Ducati Monster
Ducati chase younger riders with their new, lighter, techier and funkier Monster. And the trellis frame has gone too…
‘Almost 40kg less than the 950 Multistrada… it’s going to feel frisky’
Ducati have redesigned their biggestselling bike ever to try and capture a younger, more style-conscious market. The new Monster (sales since 1993 launch: 350,000) loses the traditional trellis frame and hunched fuel tank, and in return gets a Panigale-style monocoque frame and a tank that looks like the MV Brutale’s (as does the Monster’s new headlight come to think of it). ‘The new look and new mechanical package has been done to attract younger customers,’ Ducati’s design director Andrea Ferraresi tells Bike. ‘The new customers were probably not even born when the first Monster was conceived by Miguel Ga luzzi in 1992. Of course we hope to keep the old Monster customers, but we wanted to broaden the audience with this new one.’ The move highlights Ducati’s problem with the Monster; for years it was the company’s entrylevel bike and their only sporty naked, but now the Scramblers do the entry-level job and the V4 Streetfighter and V-twin Hypermotard take care of sporty naked business. The Monster seems uncomfortably squeezed. Andrea doesn’t see it like that though. ‘The Scrambler plays a different game. It’s an entrance to the Ducati world, but it’s not a Ducati, it’s a Scrambler. It has different values. Ducati is sporty, performance, fun and red. Scrambler is easy going, enjoying life, enjoying riding.
‘The Monster is the door to sporty Ducati nakeds. I expect that customers who buy a Monster now will progress to a Streetfighter in three or four years time.’
Whether or not you go with that analysis – we’ve always thought of Scramblers as Ducatis – there’s little doubt the new Monster will be a hoot to ride. The engine is the same 937cc V-twin used by the 950 Supersport, Hypermotard and Multistrada, and we know that’s a road-riding gem. Peak power is 111bhp at 9250rpm with 69 lb.ft of torque at 6500rpm. Plus the Monster is significantly lighter than the old model (and the Supersport, Multistrada and Hypermotard), thanks mostly to dropping the trellis frame in favour of a Panigale-style ‘front frame’. This aluminium beam connects the headstock to both cylinders, using the engine as a stressed member, and saves 4.5kg over the trellis.
‘From a design point of view, changing from the trellis frame is a big deal,’ says Andrea. ‘The trellis has been a central part of the design. But as a company, it’s not as big a deal as going from twin to V4, and we had already taken the step [of dropping the trellis] with the Panigale. At Ducati we are always ready to move forward when we see that something is more technological, lighter and fits better with what we want to achieve.’
More weight was lost through new wheels (1.7kg saving), swingarm (1.6kg), and rear subframe (1.9kg). In total, the new Monster is 18kg less than the outgoing model, with a dry weight of just 166kg – that’s 10kg lighter than the 950 Hypermotard and almost 40kg less than the 950 Multistrada. There’s little doubt it’s going to feel frisky.
‘We wanted to go back to the original idea behind the Monster,’ says Andrea. ‘To have only what is necessary on a motorcycle to enjoy riding – a tank, headlight, seat and engine. That’s the pure essence of a Monster.’