• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • Like the new V100, GuzziTech is full throttle into the future! We're now running on an all-new server and we've updated our Forum software. The visual differences are obvious, but hopefully you'll notice the super-fast speed. If you notice any glitches or have any issues, please post on the Site Support section at the bottom. If you haven't yet, please upgrade your account which is covered in the Site Support section or via the DONATE tab above, which gives you full site access including the DOWNLOADS section. We really appreciate every $ and your support to keep this site ad-free. Create an account, sign in, upgrade your account, and enjoy. See you on the road in 2024.

Monster 796, Talk Me Out Of It

Bill Meyer

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
Sep 4, 2021
Messages
180
Location
Prescott, Arizona
My V7III is a keeper, no doubt, but an older Ducati Monster is tempting me. What's the reality of owning one? Am I just stroking myself here?
 
I’d rather talk you in to it. Only downside is the desmo service. Change belts and check valves. If you do your own maintenance it’s going to save you $$.
 
2012 796 is all I know. It's super clean at 13K miles.
An air cooled ducati is just something eveyone has to try before they die. I'd say go for it. I love my V7 III too but I'm always thinking about my Monster 900. Like @davethewelder said, do your own maintenance and you'll save yourself some dough. The only drawback i do see is if you do have to do some valve adjustments, getting the half rings/ valve retainers out is a FN nuisance
 
Bill, really depends on what you intend to do with it. Monsters are hyper-bikes, not a relaxing ride at all, combine that with maintenance costs. I won't tell you don't do it, just all of these facts matter. An aside, I can still ride modern Sport-bikes quite well, but every time I do I shake my head and ask why I do. Destined to either put me in jail, or worse yet, hurt or kill me.
I can hang with almost any in the hills here, with little effort aboard my 1200-2V GTM build, so doesn’t seem worth the headache.
 
I've ridden thousands of miles on a range of monsters covering everything from the 600 to the 1200. The only bad one imo being the 821. The 796 is a great bike with the engine being relatively smooth compared to the larger air-cooled ones but still with plenty of power. They are happy being ridden gently while you admire the scenery or wind them up and make yourself laugh out loud.
These older 2 valve engines are reliable and need not be expensive to run, I always go 4 years between belt changes and have not had a problem in 40 years of use.
It will be very different to a V7 though. Think of the v7 as being like taking a sensible middle aged dog for a walk compared to the monster being a much younger and livelier dog, prone to barking out loud for no reason and pulling on the lead.
If it's an itch that needs scratching then go ahead. What's the worst that can happen? You don't like it so sell it on. At 13 years old there's not even any depreciation to worry about.
 
Last edited:
I’d say if you have the space and the money buy it! You can always sell it. Lately I have been buying and selling bikes, looking for that special bike. I’m like a rat on a shiny nickel, just gotta have it. Oh wait that’s the one i really want! Really I need a man cave to store my top 100 bikes!
 
I, too, spent some time and dollars accumulating scooters on the quest of the special one, but, honestly, at this point in my life I only have room in my brain for one or two. The V7III is my forever bike as it's PERFECT for me but a little slice of exotica would look good sitting next to it.
 
I have my Ducati scrambler next to my Griso and if I wanna ride a bike I grab the Griso...
The Duc is nice but she is a “nervous” ride.... that is what she wants... it’s a chain yanking bulldog!
 
It’s why Scott has 9 and others are still counting !
Each bike has a unique character and is sure to put a smile in your face !

You can keep adding to the collection or Buy & Sell your way to experiencing as many as you Like 😍
No one can make the choice but you :p !
 
Back
Top