LAMS - Monster 400

[saiken]

So, I've been lurking around for the past 5 years... posting on the odd occasion but mostly reading in awe of the motorcycles that everyone's been building on here. It seems the moons have finally aligned and I've put my 2nd car up for sale and I'll now be going down the road of getting my bike license and my first bike.

I'd always been pretty set on the VTR250 and convinced a mate to buy one and also got him to do a twin headlight kit and a few other mild streetfighter mods. But when I started to do my LAMS research I found out about the Monster 400...... now I'm a huge Ducati fan and all I wan't is the M400, however I've read some negative comments about them on the net and I don't know what to do... (I'll be test riding both before I purchase one, but want peoples honest opinions).

So my question is.... what is everyone's view on the Ducati M400 S.I.E. ? I'll be looking at this model as it has a 6 speed gearbox and twin brembo front brakes. The bike is air cooled and has a wet clutch (from what I've found out).

Power of the bikes is (24kw VTR / 33kw?? M400) and weights are (141kg VTR / 174kg M400), I'm 5ft7" ish and weigh in at a tiny 63kg.

My heart tells me to go the M400 as its a Ducati and I could make a nice fighter out of it in the long run and it would serve well as a cheap to run daily with a bit more power than the VTR.

[Tony Nitrous]

I ride with a few local groups that include LAM's bikes.

To me, best of the bunch by far is the CB400.
Not cheap but go well and have that "real bike shrunk" look and feel.

Never ridden a Monster 4, non in the group's I ride with.
Why go 4 when the 6 is much more popular and available ?

[Redmohawk]

600 monsters are just as cheap as a 400 and the cubes dont hurt, had a 620 . Had a 900ss , expensive parts, go ok (but a crappy old gpx600 I have would eat my old 620M) and cost alot less. Id you like the sound of a duke and "need a lams bike" by all means go the 600 duke but your buying a look/sound thats about it.

[saiken]

There are a lot more M400's available than M600's, and the power + weight differences are small. However the 600 doesn't come in a 6 speed that I can find or with twin front brakes.

I realise that the bikes might be slow but so will a VTR250.... they're bikes for me to learn on, I'll deal with getting something with some decent speed at a later date.

I've looked at the CB400 but I don't like the look of it much

[Redmohawk]

Its going to under your ass , so its up to you. Ignore what people "like" if a 400 is what your after go for it, I'd just say fuck lams and get a yam 850 more power sound similar and cheap to boot . But you will get the occasional cop give you greef, Is riding a bike over capacity a fine ? I was under the impression it was at a cops discression but mostly just a warning, Might be worth looking into. I'd risk a few warnings lol.

Back when I did my L/P's i was restricted to a 250 in vic but learnt to ride on the road on a xs1100. (had a fair amount of practice on posties n 2 strokers off road as a kid beforehand though)

[ALBI]

dude if you like the 400 munster ,go for it !!

as red said it's under ur bumm.

now answer this ,when you are on ur open licence are you going to keep said bike ??? and upgrade??

IF IT LOOKS LIKE A DUCK
SOUNDS LIKE A DUCK
AND RIDES LIKE A DUCK

WELL GET UR DUCK AND RIDE IT !!

[Tony Nitrous]

However the 600 doesn't come in a 6 speed.

Personaly I cant see any appeal to the extra gear.
All it suggests to me is the 400 hasnt got the ball's
to pull the fewer, wider spaced gears the 600 can ?
GSXR750's had 6 gears, the 1100 could nail one with 5.

A better / double disc front isnt hard to do on anything
if its on your wish list.

Bike choice is a very personal thing and asking for others
opinions is a mine field.

You dont like the 400's looks ?
Personal I dont like Busa / B-King looks, Ugly as f#ck,
but I buy them because of their ability.
Folk have different values.

[saiken]

I plan to keep my LAMS bike for commuting purposes and grab something else for weekends. I'll test ride both the VTR and M400 before I make a choice but I wanted peoples opinions as well. Just in case they where an absolute dog of a bike or something.

No doubt I'll end up tricking up my LAMS bike to some extent to give it a bit more streetfighter / personal appeal, but thats happened with all my cars and I expect that to continue with all my bikes too.

[saiken]

Personaly I cant see any appeal to the extra gear.
All it suggests to me is the 400 hasnt got the ball's
to pull the fewer, wider spaced gears the 600 can ?
GSXR750's had 6 gears, the 1100 could nail one with 5.

Bike choice is a very personal thing and asking for others
opinions is a mine field.

I figured it would be, but I was interested in case others had horror stories or good stories about them. Ultimately I'll base my final decision on what I think of the test rides, but there could be other bikes I haven't looked at that would be good to.

The original m400 came with a 5 speed but the later one had a 6th gear added, which I believe will help with fuel economy. (I could be wrong though)

[JDinOZ]

I rode the vtr 250, m400 m600 and cb400, and CB400 is by far the best. You'll know what you want when you testride them dude, just ride them all. the m400 i rode had massive clutchissues though 1st-2nd...

[The crow]

Do u know that some of the lams bike are restricted and can after ur one yr term have the extra power released so ur learner commuter then becomes ur toy ?? Th sv 650 is one also the 600 ninja so do plenty of research u have the option to by a bike that will not just ful fill ur current needs but also the start of ur future needs. Also dont know how mechanialy minded u r but u can also look at a lot of old school bikes as they will fall into the catagory with power re stictions. But as every one here has said " its under ur arse and u have to live with it" so choose wisely and dont be afraiad of others and their opinions as urs counts the most but do listen to sound advice