Street brawl
New 821 Monster v Street Triple
At a quick glance, you could be forgiven for thinking these two are an odd couple, but this pair of European middleweights have more in common than you might think. Both are priced in the sub£10,000 category, have full-colour TFT dashes, selectable rider modes, multilevel traction control and high-spec ABS. They also share identical Brembo brake calipers up front (M4.32 radial monoblocs), and their very different engines kick out very similar peak power. Both are highly desirable, and squarely aimed at the same target rider. So which one is best?
Café cool
Ducati’s new 821 looks just as desirable at a wintry Cadwell Park as it did when I rode it on the launch in Italy at the tail end of 2017. Ducati have doffed their design cap back towards the original Monster 900 from 25 years ago, not least with the ski-boot style clip on the 16.5-litre fuel tank (down from 17.5 litres). It’s a nice touch, and for some reason the whole package feels more retro in yellow. I’ve always liked the stance of the Monster. On visual appeal alone I prefer the Ducati to the Triumph, but when I asked the same question on MCN’s social media streams the result was 75% in favour of the Brit. Prod the Italian’s starter, and there’s a lovely bark from the 821cc L-twin, which pushes the more understated Triumph’s soundtrack into the shadows. The swanky new TFT dash brings the 821 in line with its competition and delivers a much clearer and more engaging experience for the rider. The dash also gives you a clear indication of which rider mode you’re using, displaying your settings for the three rider modes, Sport, Touring and Urban. Each mode has its own characteristics, altering the power delivery, level of ABS and TC interaction, and even changing the display itself – which gives the
illusion of three bikes in one. Plus, you can personalise each mode through the dash and switchgear. For example, you can turn off traction control in Sports mode for a purer experience on track. It’s easy to flick between the modes on the move, too – enabling you to change the rider aids and engine character as weather, road surface or your temperament demand.
Torque surfing
At the core of the 821 is the same Euro4compliant liquid-cooled Testastretta 11° engine that was used in the previous model, producing 107bhp and 63.4ftlb of torque. It’s a creamy lump, with more torque than the Triumph, but 9bhp less peak power. The result is that everything happens lower in the rev range, punching you between corners on a tide of torque. It has a surprising amount of grunt, its elastic surging pulse backed up by a lovely soundtrack – but it can’t match the Triumph’s high-revving inline-triple for power, especially when your speed climbs above normal road-riding pace. The Duke can’t quite hold on to the Triumph in the bends either. The Monster retains the same relatively basic suspension as the previous model, and while there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the ride quality or composure – and it works well in the dry – it feels slightly wooden compared to the fully adjustable Street Triple R. When you ride the pair back-to-back you realise that you’re making slightly more allowances for the Ducati’s character. The riding position is a little more radical, the turning circle is larger, and the suspension feels a fraction less forgiving – whereas everything feels effortless on the Triumph.
‘It’s a creamy lump, with more torque than the Triumph’
Best of British
The original series of 675-engined Street Triples redefined the naked middleweight class. It was – and still is – an excellent bike, and if you ride one of the last of the originals it’s hard to believe just how Triumph have managed to move game on as far as they have with the 765. What an incredible bike. It takes all the excellent qualities of the 675 and simply amplifies them, while losing none of the original bike’s simplistic joy. The 765 triple may not have the bottom-end punch of the Ducati, but there’s still plenty of drive, delivered by near-perfect fuelling and an addictive top-end. It’s linier, smooth as silk and if you want to raise your heart rate it’ll happily scream all the way to the redline. It’s not scarily quick and doesn’t run away with you, instead it has enough in the locker to simply mirror your aggression with a perfectly meted out balance of controllable power and excitement, even in tricky conditions. The fully adjustable Showa suspension is just as silky and impressive as the motor. Around town it’s soft enough to soak up potholes and speed humps, while it’ll take on a bumpy back road at speed, remaining stable and secure and giving you the confidence to use everything the chassis and engine can deliver. It all adds up to a ride that’s plush, cosseting and forgiving – but firm and precise in all the right places. That control finesse is even more apparent when conditions deteriorate, and in the wet the Triumph always delivers more confidence than the Ducati.
Bells and whistles
Just like the 821, the Street comes with a full-colour TFT dash as standard (the S makes do with an LCD/analogue dash, while the RS shares the R’s TFT), and it is slightly superior to the Ducati’s. It’s like comparing an iPhone 5 to an iPhone 6, they’re both good, but once you’ve sampled the incremental improvement of the 6, you don’t want to go back. The Triumph’s layout is cleaner and more sophisticated, which gives a superior feel as you scroll through the selectable rider modes, traction control and ABS intervention – all driven by new switchgear that features a joystick controller next to your left thumb. There’s no doubt that the Street Triple R is the better bike in almost every way, punching well above its weight – but it can’t quite match the kerb appeal of the Monster. The Ducati has a lovely soulful burble to it, and oozes a character the Triumph just can’t beat. I’d find myself popping into the garage with a brew just to check on my Monster, give it a little polish and enjoy just looking at it. I doubt I’d do that with the Triumph.
‘In the wet the Triumph always delivers more condidence’ ‘The Ducati has a soulful burble and character the Triumph just can’t beat’