Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128641
Oucati Mons ter 54 By A L A N C A T HCA RT PH OT OS BY K EL EDGE n t has taken them the better p art of iJ 10 To concoct the ir counter attack and devel op the S4 in what the y claim is record t ime for an all -new model, Ducati ha s adopt ed a parts bin ap proach co m bined w ith sophisti cated co mp uter tec hnology - this is t h e first ti me t h at the compan y ha s u sed the ad v an c ed Un ig raph ic s software for 3 D modeling , says Ducati des ign c hief Pierre Te rblan ch e - who yea rs to fina lly get around to it , but Duc ati h as at last b o w ed t o t h e i ne v i t a bl e a n d pro d u c ed the l o n g aw aited - some m ight say, lo ng overd ue - desmo q u attro version o f t h eir be st -selling Monster rang e. Few new models have been as eagerly touted as the 54 Mon ster - not only because it's always seem ed such an obv ious th ing t o do, but especiall y since Monster guru Mig uel Galluzzi's original idea for the m odel wh en h e began work on it back in 199 1 was to fit it with th e 'otto valvole' Superbike engine, rath er than the desmodue two- valver th at ended up be ing used in the Monsters unt il now. F or va rious reasons , th is didn't happen - but it' s hard not to conclude that th e o nly reaso n D ucati has now fin all y bitten th e bullet is the sol d -o ut success of Galluzzi' s Y2K successor to the Monster, the Suzuki-powered Cagiva Rap tor, with which the 54 can 't help bu t to be compared. M onster. Howeve r , t he h ost o f Eu r op ean sp ec i al bui lders (sta rti ng wi t h France's Therry Henriette' s Bo xer 8V Monstre ba ck in 1993) who h ave c re- 12 NOVEMBER 29 , 2000' c u e I e "But, Alan, please let us ri de you r M onster." lo ng -stroke 916cc des moq uatt ro engine m easu rin g 94 x 6 8 mm. Produ c i n g a cla i me d 101 hp a t 8 750 rp m , w ith peak t orque of 9 2 Nm a t 7000 rpm , this h as b een r e-c o o k ed via revised cam tim ing, a bigger airbox and rema p ped M are ll i EFI to coincidentally worked alongside Gal - delive r bette r m i drang e and more lu zzi in Varese o n other proj ect s while t h e A rgent inean was p e nn in g t he to rque, rath er th an the ST4 's m ileatin g to p spe ed - ob viously inappropri ate in a naked roadster. Bu t , in S4 guise, the motor h as ret ain ed its dist inctive dropped e x h a u st camsha ft forma t , a d es ign fi rst used on the works S up e rb ik es i n 1994 , which Suzuk i is interest ing ly eno ug h rath er at ed a steady fl ow of cu st om desmo quattro Monsters o ver th e best part of th e pas t decade , al r e ad y s ho we d them ho w to do it. l ate in t he day apparently try ing to ap ply for a patent o n . So rr y guys - So t o create t he S4 , Ducati h as taken a slightly m o d if ied versio n o f the ST4 sports tourer's Brembo -bu ilt thu s loc at e the L -twin en gine as fa r tubular spac eframe a n d fitt ed a revised vers ion o f the same m odel's n e vv s too l ate: it' s be en done before . T he adva n tage of th is is th at Ducati c an forward as possible i n th e wheelbase, without fou ling the front wheel under braking and in turn, opt im izing we ight distribution ( 5 0 / 5 0 % st atic - some kind of r e c o r d f o r an u n f a i r e d desmo) , as well as load ing u p the front wh eel for better g rip in turns . T he chance to ride one of the first S4 Monsters off the B olog n a produc t ion lines, in a d a y of m i x ed road condi tions embrac ing everyth ing from the traffic-clogged Bologna rush h ou r to the switc h back tu rns of t he l eg e n d a r y F u t a Pa ss , under lined Du cati 's fea t o f re-i nvent ing t he Mon ste r in power-up mode. As such , it' s a mighty and muscular motorc ycle which , wh ile deli vering equiva lent performan ce t o the 105 hp Raptor ( c l ai me d dry w ei g h t f or the S4 i s 426.8 pounds vs. aga inst 433 pounds for t h e Cagiva ), does so i n a com p let ely di fferent way . The first clue to th is is t he close-coupled ridi ng position, which on the D uc at i see ms more like you 're perched on top of i t, Su p erb i k e - st y l e , c o m pa re d to t h e more lo w - slu ng Raptor whose 30.8in c h seat height c on firms this (versus th e 3 2.12-inc h S4 ) . You al so sit prett y forwa rd on the Duca ti , with short , f latset c1 ip -on s mounted on to p o f the 43mm upside down Showa fork legs which g ive th e i m p re s sio n of hav i ng yo u r helm et ma k ing f rien d s wi th t he dashboard w h en y o u c ro u c h down to minimize w ind b l ast . Th is i s a much sportier st a n c e than the more relaxe d Rap tor' s, w ith its pulled -back handleb ars - th ou gh t he on ly drawback t o sitting so far forward is that when ri ding the S4 in jeans ( as most Monster tifosi w ill surel y do , r ath e r t h a n getting spruced up i n F o g g y Re p li c a leathers ) e xposes y o u r i n s i d e l eg measurement to a quite noticeab le am o un t of heat from t h e rear cylinder h e ad of t he liq uid -cooled mot or. Duc ati better offer a pa ir of asbes tos underwear to go w it h the b ik e... but that wasn't the reason I couldn ' t persuade Linda o r Geo rg ia to co me for a r id e afte r we stoppe d fo r lunc h at t heir dad ' s rest aurant in the foot hills of th e Appen in es. " T h e p a s seng er se a t is n ' t very c om f ort ab l e , " co m p l ai ne d Li n d a , when I e ve ntua lly persu ade d her to try it fo r size . " I t hink th is is only for going to th e disco, or ma yb e th e ri de home if you m eet someone there yo u li ke! " Quite so ... Still, as a naked muscl ebike for he (o r she) who t ravels alone, the S4 sets n ew st an dards. T hum b the starter to let th at trademark bo om lilt from t he low -se t tw in s ilencers , a nd y o u ' r e i n tro d u c ed to a world of muscul ar grunt, coup led w ith an ap pe tite for revs . The s ix -speed gearbox has ratio s inviting you to ride the torque curve - so cracking t he t hrottle wide o p en as l o w as 3000 rpm wi ll have th e D ucati thundering toward the next turn , w it h th e fro n t wh ee l hov erin g above t h e g roun d as you sh ort-sh ift through the 'bo x. Wi th peak torque at 7000 rp m , it makes sense not t o rev it