The best Monster for the road

[PT1984]

When I was a young lad I had two pictures on my wall. A Countach and a Monster. I then moved on to Melinda Messenger……

I passed my test 13 months ago. I was cautious and at 40 only just trusted myself with riding, so I went for a 800 Scrambler.



I love it, and now it’s been tweaked a little, it’s staying. With the Nitron suspension it handles the particularly crap Derbyshire roads perfectly. It’s so light and flickable, and once I rode it on some grass.

But it’s time for more power, and the Monster still calls.

I’m wanted larger capacity, but I’m not looking for a nutter. So think il leave the R. But I am wanting a bike to scare the life out of me, probably only the once, but knowing in the background that it’s always there.

Has anyone owned both a late 1100 and a 1200? I’m still drawn towards an air/oil cooled, so is a late EVO where I should start looking?

Cheers in advance.

[mrtomsv]

I have a 2010 Monster 1100S. I wouldn’t describe it a beginner friendly or easy bike to ride. It’s not that it’s excessively fast or anything like that (throttle goes both ways), just that it lacks refinement and trades it for heaps of ‘character’ instead. When I was in my first few years of biking, I enjoyed the smoothness of the likes of R6s, but I’ve had the Monster nearly 10 years now and still enjoy the challenge of trying to tame its road manners. I just know I wouldn’t have enjoyed that sort of bike in my early days.

Can’t comment on any other Monsters.

[mrtomsv]

I have a 2010 Monster 1100S. I wouldn’t describe it a beginner friendly or easy bike to ride. It’s not that it’s excessively fast or anything like that (throttle goes both ways), just that it lacks refinement and trades it for heaps of ‘character’ instead. When I was in my first few years of biking, I enjoyed the smoothness of the likes of R6s, but I’ve had the Monster nearly 10 years now and still enjoy the challenge of trying to tame its road manners. I just know I wouldn’t have enjoyed that sort of bike in my early days.

Can comment on any other Monsters.

[PT1984]

Thanks. Sounds exactly why you would want a Ducati.

[Caddyshack]

My friend has a monster 1200R so it has the ohlins, it has termi pipes and a map, it makes just over 160hp. He is a very experienced biker on and off road, he says that when he winds it out to the stop he has to be a little over the front and it shakes its head easily (he has a damper and had the suspension pro setup for his weight etc).

It’s a great bike and pretty quick, handles well but it can be more of a handful than some bikes at speed, prob not helped by being a naked.

Edited by Caddyshack on Tuesday 24th September 21:50

[NITO]

Be a bit different? Monster Diesel…

[KTMsm]

I thought the 800 was a "sweet" bike for the road, meant in the best form of the word

Fast enough to have fun with a bit of character

I've just sold an 996 S4R, it looked nice, approx 40bhp more than an 800 but it certainly isn't "a scary Monster" it's very progressive and didn't encourage stupidity

I've owned other 1000 and 1100 Ducati - they all feel similar to me

I haven't ridden the 1200 but its another 45bhp - so double the 800's power, only you know if that's going to be too much for you

Edited by KTMsm on Tuesday 24th September 20:56

[OutInTheShed]

I really liked the old Monsters, which are probably more similar to the Scrambler today.

If you're going to go fast, then personally I'd suggest a sportsbike or superbike.
Might depend on your sized and shape, but 'making progress' I prefer the lower bars and a fairing.
Hanging on to high bars, how much power do you need, unless you're really, really slow in corners?
I've never been a particularly fast rider, but used to do long commutes on sports bikes.

Scaring yourself due to too much power is probably quite hard without serioulsy risking your licence or more?
Modern bikes should be well mannered until you get really stupid, frames tyres and suspension can cope with a lot these days.
Scaring yourself by pushing too hard can be done on a 125....

[PT1984]

As said, I’d probably do it once! I’m probably looking for something that has the capacity. I’d still probably ride it like my Scrambler.

[PT1984]

The late 1200S looks to have a city mode which limits power to 100hp which seems sensible.

[Omaruk]

PT1984 said:

When I was a young lad I had two pictures on my wall. A Countach and a Monster. I then moved on to Melinda Messenger……

I passed my test 13 months ago. I was cautious and at 40 only just trusted myself with riding, so I went for a 800 Scrambler.



