Back on two wheels soon - which Monster?

[sejman]

New to the forum - I'm a 40-something guy planning on getting back into motorcycling after a 20 year break (wife, kids, dogs, etc.). Gas prices and the "Green" craze have given me the rationale needed to go from gawking at bikes to buying. Seems like a common story.

Anyway - as a former Gpz550 owner, I'm attracted to the naked sportbike style and the uniqueness and other qualities of Ducati. I was also surprised to find that I could get a mildly used Monster for the price of a new mid-size Japanese bike (like a Ninja 650R or SV650). There's no contest in my opinion - I'll get the used Ducati. So here are a few candidates:

1999 Monster 900 (red) - guy in my office has a newer S4R and is willing to sell this one with about 12K miles - but what's a fair price and should I bother?

2001 Monster 900 (red) - $5500 at local dealer, new tires, recently serviced, 14K miles - fuel injected.

2003 Monster 800 (yellow) - $5500 at local dealer, carbon muffler, 17K miles

2007 Monster S2R (red) - $7250 private sale, 3K miles, still under warranty, but this one is really over my budget.

I'm not a big guy and don't plan on lots of two up riding (mainly commuting), so in some ways I'm more attracted to the 800 (probably also gets a bit better gas mileage).

Your thoughts appreciated!