350,000 times Monster

Let’s begin the story from the end … 15 January 2021

https://www.ducati.com/ww/en/news/350000-times-monster

The Monster reaches a significant milestone in its history with the delivery of the 350,000th model, the Monster 1200 S “Black on Black”, which Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali and the Director of the Ducati Design Center Andrea Ferraresi personally delivered to its owner, the Ducatista Sebastien Francois Yves Hervé De Rose.

The Monster is the biggest selling Ducati model of all time, as well as the longest-serving motorcycle in the range. Its legend was created in 1992 when the company had the intuition of putting on the road a Ducati with a Superbike chassis stripped of the fairings and all elements not strictly necessary. With the launch of the M900 model, the first Monster ever, Ducati was able to give rise to a new segment of the motorcycle market – the sports naked – creating a bike that has represented a true benchmark for several generations.

1993

M900 and 916, THE bikes that made history

M900, the story of a legend

His dad: Miguel Angel Galluzzi

https://www.ducati.com/ww/en/heritage/characters/miguel-galluzzi

Miguel Angel Galluzzi was born in Buenos Aires in 1959 and has always had in his blood a passion for engines as well as an almost visceral attraction for motorcycles. His father, his uncle and even his grandparents were riders.

He began studying engineering at the University of Miami (Florida), but after two years he discovered that there was a design school in Pasadena (California) and enrolled there. His first job in the automotive world, for the German company Opel, led him to settle in Europe. He then accepted the offer from Honda, which intended to open a design laboratory in Milan, therefore he moved to the capital of Lombardy (Italy).

https://amcn.com.au/editorial/how-i-created-a-monster

“the first thing I did when I came to Milan was to buy a Ducati! I found a dealer with silver and red 750SS for 7.5m Lira ($6300), which was a lot of money, but I said, if I don’t do it now, I never will. I remember riding it to Honda for the first time and Mr Ikeda (Hitoshi Ikeda, the designer of the CB750 K0) came to my desk and asked me why I didn’t buy a Honda. I said because I like Ducatis. He told me to go with him and I thought ‘oh man, I’m in trouble’. We went to the parking lot and he put the key in and started the engine and suddenly his face changed. He went vroom, vroom, with the throttle and then he turned to me and said, ‘you know what, this bike has a heart. We Japanese are never going to be able to make something like this.’ And from then on every time he’d visit the office he’d take the key to start the Ducati, blip the throttle, and then come back with a huge smile!”

Galluzzi left Honda in 1989 for Cagiva/Ducati.

“While I was working at Honda, we used to receive magazines and one arrived with pictures of the first 851 Ducati stripped naked. They’d simply removed the bodywork in order to take the side-on shots. I made an A3 colour photocopy and said to myself, this is the bike I want to make – it’s what I’d like to ride myself.

Forget about all the race bodywork and stuff that is completely pointless on the street. I want to build this bike just as it is.”

“So I got an 851 frame, the 900SS wasn’t selling very well, so there were ready supplies of its air-cooled desmodue motor, and not having a radiator was a good thing. I decided to use the desmodue motor with the 851 frame that had a rear suspension link, not cantilever like on the 900SS.”

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“Then towards the end of 1991, somebody told me they were having the big meeting of Cagiva importers. I convinced Claudio Castiglioni to bring the bike into the meeting and the Cagiva importer for France, Marcel Seurat, was there, plus Germany was there, England, all the big ones. The meeting lasted for three days and on the last day Claudio said, ‘We have something to show you, and we’d like to ask your opinion.’ We took them into a big room, removed the cover, and everybody was like – ‘Wow, what is this??! The guy who reacted quickest was Seurat – he said, ‘Claudio, we’ve got a winner here. Let’s get this thing going – I’ll buy the first 1000 bikes!’

“So we launched the bike officially at the 15th IFMA International Bicycle and Motorcycle Show in Cologne in October ’92 and to say it was a hit was an understatement – it just took off – so all the other importers increased their orders. It will become a masterpiece of visual minimalism, where everything superfluous has been abandoned:

“All you need are: saddle, tank, engine, two wheels and handlebars”

Miguel Galluzzi

IFMA, Internationale Fahrrad und Motorrad-Ausstellung, today INTERMOT, was one of the world’s largest motorbike, bicycle and accessories exhibitions, the 15th edition was held from 29 September to 4 October 1992 in Cologne, Germany, and was attended by some 250,000 people, 40,000 of whom came from 80 foreign countries.

With the Monster comes the modern concept of naked, real sports bike deprived of the bulky fairing but which at the same time retains all the components typical of superbikes, which will represent the phenomenon of the 90s and subsequent ones.

The success with the public was such that on March 5, 1993 production began and in May of that same year it was already in the dealership showroom, initially with the 904cc engine alone.

There was an immediate boom in sales, so much that one of the Monster’s many merits must certainly be that of having saved Ducati from the crisis that gripped it in the 90s.

