When Miguel Galluzzi stripped a Ducati 888 of its fairings and sketched a gasoline tank that appeared like a muscular hunchback, he wasn’t simply designing a motorcycle—he was inventing a class. Launched in 1993, the Ducati Monster (or Il Mostro) adhered to a easy, but brutal philosophy: “All you want is a saddle, tank, engine, two wheels, and handlebars.” It was the unique manufacturing facility streetfighter, a trellis-framed hooligan that accounted for almost half of Ducati’s worldwide gross sales for many years.
Through the years, the Monster has developed from the air-cooled M900 to the liquid-cooled, 140-hp superbikes-in-disguise, such because the S4RS. Whereas the most recent era has ditched the trellis body for a front-frame design—a transfer that also causes heated debates in Italian espresso bars—the spirit of the Monster stays unchanged. It’s a bike designed to be seen, heard, and modified.
We have now witnessed the Monster remodeled into every little thing from futuristic café racers to dirt-track sliders. Listed below are six of our favourite iterations of the beast.
Tough Crafts ‘Savage’ New-Gen Monster
Whereas purists mourned the lack of the trellis body on the 937cc Monster, Winston Yeh of Tough Crafts noticed a chance. For a consumer wanting high-tech race components blended with retro styling, Winston stripped the tightly packed trendy machine and began from scratch. He changed the molded plastic tail with a surprising CNC-machined aluminum subframe from Artitek Ltd., topped with a 3D-printed cowl.
“Savage” is a showcase of premium companions. The gasoline tank wears carbon covers from Motocomposites, flanked by 3D-printed “wings” that add visible mass to the entrance. The suspension is world-class, that includes blacked-out Öhlins FGR300 forks and a rear shock transplanted from a Monster SP. To tug off the “retro-modern” look, Winston fitted burly Jonich laced wheels wrapped in Pirelli Supercorsa V4 rubber.
The bike’s menacing aura is amplified by its braking system: Beringer controls, Brembo 484 calipers, and SICOM carbon-ceramic discs. Each element, from the titanium Zinja Handmade headers to the hand-crafted badges by 2 Irregular Sides, screams “Tough Crafts.” It’s a construct so sharp and kinetic that it’d lastly persuade the skeptics that the new-gen Monster belongs within the customized corridor of fame. [MORE]
Reier Motors’ Rowdy Flat Tracker
Changing a 2001 Monster 900 i.e., right into a flat observe racer seems like insanity, however Christian Reier of Salzburg’s Reier Motors is a person obsessive about each filth ovals and Ducatis. To get the stance proper, Christian prolonged the swingarm to accommodate a 19-inch rear race wheel (laced to a KTM 1190 hub). The entrance finish makes use of a Husqvarna hub and forks handled with blue titanium nitride coating for a factory-race look.
The ergonomics have been radically altered with back-swept risers and ProTaper bars, designed to make the bike secure throughout high-speed drifts. Christian hand-fabricated the aluminum bodywork as a one-piece unit that may be eliminated with a number of fasteners. The tail part subtly references the Ducati Panigale, giving this dirt-slinger a complicated superbike silhouette.
Mechanically, the bike was stripped of all non-essentials. The left foot peg needed to be offset to clear the customized exhaust headers and Termignoni mufflers—a quirk that does not matter on a observe the place you solely flip left. Completed with a blue-and-red livery and safety-wired in all the appropriate locations, that is proof that the Monster can deal with the “go quick, flip left” way of life with aplomb. [MORE]
Machine 1867’s Impractical Hardtail
Edi Buffon of Machine 1867 makes a speciality of “playful engineering,” and this Ducati-powered hardtail is one among his most over-the-top creations. Utilizing a Monster 620 L-twin as a pressured member, Edi constructed a bespoke chromoly body with a 38-degree neck angle. The entrance suspension is a customized leaf-spring design, a nod to early Twentieth-century board observe racers, however re-engineered to deal with the burden of a contemporary Italian engine.
The bike is a apply in “deliberate impracticality.” It encompasses a right-side hand shifter, no entrance brakes, and a 15-inch rear wheel from a Triumph America paired with a 21-inch entrance motocross wheel. The consumption system is a murals, that includes a downdraught Weber carburetor with a copper gasoline line and a brass pulley system to direct the throttle cable.