I love it, and now it’s been tweaked a little, it’s staying. With the Nitron suspension it handles the particularly crap Derbyshire roads perfectly. It’s so light and flickable, and once I rode it on some grass.

But it’s time for more power, and the Monster still calls.

I’m wanted larger capacity, but I’m not looking for a nutter. So think il leave the R. But I am wanting a bike to scare the life out of me, probably only the once, but knowing in the background that it’s always there.

Has anyone owned both a late 1100 and a 1200? I’m still drawn towards an air/oil cooled, so is a late EVO where I should start looking?

Cheers in advance.

Let me know if you want to sell the ohlin shock if you part with your Scrambler

[2ndclasscitizen]

I always fancied an 1100 right up until the point I rode one. The riding position for me was a weird midway between a naked and sportsbike, but without the advantages of either. Felt like I'd being push ups after.

[PT1984]

Omaruk said:

Let me know if you want to sell the ohlin shock if you part with your Scrambler

Thanks. It’s a Nitron R3 and it really is worth the upgrade. But unfortunately this bike is going nowhere. I will likely keep it for my son.

But I absolutely recommend a shock upgrade. The R1 would absolutely suffice.

[croyde]

2ndclasscitizen said:

I always fancied an 1100 right up until the point I rode one. The riding position for me was a weird midway between a naked and sportsbike, but without the advantages of either. Felt like I'd being push ups after.

I thought the same about the riding position of the Monster 937 that I bought a year and a half ago.

Great machine for riding fast but not happy at all when trying to keep to the 20mph limits on most of my commute.

Think it would be ideal up there where the OP lives but I swapped mine for a Triumph Speed Twin.

[KTMsm]

PT1984 said:

As said, I’d probably do it once! I’m probably looking for something that has the capacity. I’d still probably ride it like my Scrambler.

The problem is we don't know where your limits are, will 40 horsepower more do it or do you need 85 more ?

After all another 40bhp is 50% more than you're used to

[Kawasicki]

I rode my friends Monster 821 for a few hours.

Great engine, good (but not great) chassis, bad footpeg ergonomics. Not for me.

Rode a Streetfighter V2 last year, really enjoyed it.

One bike that I really enjoyed was the Desert Sled. A really fun bike!

[PT1984]

KTMsm said:

The problem is we don't know where your limits are, will 40 horsepower more do it or do you need 85 more ?

After all another 40bhp is 50% more than you're used to

I absolutely have limits. I only really have 3 years under my belt and two years were on a 125. I’m looking for something to grow into.

I’m not discounting the 821 Monster. That may be a better option.

[marcella]

I had a 1200 Monster a few years ago, it was my first big bike after riding a 400cc sports bike for a couple years. I had a couples years break between the 400 and the 1200. It was certainly a shock to the system when I got the 1200 and was admittedly far too much bike for me. Sounded amazing with the Remus exhaust though. I ended up trading it for a new MV Agusta F3 800, sounds mad I know as it's more powerful than the monster. But it was more similar to my 400 and the power was a lot more forgiving.

Fast forward a few years and now I have a Ducati 749 and a Mulitstrada 1260 Pikes Peak. The 749 is a sweet spot for power on the road imo, the 1260 is just nuts but also really good fun, similar performance to the 1200 monster but it just feels more manageable and stable on a bigger heaver bike. I find this is perfect 2 bike garage for me now.

I'd say try and get a test ride of one if you can, don't rule out a multi if you ever want to have more touring ability.

[spareparts]

One of the best looking bikes that I had, and fully sorted. Last of the 'Il Mostro' - the 998 based S4RS. Black, lashings of carbon, with a full Termi system and Ohlins. One of my dream bikes.

But sadly, one of the absolute worst to ride. Rough, never refined, poor ergonomics as has been mentioned already, and a poor ride. Never meet your heroes, they say, and the S4RS was a total let down.

[lancslad58]

The 1st generation of the Monsters were the best looking in my opinion, my M600 from years ago, only mid 50,s BHP but still great to ride and commute on.....if you ignore the rubbish steering lock.

Ducati Monster by Neil M, on Flickr