I did about 300 miles on my new to me M1200 at the weekend but just decided to take the M900 out, now I loved riding that bike, it felt comfy and relatively powerful, but oh dear it now feels gutless and wooden, what have I done!, all of my other bikes are a similar power to the M900 so I guess I’ve ruined the lot of them, please don’t be offended M900 riders, I still think the M900 is much prettier than the 1200, and they are fine bikes, but the difference to a modern bike is stark, I had thought this might happen to some degree but it’s worse than I thought!!, I’ll do a few more miles and see if the old magic comes back, hmm, maybe I could try a more modern wife as well, here’s a pic of the 900, still pretty if a little geriatric.
I was out on mine today too in the susnshine. Cheshire A's & B's - can't beat it - especially on a pretty bike.
I took my 98 R1 out the other day, this is a bike that i have been riding for 20 years, and was looking forward to riding it again ,needless to say, after my 1200R Monster it felt totally alien ,wooden feel to the brakes, incredibly uncomfortable,and lacking in power ! I have now sorn the bike and am happy just to look at it and enjoy the new mistress in my life !
Ok, did a few more miles and things aren’t as bad as I thought, towards the end it felt ok power wise, but that wooden feeling didn’t go away, hard to describe really but the steering feels a bit dead?, guess the steering angle is steeper on the 1200 (and 20 + years of development of course) so all is not lost, I just need to ride about 15 miles on my other bikes before forming an opinion
Rear tyre on Monster is new but front is a little worn, I have a new Rosso in the garage waiting to go on, M1200 has almost new Rosso’s front and rear, I expect some improvement after fitting the new front on the M900 but would be rather surprised if it brought the feel and handling up to the standard of a 20 year newer better designed bike, I live in hope though!
I have the same pairing, a 1993 M900 and a 1200R, the 900 was my first Duke and is worlds apart from the 12R, you just gotta appreciate each for what they are and not compare them
These bikes are what they are ,when the first M9 appeared 25 years ago it was a game changer but we have to recalibrate our expectations when we ride them now, my 1988 Gsxr 750J is a dinosaur and all the better for it, the polar opposite of my 1198S.....i still get a huge buzz out of riding them both but in different ways.Enjoy.
@Mark9 Imagine your bikes as a cheese board, start with the mild cheddar and work up to a stinking bishop. All good, just getting stronger as you go.
@Mark9 - You can always mod the engine for and extra 15hp+, lighten it with CF, and upgrade the suspension. Then you won't have a modern bike, but you will have a faster, lighter, better handling, simple and very pretty bike. Depending on your finances you might also be broke. PS. Purists will moan. Ignore them.
Oh yeah first world, that’s what I meant, I’ve changed the forks for Showa 3 way adjustable, huge improvement over the Marzocci’s Jez, but I’ll leave it where it is now, it is what it is and mods money would be better spent on another modern bike for me.
I felt the same after I test rode my last purchase in 2002 (ST4) I got back on the M900 and thought, shit that ST4 was quick!! Put the ST4 in for first service and got a SS900ie as a loan bike and thought, shit this is slow.... The original Monster still looks great though, kind of sorry I traded mine - should've kept it as well
