise it back up some for more clearance. If I run across a good deal on a late model GSX-R, we would probably pick that up for a dedicated trackbike.

 

[PorkCereal]

Might wanna ask people back over at jaxsb since i saw you over there. Dont think any of these guys ride ducs. Yeah gixxers some pretty cheap especially if you just want to track it.

 

[Scissors]

I have the 1100, which is similar.

As far as seating position and handling, it is superb. If she's looking for the power curve of a supersport I-4 600, she won't find it here.

As far as mechanical maintenance cost goes, figure $1 for every 15 miles ridden.

The 696 is about 10 lbs. lighter dry and more of its mass is down low, making it seem even lighter that that. The 696 has about 3/4 the horsepower of the ZZR600, though, so straight-line acceleration will suffer.

I think she'd find it comparable, however. Just not better as far as track times are concerned.

 

[unforgiven]

Thanks Scissors for the information. Hey Pork, yeah I hang there sometimes. I actually PM'd the guys directly there that I know have a lot of DUC experience.

 

[boner]

doesn't your local duc dealer have a demo for her to ride?

i have ridden a 696 once, it was a fun bike, and maintenance really isn't that bad on the 2 valve motors. i do all my own, including valves. just had to buy a $200 shim kit (which you really do not need to buy, but it saves time and trips to dealer).

check out ducatimonsterforums.org if you want more info.

 

[unforgiven]

They don't do demo rides any longer. They do have a used 2009 with 1100 miles on that they said we could probably take out. I'll probably follow up with them this weekend and see.