BIKETEST DUCATI MONSTER 1100 S:The Monster 1100 S allows the rider to enjoy the essence of biking – and it's a hell of a lot of fun, writes GEOFF HILL
IT NEVER rains but a sheep falls on your head, as my mother was so fond of saying.
I mean, two months ago I’d never ridden a Ducati in my life – since then I’ve been on the 1198s and the Streetfighter S.
And now, the most iconic of all, the Monster, which has been a linchpin of the company’s profits since it was introduced with the 900 in 1993, followed by the 696 and, last year, the 1100.
What a great name for a bike, I thought, as I walked up to it. It makes you feel tough and manly even standing beside it and taking in the fact that, like the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and Cesar Manrique’s house in Lanzarote, it has the inside on the outside, with the Desmodromic V-twin and the tubular steel trellis chassis, both designed by the late Fabio Taglioni, out for the world to see and admire.
And what a lot there is to admire: the Monster 1100, launched last September, was basically a bigger 696 with a single-sided swingarm, radial brake calipers, larger forks and loftier suspension to give it better ground clearance.
The S version tweaks the concept still further, with fully adjustable Öhlins suspension, a different colour scheme and aluminium brake disc carriers, which reduce the weight by 1kg.
All of which I was just about to ruin by plonking 100kg of myself on top of it and starting the engine to unleash the syncopated growl that can only come from an air-cooled V-twin.
The seating position is slightly more aggressive than that of the Streetfighter, but not so much that you’re going to have to get off and leave your wrists in the fridge after a day’s on-the-road driving.
Ride off and it becomes immediately obvious that, like the Streetfighter, this is a bike that’s not happy anywhere below 3,000rpm, making any progress through city streets a series of fits and starts until you learn to stop being so ham-fisted with the throttle.
Open it up on the straight out of town, though, keep it between 6,000 and 9,000, and you have a machine that will do your bidding so sweetly that within 10 minutes, it becomes one of those machines where you actually forget that you’re riding a motorbike and become convinced that you are proceeding along by a feat of inspired telekinesis.
This feeling is exacerbated by the fact that the perfect balance and light weight of the bike, added to a fairly steep fork rake, make counter-steering your way around corners an act of precise beauty.
Lightness and agility, in fact, are the hallmarks of the bike: it weighs a mere 6.7kg more than the Monster 696, which is pretty remarkable, and although it has 35 less horsepower than the Triumph Speed Triple, it’s also a whopping 21kg lighter, making it the featherweight of its class.
The tank’s a bit small for long-distance use, and although I found windblast entirely acceptable, it could get a bit tiresome on long journeys.
All of which leaves a bike that is that little bit too lumpy for pottering around town and a bit unsuitable for touring – meaning that, in short, the Monster 1100 S does exactly what it says on the Chianti bottle.
That is to say, a motorbike that is stripped down to its basic essence, perfect for doing what biking is when it’s stripped down to its basic essence: going out on a fine, sunny morning, finding a road with lots of corners, and having as much fun as it’s possible to have without the aid of a Spiderman outfit, a pair of flippers, a feather duster and a lime green Afro wig.
Still, enough about my Saturday nights.
Factfile Ducati Monster 1100 / S
Engine:1,078cc air-cooled 90-degree V-twin four-valve four-stroke
Power and torque: 94bhp at 7,500rpm, 76lb ft (10.5kgm) of torque @ 6,000rpm
Transmission: six-speed gearbox, chain final drive
Top speed: 125mph
Weight: 169kg (373lb)
Wheels and tyres: front 3.50x17 fitted with a 120/70ZR tyre; rear 5.50x17 with 180/55ZR tyre
Suspension: front 43mm fully adjustable Showa forks; rear Sachs rising-rate suspension unit, adjustable spring pre-load and return damping
Brakes: Brembo Ducati Corse-derived; front – radial pumps with adjustable levers feeding four-piston radial calipers with twin 320mm discs; rear – two-piston caliper, 245mm disc
Fuel capacity: 15 litres (3.8 US gallons)
Colours: 1100 red, silver, black; 1100S red, pearl white
Price:€12,000 for Monster 1100, €13,700 for 1100S. For details contact Ducati Dublin, 01 4603168, motopoint.ie. UK price £8,350 or £9,750.
Test bike from Millsport Motorcycles of Ballymoney, tel: 028-2766 7776