Visually, the bike is uncooked and mechanical. The body was sanded and coated in clear Penetrol, whereas the break up aluminum tanks (one for gasoline, one for electronics) sit atop the spine. With its trellis-style belt guards and obnoxiously loud brief exhausts, Edi’s bobber is each elegant and sophisticated—a construct that captures the pure pleasure of customized fabrication with out the burden of widespread sense. [MORE]
Walt Siegl’s Leggero Sequence
For Walt Siegl, customization is about distilling a bike’s essence into its lightest, most potent kind. This Leggero construct, commissioned by Jamie Waters, facilities round a 15-pound 4130 chromoly body crafted in-house in New Hampshire. The motor, a Monster 1100 unit blueprinted and bumped to 1125cc by Bruce Meyers Efficiency, is a jewel that includes titanium valves and ported heads.
The chassis is a “who’s who” of efficiency elements: an S2R swingarm, Öhlins TTX rear shock, and BST carbon fiber wheels. Walt opted for a traditional twin-headlight Kevlar fairing, which provides the bike a complicated European endurance racer vibe. The exhaust is a ceramic-coated chrome steel masterpiece, completed in white as a nod to the aspect pipes of early Shelby Cobras.
The paint is a Laguna Blue sampled from a 1966 Corvette within the proprietor’s assortment. With gold pinstriping and a nickel-plated body, the bike manages to appear to be a classic muscle automotive and a cutting-edge Italian sportbike on the similar time. It’s a machine constructed by a rider, for a rider, the place magnificence is solely a byproduct of utmost efficiency. [MORE]
Earle Motors’ S4RS Monitor Brute
Ten years after he first shocked the scene along with his carbon fiber monocoque Monster, Alex Earle of Earle Motors determined to revisit the design with a deal with pure observe efficiency. He selected the 2007 Monster S4RS because the platform, profiting from its 130-hp Testastretta engine and factory-spec Öhlins and Brembo elements.
The bodywork is monocoque with an built-in gasoline cell and an aviation-style cap. It may be eliminated in minutes by way of 4 bolts, revealing a carbon fiber battery tray and internal fender. Alex deleted the airbox, permitting the L-twin to breathe by means of Okay&N filters housed inside the monocoque’s nostril. To shed much more weight, he added 17-inch BST carbon fiber wheels and twin Termignoni pipes.
The livery is endurance-racing perfection: uncooked, satin carbon fiber on one aspect and shiny Ducati purple on the opposite. With large ProTaper bars and Rizoma rear units, the ergonomics are designed for high-input observe using. Earle’s design was “road tracker” earlier than the time period was fashionable, and a decade later, it nonetheless seems like probably the most aggressive method to lap a circuit on two wheels. [MORE]
The Futuristic S4R by Moto Adonis
The S4R is a legendary “biggest hit,” packing a 113-hp 996 engine and a single-sided swingarm right into a bundle that also embarrasses trendy roadsters. Daan Borsje of the Dutch store Moto Adonis determined to take this brute and push it into the longer term. Tasked by a consumer to construct a “futuristic café racer,” Daan drew inspiration from an unlikely supply: the natural, flowing strains of whales.
Probably the most hanging function is the monocoque-style bodywork, which sweeps from the louvered headlight nacelle by means of the tank and into a pointy tail. To make this work, Daan reconfigured the higher body and tucked the electronics—together with a Motogadget m.unit blue—right into a customized airbox and battery holder beneath the pores and skin. The entrance finish encompasses a distinctive dual-lighting setup: a round high gentle for darkish roads and a strip gentle for city prowling.
Beneath the Audi Nardo Gray paint, the mechanicals are top-tier. The bike rolls on Kineo spoked rims and stops by way of Moto-Grasp wave discs. The pièce de résistance is the customized MAD Exhaust system, which snakes across the L-twin engine like a coiled serpent. Dubbed “DUC92” as a nod to the Monster’s beginning 12 months, this construct proves that the S4R’s bones are timeless, even when wrapped within the avant-garde. [MORE]
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