[gnew]

I'm not sure about this outgrowing a 620 or 800 in six months that I keep hearing about....are guys dragging a knee in six months are they blasting thru twisties at outrageous speeds in six months or do they just want more straight line power and be able to go from 30 to 80 faster? Straight line speed is a piece of cake...taking some turns at the correct speed and entering and exiting at the correct place are a little different...am I just behind on the learning curve or should I expect to outgrow my bike as well Or is it just bike envy?

 

[fastbike]

I vote for bike envy. In America bigger is better, right? Most of us can't (or shouldn't) use the bike's full capability on the street. Lots of peer pressure when you have a "little" bike. Honda making the pitch on the VTX1800, now Kawasaki tells you you've got to have the new 2000. Triumph has a 2300.
All pretty silly. Spend the time becoming a better rider. Track days are a great opportunity. You will find that the 620 and 800 can run pretty fast under a good rider.

I'm not sure about this outgrowing a 620 or 800 in six months that I keep hearing about....are guys dragging a knee in six months are they blasting thru twisties at outrageous speeds in six months or do they just want more straight line power and be able to go from 30 to 80 faster?

 

[Bloodshot]

I can see somone easily outgrowing a 620 in six months, an 800 on the other hand is questionable. Sure, if all you care about is dragging then an 800 isn't your bike. However, if you care about learning to actually ride it's gonna take more than 6 months to really find the limits. My 800 has enough power to keep up with virtually any superbike in the twisties, wheelies like no ones business, leans far enough to drag hard parts, etc. There have definitely been a few times I wanted more power, but in just about all of those being a better rider would have helped just as much. It all depends on how you ride and you WANT to ride...

 

[franco]

yeah, the slowest part of MOST bikes is the rider, so I guess you (or I) will have plenty of opportunity to fully grow into a 620.
Of course, there will be times when one will feel the need for more horsepower, but I'm sure that much more often, the bike will not be used even close to its full capacity.

 

[ScottRNelson]

I'm sure I could ride an M620 through the twisties just as fast or faster than the M900 I had or the ST2 I currently ride. The difference is that I would be doing a lot more shifting to get the speed. With the M900 or ST2, I can leave it in 3rd gear in the tight stuff, or 4th gear in the more open twisties and ignore shifting completely. I'll occasionally see the engine speed drop as low as 3000 rpms coming out of some tight corner, but the Ducati V-twin just pulls right out of there strongly anyway.

On Saturday when I was riding down the freeway to Ducati North America in Cupertino for our big group ride, I was cruising on the freeway at between 70 and 80 mph. I had to pass somebody quickly, so I dropped down a couple of gears to 4th. I realized as I was going by that I probably would have had almost the exact same acceleration if I had just left it in 6th gear. That's the biggest advantage of the larger engines.

I'm also of the opinion that you don't have to be able to get even close to the limits of a bike to enjoy what it can do. It's more important to me to enjoy the ride. I think I could be perfectly happy on an M620, but you can bet my next Monster will be either an M900 or M1000 with the dual spark engine. But I have no interest in owning an S4 or S4R. I'm completely happy with 80 hp, (+/- 5).

I feel like I'm rambling here. Get whatever bike you want and don't apologize for it. If you enjoy riding it, that's all that matters. And you get some added satisfaction if you happen to be faster than someone on a bike that should be faster according to the magazine tests.

 

[Guest]

I went thru this dilema a month ago when i got my 620D. I saw 800's there as well and could i have bought it...sure, but did i really need all that power nah. I felt if i had more power that would be more excuse to flog her.

What cemented my opinion was on friday when i picked my monster up for my 600mile check. one of the guys there has a 620 as his only transportation and has really done some serious riding. He rides with guys with bigger bikes and has told me that he has had no probs hanging with them on the corners with their rocket bikes, the only prob he has is in straight aways which makes sense.

Sadly he is going to sell the 620 only because he wants to hang with his friends in the straights, but if it wasnt for that he'd keep the monster...heck i'd keep it anyway and get a rocket for those straightaway days. But if i do end up outgrowing her, i'll know that sexy beast in my garage inside and out so well that i will not want to give her up!

I think like it was said, it comes down to what you want to do and how you want to ride. There was one day where i thought i should have gotten that new kawi 600 or the M800 but when i sat back and thought i was like you know you have something no other guy around here has (so heck with the rocket) and if i got the M800 i'd be wanting to be like them, that i really didnt want.

whats really sweet, i read a post some place about the monster how people will stop and look and i have had that which really makes me smile. and the sweet thing, guys i know with rockets want to ride MY monster!!! ;D

Just my 2 cents after my first month

 

[sivan]

I think "outgrowing" is often used in the sense of being able to cope with more power. Somehow this is taken by many as a duty to move up to a bigger bike, were they learn how to cope again, rather than master it.

That said, appreciating big power is something else altogether.

 

[alex]

I think that the most important thing is what kind of person you are. Obviously, as everyone else has said, almost none of us (me included) can use our bikes to thier full capacity.

The problem is that some people can't be happy knowing that they 'settled for less.' I am one of these people. I used to have a 750cc monster that scared the hell out of me whenever I pulled the throttle. But I ended up selling it for a 900 anyway. It was basically because I was always jealous of the 900's I saw, and I couldnt stand having a 'lesser' bike. The fact remains that the 750 was already plenty for me though... oh well...
The question isn't will you outgrow it, its are you like me?

BTW I justify not wanting an s4 because I tell myself that they are a mismatch: The wrong engine for a monster. Like its a step towards a four cylinder or something. (obvoiusly I have created this delusion because I can't afford one )