In 1999, the M600 was the best-selling motorcycle on the Italian market: the first time a Ducati had achieved such success.

Monster chassis no. “000001”, a red M900, was assigned to Ayrton Senna of whom Castiglioni was a passionate admirer.

Over the course of almost thirty years the Monster will be declined in different displacements ranging from 400 to 1200cc, with carburetors and injection, 2 and 4 valves, air and liquid cooling, in different configurations and special series for a total of over 50 variants. It has changed, improved and evolved from a technical and aesthetic point of view, but without ever losing sight of its main goal: to be a fun-to-ride bike for motorcyclists from all over the world and inspire new generations of enthusiasts. From the legendary Monster 900 and 600, which opened the Ducati world to many young motorcyclists, to the second generation with the 696 and 1100 models, passing through the 4-valve versions, up to the most recent 797, 821 and 1200, the Monster represents an extraordinary success for the brand and for the Ducati company.

Monster: the genesis of the name

“I heard many stories about why we called it the Monster, most completely untrue! The real reason is because I was spending hours on a design that didn’t have a project number, the financial controller needed a name to which to allocate the costs. Around that time, they had a craze in Italy called ‘Monster in My Pocket’ for young kids to collect.

There were about 300 different rubber monsters, and each night my two sons would ask me ‘Dad, did you buy us a monster? Monster, monster, monster?’ And each weekend we’d go to the store to buy three or four boxes of them to add to their collection. So I said ‘why don’t we call it the Monster?’ So Monster it became – never the Italian word, which is Mostro, because that’s not what it said on the boxes.

The Monster (r)Evolution

1993

1st

Monster 900

The “Pompone” (the big pump), the origin of the species.

Its first appearance at the IFMA (International Bicycle and Motorcycle Show) in Cologne in October 1992. Pipes trellis frame of 851/888 series mounts the 904 cc Pompone of Supersport origin, air / oil cooled.

Specs

Ducati Monster M900 1993 @ Ducati Museum

1993/1994

2nd

Monster 400

In Japan, in the early 90s, for legislative reasons, large-displacement motorcycles are not encouraged and those under 400cc depopulate. In the 90s in particular, there was a boom in superbike with reduced displacement which gave rise to a real cult.

The 400cc was developed specifically for the Japanese market

Specs

1994/1995

3rd

Monster 600

The baby Monster

The Monster 600 uses a smaller 584cc, a 5-speed gearbox instead of the six, the oil bath clutch instead of dry (the engine derived from the Pantah of the small series), the single front disc, the ‘absence of the oil cooling radiator and finally for tires reduced size. It proves a massive hit all across Europe, thanks in a large part to its budget €6000 price tag.

Among the most important changes (later also extended to the M900) there was one as banal as it was indispensable: the bevel of the silencers in the part closest to the ground. In the first models, in fact, the high bend possibilities often led the exhaust system being filed on the asphalt, which in extreme cases also caused some slips to the most daring pioneers of “monsterism”.

Specs

1996

4th

Monster 900 Special Edition

The appearance of the front fairing 

1996

5th

Monster 750

Single disc at the front, non-adjustable fork, steel swingarm, no carbon and the 4.5 “rear rim. The color associated with this engine was a beautiful metallic gray which was subsequently also proposed in the other displacements.

Specs

The M Family: 600, 750, 900

1997

6th

Monster 900 “small valves”

The M900, perhaps guilty of being too riotous in the delivery of the torque, it was made more manageable and fluid especially at low revs with an unusual work of depowering. For the first time on a production Monster, the front fairing appeared, actually a bit clumsy compared to the shape of the bike, but useful for differentiating the larger displacement version at a glance.

Specs

1997

7th?

Monster 900 Solo

Who saw it?

1998

In 1998 Ducati definitively left the Cagiva universe and the decade of TPG (Texas Pacific Group) control began.

7th

Monster 900S

This is the standard Monster of a few years earlier, with large valves, but equipped with the 41 mm Showa fork, the Brembo floating front discs with cast iron track, the floating rear caliper, and an abundance of carbon fiber details, including mudguards.

The 1999 M900 S version is, to date, one of the most wanted models and without a doubt the best carbureted 900 ever built. Compared to the previous year, in fact, it was even equipped with a steering damper and Öhlins monoshock.

Specs

1998

8th

Monster 900 Cromo

Produced in small series and characterized by the chromed steel tank with embossed logos. The engine is the “small valves”, but the bike is enriched by black colored rims and by all the imaginable details in carbon fiber (seat cover included).

Specs

9th

Monster 600 Dark

The lucky move

Monster Dark, initially proposed only in the 600cc variant. Characterized by the matt black coloring and the choice between various colors for the frame (black, gray, bronze, red and yellow), the Dark was proposed as an entry model, simplified to the maximum in components and fittings, as well as ready for customization. The success of the Dark 1998 version was such that, in 1999, the 900 and 750 cc variants were proposed only with black chassis and bodywork, a color that, shortly thereafter, will become the standard also for the 600.

