air cooled Monster 600 for first bike??

I've seen these things down in the $3k range, money has been exceptional at work, and it's time to start setting aside for a bike. I'm torn between getting an m600 and getting a super moto, specifically either a husq or a drz400sm.
I'm leaning more and more to the monster though.
Everythign I've heard is positive on these air cooled models. easy to work on, reliable if maintenance is kept up with, etc etc.
Question is, am I gonna kill myself on a ducati as a first time rider? I have a healthy respect for the bike, I've had friends suffer injuries and losses due to riding, so I'm going to be cautious. I just need to get a bike, not only for commuting and fun purposes, but for future business plans=]
is the hype true? is the reliability hype true? how are these for first time riders to live with?

I can not speak to the reliability of a Monster.

As to whether or not it will kill you... that depends a lot on you. I am going to guess a Monster 600 is comparable, but a bit tamer than my Street Triple 675. Given that... I would not go from Zero to Monster.

Definitely take an MSF course to get the basics down before jumping in (which you should do anyway). I would then think about how much self control you have. If you have a good sense of your limits, ability to rein yourself in, and know how to be smooth and progressive with vehicle controls, then I think a Monster 600 would be an okay first bike.

I started on a Ninja 250. It did not take me long to be ready to jump up to a 675. First time I got on one, it opened my eyes a bit, but didn't really scare me. I do not think I jumped too quickly.

I am glad I did not start on the Triumph. Not because of performance, but because of disposability. I do not care about the couple dings, scratches, and bends that the Ninja got from being dropped practicing U-turns. If you are getting the bike for sub $3k, you may not mind snapping the ends off brake/clutch levers and scraping up fuel tanks.

Edit: Do you have a buddy with an old bike to get started on for your first couple rides? I'd do that first.

You are going to drop your first bike. You can have all the foresight careful intentions in the world....but you WILL drop your first bike. I've been riding for a decade and been down hard on three bikes.

I'd probably not start with a Ducati, or anything else that'd make you tear up once you see the damage.

A 600 monster is about as quick as a suzuki gs500...... so you'll be fine with it as a learner bike. I went from zero to an sv650(it sucked, so I got rid of it within a month). Since, I have only ridden a few friends middleweights, and I've cut my teeth again on THE widow maker(first gen 10).....its all in if you're a sane person with a sense of self preservation.

Also, yes you will drop your first bike......I dumped the 650 on gravel....but already had the balance part down from riding dirt bikes/mopeds.

Actually I'm on my sixth bike and haven't dropped any of them... which makes me MUCH more paranoid because I know it will happen some day.

I started on a CB350. It was slow but reliable. Then I moved to a V-twin cruiser 600 which I think was slower than the 350. By my third bike I stepped up to an R6 which brought me close to death. After a few bikes in between, I now have a Nomad 1500.

I think the engine size isn't the biggest issue. The 1500 I have now isn't nearly as fast as the R6, so the fact that the engine is 2.5 times bigger has little to do with it. My concern with laying down the 1500 is that it is a heavy bike that isn't "flickable" or fast on its feet. Its a full-dress touring bike. My concern with the R6 was the fact that it didn't matter how much of my 235-lb torso I laid over the tank, full throttle in first would lift the front off the road.

M600 will be a lot of speed in a light bike. Honestly, if I had to do it over again, I would have loved a super moto on the street. I spent years riding dirt bikes, so the transition to street would be so easy. In fact, I thought about doing that this time, but I wanted a good long-distance cruiser.

Ninja 250s are free.

You'll sell it for what you paid for it plus the parts you put in, provided you buy in the fall and sell in the spring.

If you're under 175 lbs they're fast.

In reply to curtis73:

Displacement doesn't mean all that much......the 2stroke honda nsr250's will hold their own against modern 600's, and the nsr500's will still hold their own against current liter bikes....The 600 monster is neither, its seriously as tame as a gs500. A bit torquier, but still about the same. Its nowhere close to modern day 600's(which I think baron's 675 is a bit quicker than) I'm amazed I'm the only one who isn't against it.

Very mild engine. Might make 45hp. Torquey and fun, but won't get you in trouble. Gorgeous bikes. They take more maintenance than a UJM, but it's not hard to do, and a weekend afternoon of puttering around your Ducati in the garage sounds like a good time to me.

Going back to the "you will drop it" train of thought. Maybe you won't. But with the Monster, IF you do, you WILL put a really nasty dent in the tank where the controls on the bars hit it. It's known as "the Monster dent," and nowadays it's hard to find one without it. If you don't mind a bike that's rough around the edges, this won't bother you, so you can save some money and buy one that's pre-dented and dump it with impunity. But if you're a detail/cosmetic stickler, that's going to bug you, and wind up costing several hundred bucks to fix or replace the tank.

I've loved Monsters for a long time now, so this may be biased advice. But if you like them too, this may be the start of something beautiful.

