Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Monster 659: The LAMS one.

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I had a M659 ABS in a few weeks ago to fit a power kit to.  The owner had bought a M696 ABS Ducati Performance kit from Germany, which he hoped (and I figured) would probably be pretty close.  The difference between the two engine wise is a shorter stroke crank and (I expect) a longer piston.  I haven't had a look at the parts catalogue yet to confirm it.  Chassis wise I believe there is no difference.

However, on the day we found the kit was complete except for the little brackets that bolt to the mufflers and the frame.  But I did fit the air filter and lid and the ecu.  Checking the throttle opening via the diagnostics when doing a TPS set I saw that maximum throttle was 40 degrees.  M696 show 79 or 80 degrees at WOT (and 0 at closed throttle) in my experience, so it's getting almost half the normal throttle opening.

When I rode it though (std mufflers still) I was quite amazed at how well it went for a LAMS bike.  While I have always had quite strong feelings about the inappropriateness of most 250s in terms of getting out of harms way (back in my day a CB250N was the norm and as much of a slug as any of the 250cc 4 stroke twins on offer) I was still surprised at how much performance the learner was getting from the 659.  The owner did say that it went quite a bit better with the ecu and air filter kit fitted, but I don't recall what he said about the impact the mufflers had when he finally got them on.

I did ride a 696 a little later, which put some perspective on the 659.  I haven't dynod a 696, but I would say they would go as well as my hot 750 once you get the revs up.  Certainly a nice little bike for getting around on.  I was discussing the 659 with Bob at Ducati City, who have sold quite a lot of them.  Even to non LAMS requirement riders who just commute.  The main point there is resale.  A LAMS bike version will have much better resale than a non LAMS, and if you don't need the power there's no point having it.

As an indicative comparison, this is a dyno graph of a 750SSie I mapped years ago.  The red run is full throttle, the blue run is 40 degrees.  As you can see, similar power output under 4,000 rpm and about 2/3 of the maximum at its peak.  I expect a 659 vs 696 graph would look much the same, although the 659 should have more top end bias I expect simply due to its larger valves.  They're a bit bigger than the old 900.

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4 comments:

Unknown said...

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Wayne said...

"If you don't need the power there is no point having it" WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM.

Unknown said...

Hi very interesting I have a 2014 m659 and have recently put the 696 ECU with termis but no the speedo wont work and my odometer goes up real fast any thoughts on that issue

Unknown said...

Just had my 659 dynoed today. Pulled 70hp using a Rapid Bike EVO. Only trims the fuel table. So a little more in it if I could play with the timing