Specs

1999

10th

Monster 900 City

Made with the intention of making the bike more comfortable for utilitarian use and therefore attracting additional customers. The City was equipped with a higher handlebar, aimed at a less inclined riding position, an efficient, rather extended transparent fairing, a more comfortable saddle also for the passenger, as well as two semi-rigid side bags from the Mandarina Duck. The City version is available in 600, 750 and 900 displacements and in the special Dark version, and also in the new metallic blue color.

2000

11th

Monster 900S i.e.

First Monster to switch from carburetor to electronic injection.

Specs

12th

Monster 620 ie

Specs

13th

Monster 750 ie

Specs

2001

14th

Monster 900 S4

The first water-cooled 4-valve Monster in history.

Specs

Monster S4 Foggy Edition

2003

15th

Monster 1000S

The first 1000.

Specs

16th

Monster 800

The first 800.

Specs

17th, 18th, 19th

Monster 620, 620 Dark, 620 Capirex

Specs

2004

20th

Monster S4R

The first single sided swingarm appears.

Specs

2005

21st

Monster S2R 800, S2R 800 Dark

With longitudinal band, which crosses the fairing and tank.

Specs

2006

22nd

Monster S2R 1000

Specs

23rd

Monster S4RS Testastretta, S4RS Tricolore

The first Testastretta Monster. New Marchesini 5 split-spoke rims, Ohlins upside-down fork with TiN treatment, fully adjustable Ohlins single shock absorber with “piggyback” tank, braking system with 320 mm discs and 4-piston radial calipers. A special version was also produced in 2007/08, the S4RS Tricolore, characterized by a color inspired by the Italian flag and an even richer equipment than the standard model.

Specs

2007

24th

Monster 695

With the adoption of the CAN power line, the wiring and clamps disappeared from the trellis frame

Specs

2008

25th

Monster 696, 696 ABS (2010)

It represents the next generation and what Ducati calls “the final word in urban excitement”. “Less is more” is the claim that Ducati has chosen for the new generation Monster.

After more than 15 years of success and hundreds of awards worldwide for design and technology, the ‘naked’ par excellence is renewed at the end of 2008 with a total redesign of mechanics and chassis and a whole new line.

The symbol of this work is undoubtedly the tank that hides various technical solutions and houses the famous interchangeable covers.

Specs

2009

26th

Monster 1100, 1100 S, 1100 S ABS

The 696’s big sister is the Monster 1100. The two bikes are very similar, but the difference is not only about performance but also for the single-sided swingarm, which clearly characterizes the rear. The fork is fully adjustable 43 mm upside down Showa and the Sachs shock absorber is adjustable in spring preload and hydraulic brake. The S version features fully adjustable Öhlins.

Specs

2011

27th

Monster 1100 EVO, Diesel 1100 EVO (2013)

The new exhaust system has a 2-into-1-into-2 type layout, with the manifolds and twin tailpipes on the right side. The Brembo-Bosch ABS is standard and is part of the Ducati Safety Pack, which included four-level adjustable traction control.

Specs

Ducati Monster Diesel 1100 EVO

Ducati Monster Diesel 1100 EVO and Renzo Rosso Diesel founder / owner

28th

Monster 796/796 ABS, Hayden / Rossi Moto GP Replica

The Monster 796 is a natural town expert but also very enjoyable on twisty B-roads.

Specs

2013

2014

29th

Monster 1200, 1200 S, 1200 S Stripe (2015)

The fork is a 43 mm Kayaba, the mono a Sachs adjustable only in preload and extension. The S version features fully Öhlins suspension, fully adjustable.

Specs

2015

30th

Monster 821, 821 Stripe

Beautiful, powerful and easy

Specs

2015

31st

Monster 1200 R

A real MONSTER!

The most powerful Monster, with a fearsome 159 hp at the rear wheel, it makes over twice the power of the original air-cooled Monster M900.

Specs

2017

32nd

Monster 797

Reference to the origins, evidenced by the tank, the trellis frame, in addition of course to the air-cooled twin-cylinder

Specs

33rd

Monster 1200, 1200 S

Inspired by the past.

Specs

34th

Monster 1200 25° Anniversario

25 years, happy birthday Monster!!!

Specs

2018

35th

Monster 821, 821 Stealth

Newly revised benefits from some trickle-down engineering from the Monster 1200. A new tank, tail section, headlight and double exhaust muffler, combined with agile handling by virtue of the 24.3-degree rake and 3.67 inches of trail with a stiff, 43 mm usd fork front end. The Testastretta L-twin with 109 horsepower is under control thanks to safety systems helping the rider.

Specs

Ducati Monster 821 Stealth @EICMA fair 2018

2021

On 2 December 2020, the Borgo Panigale manufacturer presented the new generation of the Monster to the public, with a frame derived from the Superbike and a high-performance engine perfect for road use, in dealerships from April 2021.

Just fun!

The story continues …