May 2009
Reporting team
Julian Taylor
Ron Lieback
Bart Schuster
With the upcoming release of the Ducati Street Fighter, we felt that AllAboutBikes should assemble a team to road test the bike that started all of this naked, raw mid-power lunacy you see evolving today; the Ducati Monster 1100S.
The team
Julian Taylor, Owner and Editor-in-Chief of AllAboutBikes.com
Julian is a motorcycle nut that has been road riding all over the world for 20 years, including racing in Europe. He has managed copious track days and just loves everything to do with Motorcycles. He has had his fair share of discussions with the “old bill”, and is now dedicated to telling it “how it is” when it comes to all types of motorcycles. He developed AllAboutBikes.com to be the tool to deliver the information to other likeminded readers.
Ron Lieback, Staff Writer and Content Editor designate for AllAboutBikes.com
Ron is another motorcycle fanatic and a classically trained journalist. He has written for Cycle World and various other motorcycle rags. He races a Honda CBR F3 and does thousands of miles a year in the saddle, testing and writing about bikes. He too, try’s to stay away from moving radar.
Bart Schuster, Guest Writer and Track Day Instructor.
Bart is our in-line 4 cylinder expert, chosen especially for this twin test because of his love of inline fours. He is one heck of a rider with extensive hours of teaching at Sport-Bike Track Time track days, and is an overall motorcycle enthusiast. He also tends to be really rather quick while riding.
Where We Went
The team started out in Western Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny North Hills and worked south to West Virginia, taking in route 21, route 250 and the North Western panhandles up through West Virginia back into Ohio. We finally finish up at Blackburn Road in Sewickley, PA for the photo shoot on a closed road. Three states in two days with nearly 500 miles ridden.
“Mid-range punch” with “unbelievable balance” and “flick-ability” describes this machine.
From the very first time you set your eyes on the bike and you notice the short wheel base, only 57.1 inches, you know it’s going to be very maneuverable. Also with its dry weight of only 370lbs, that too is a recipe for nimbleness.
Turn the engine over and the grunt of the 1100 twin is beautifully audible but not too loud with the stock pipes. Everything on this bike is stock. It only has 8 miles on the clock and our intention was to keep it stock for this test, no tinkering this time round.
This is the S version so it comes with the whole Öhlins set up of shock, forks and carbon everywhere. If you were to buy the basic model and add these extras’ it would probably cost over 5K as aftermarket parts, but through Ducati the difference between the basic model and the S is only 2K so it’s’ worth that extra for the S.
We head out on some local twisty roads to the interstate/motorway and the first thing that I notice is how there seems to be no front wheel. You sit so wonderfully high and on top of the bike that you really can’t see anything below you, it makes for a really comfortable position. I am always leaning over my tank on my personal Ducati 999 with my legs bent up so this position makes a pleasant difference.
The crack of the throttle as I pull out and change into second proves that under this seat is one meaty motor waiting to be woken up. I rode the 600 a few years ago and was disappointed with the power so to feel this grunt now this early on is very encouraging.
The first couple of bends also prove that you can steer this bike into a corner with only a gentle push on the bars and a slight movement of your weight. The geometry is set up in such a way that it naturally wants to go round the corner with ease; it really is very flick-able.
Third gear torque on this bike is phenomenal. The bike pulls in the mid-range gears in such a way that you just want to stay in the power-band and keep playing with it as you dive into corners, then caning it out of every apex, with the rush of power constantly delivered wherever you are in the rev range.
We have a small bikini fairing on this bike and it does direct a little bit of the air upwards as we pull onto the interstate. Opening the throttle fully now enables us to feel all the power and sure enough in no time we are in license threatening territory. Being really a naked bike, as expected there is wind blast but I have to say it really isn’t bad with that fairing. You do need to tuck down a little at high speed to make things a little more aerodynamic.
There is one thing that was quite evident on the interstate; it really doesn’t need a sixth gear. If you shift up too early at low revs the bike coughs and splutters until the speedometer reaches three figures. The gearing is set up in such a way that you really don’t use sixth until you are north of the ton. I know this bike isn’t designed for interstate riding but it does handle them very well, if you constantly use the gear box to keep in the power range. This bike really is designed for lunacy on twisty roads and when we got to them what a treat it was.
Route 250 in West Virginia is renowned for its switch backs. Bart was on the 999 for the first part of the road and I was on the Monster and what a great experience it was. The bike tips into every corner with ease, and it’s easy to just hang off push your knee out and direct it round the apex while scraping your sliders. Then sit up, push the machine back into the upright position, and open the throttle fully and feel it just pull with all the torque. The brakes are a little soft for my liking but I am used to race Brembo’s on the 999. I found myself having to squeeze a little too hard to scrub the speed off when barreling into some of the bends. It was never really bent out of shape though, just a little upset and light. Again some adjustment would sort that out.
It does need a little more firmness on the front and the sag was a little too soft on some of the more undulating roads, but all-in-all for a bike straight out of the box it really did us proud.
Visibility even at high speeds on twisty roads like route 250 is excellent. The mirrors work, you don’t lose any feeling in your arms from the handle bar positions, and as I am a twin owner anyway the engine vibration for me was very normal. I didn’t like the kick stand though. You can’t get at it with your boots on, the foot peg is in the way.
We then ran into a thunderstorm. We had already switched bikes and I was on my 999 so I can’t comment on how the Monster did in the wet, Bart will. Fuel consumption was on par in both machines. The warning lights came on roughly at the same time, which meant we got about 130 miles per tank.
Overall, this is one fun bike to ride. You enjoy all of its maneuverability and the throttle response and acceleration is just awesome for a naked bike. The Ducati Monster 1100S would be a great commuter for someone who wanted to be comfortable in or out of traffic on the way into work. Then you have all the fun when owning a machine like this at the weekends or at the track.
I would like to thank Aaron Barry of Ducati North America for organizing the bike for the test, and Lee Marks for supplying it to us from European Motorcycles of Pittsburgh.
Now we can’t wait to get our hands on the Ducati Street Fighter that is launched on the 22nd of this month…!!!
