Monday, December 14, 2009

My new toy

So after spending a couple months looking at bikes, I narrowed my options down to the Ducati Monster 696 and the Harley Davidson Sportster Iron 883. The 2009 Monster has a newly revamped engine cranking out 80hp and a dry weight of just 355lbs. This gives it an absolutely insane power to weight ratio. However, lighter bikes like the Monster tend to feel a bit jumpy on the banged up asphalt of Los Angeles and the riding position is built for the corners, not long rides up the coast.


The Iron 883 is definitely more sedate with a dry weight of 548lbs, but still cranks out 55 foot pounds of torque vs. the Monster's 50, so it still has a nice pull off the line. The blacked out styling looks great and the straighter drag bars give a good grip for tall guys like me.

In the end, these are really two extremely different bikes with two distinct purposes. Even though I love carving up the corners of Mulholland Drive and the Angeles Crest, I also wanted a bike that I could comfortably commute to work on or take on 100+ mile rides. The Harley was the best fit for my needs and style, so that's the bike I bought.

Of course, once you buy a Harley, you have to make it your own. I wanted to take my girlfriend riding with me, so I picked up the Badlander seat and the short rail sissy bar with detachable side plates. This turned out to be a great combo. It maintains the low, flowing lines of the bike, has plenty of padding, and provides enough support so my girl doesn't fall off the back when we nail a pothole. After racking up 700 miles on my bike, I'm still glad I went with the Harley.