I'm also thinking Monster because of my future plans, which are, namely to keep my head down and work ALOT for a couple more years for tire kingdom, making pretty damn good money honestly, and then move down to Daytona to join up with a friend who is finishing up Ducati school right now, to open a bike shop.
Flipping bikes will keep the doors open and hopefully build some clientele, we'll keep overhead low by being as cheap as we can on some stuff, He's been riding since he was a toddler, he's been working on bikes since he was a preteen, so together we should be able to make a go of it and at least pay the bills and do our own thing=]
I'm thinking about a Duc or an SM because there should be alot of money t obe made in the euro bike market, and it seems like SMs and dual sports are getting more and more popular. I've worked on jap bikes with him, and he's owned about everything (has a husq 610sm and a turbo honda bike right now) so we aren't going to be pigeonholed.

And yes I'm going to take the MSF before anything else, I've ridden mopeds before, and I have a very healthy respect for the dangers of riding (ie mainly the dangers of other idiots and the danger of being an idiot yourself)

My first bike was a Honda 450 I bought when I was 17. I almost dropped it once. I bought it in the winter and being young and stupid and full of excitement I slipped out of the house late one night. Pushed it out of the house and half way down the block. Fired it up and rode it around the block, on ice I did OK until I was coming down a hill and hit the front brake. The front end washed out as I was getting close to a corner, I had it laying all the way over flat track style sliding directly for the side of a car parked on the side of the street. In a panic I planted my left foot yanked back as hard as I could on the handlebars and pinned the throttle. The rear tire found some traction and the bike stood up on the rear wheel pointing directly up the middle of the street at the intersection. I got it stopped, shut it off and pushed it back behind the house until spring. The engine blew after riding it for 5 hrs.

I didn't drop that one and with 1k miles on the Sportster I haven't dropped it yet. I am knocking on wood.

In reply to alex:

Thank you, idk why people think the smaller ducs are "potent".

Cory, sounds like you have the right mentality. You'll do fine.

If you would be okay knocking it over on its side in the driveway, you should be fine.

My 675 is more potent than the average 650 or a Duc600. Still much more tame than a 600r sportbike though.

I've got a drz. I like it very much, but you dont want to ride it on the highway. It is awesome in town and on back roads though. It's a hooligan, and it makes you one too. motards are great first bikes because you will fall, and on a streetbike, there will be damage, sometimes significant. I've seen bikes totaled by falling over at rest. motards will rarely sustain damage from falls that dont require an ambulance, theyre based on dirtbikes, and designed to fall on mx or trail. e36, I'll sell you mine if you want it, I bought it to ride with my wife while she was a padawan and now she's moved on to street machines. (I really shouldnt afford 2 bikes for myself). It's an 06 with 8kish on it. yoshimura titanium full exhaust ($$$$), jetted, zeta led directional handguards, and a cbr1000rr undertail with led integrated directionals (very tidy kit). bike is clean like no dirt under fenders clean. $3400 bo <img src="" />

Not sure where you are, but $3k seem like a lot for a M600. Is that a 620 or the newer 696? There were just a few posts on here for sub $2k M900s with up to date service.

I will definitely have to keep that one in mind carbon! where are you located?

and yeah I saw those posts which got me looking again, but these are mostly for the late 90s 600s that I'm finiding, haven't found one for ~$2k here sadly

I really want to get a m600 and put some knobby tires on it to hit the dirt roads.

wr250x is also in the mix

In reply to Beer Baron:

Is the street triple detuned versus the Daytona?

yamaha wrote: In reply to Beer Baron: Is the street triple detuned versus the Daytona?

Yup. Lower peak power. More low end torque to get around town. Runs on regular unleaded. Otherwise the same engine.

Sorry, I forgot about this thread! Im in western mass.

In reply to Beer Baron:

Ahh, gotcha.....I haven't ridden the G2 daytona yet, but the g1 almost always felt faster than the 600 class......so the street being detuned makes sense.

carbon wrote: Sorry, I forgot about this thread! Im in western mass.

aw bummer, very far..

yamaha wrote: In reply to Beer Baron: Ahh, gotcha.....I haven't ridden the G2 daytona yet, but the g1 almost always felt faster than the 600 class......so the street being detuned makes sense.

I take that back a bit. I looked up actual graphs. Looks like the Street and Daytona make pretty much the same amount of torque below 7k (about 40lb/ft.), the Daytona just guts a big bump of torque up to to 49lb/ft. there and carries it to 110hp at 13k rpm, where the Street only climbs to a mere 44lb/ft. and tops out with 90hp at 12k rpm.

So really the only thing the detuned 675 does on the Street that the one on the Daytona can't, is run on regular gas instead of premium. But what the Street does is more than adequate for public roads.

corytate wrote:

carbon wrote: Sorry, I forgot about this thread! Im in western mass.

aw bummer, very far..

I was picturing you burning one by a fireplace during that reply. (because of the avatar). I wasn't really thinking of selling it till this thread but now that it's on my mind, I think I'll advertise it. It's been so long since I used it that I've been wanting the garage space so it's been a decoration in my living room. Which actually "really ties the room together" so I'm almost tempted to keep it there, but it's an expensive piece of art.<img src="" />