Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

After a long wait, customers finally get the ch ance t o own a desmoquattro version of t he Ducati Monster. The upgraded M onster can be ridden in two ways, according to the author - like a Worl d Su pe rb ike or as th e ulti mat e po int · an d- sq uirt performa nc e pa ckage. The bik e feat ures a 43mm Showa fork up fro nt, a Sachs shock at th e rear and a 916cc, fuel-injected V-twin powerplant In the middle. any high er - though yo u ca n bu zz th e e ng ine all the way to the 9 200 rpm revlimite r, if you mu st , th er e seem s pre ciou s little point. Espec ially a round tow n , the torqu e y moto r co mes into its ow n, accele ra t ing in part throttl e from as low as 2500 rpm - though the stiff cl utc h is typica lly Duc a ti- e s q ue and , togethe r with the sometimes elu sive ne utra l, gives yo ur left ha nd such a wo rkout t ha t yo u ' ll be tempted to cop o ut and sta ll it on pu rpose wait ing for th e lights to c ha nge . I did. Having s aid that, th e whol e fe el of th e e ng ine a nd cycle parts atta ins a new level of sophistication a nd qua lity for a lead- in Ducati de s moq uattro model. I expected that, with the lac k of any fa iring , th ere 'd be much more mechan ica l n o is e from the engin e. But the o ppos ite is the ca se: th e S4 ' s motor isn't ne arl y a s rattl y as other Du c a t is , giving a n im p re s s io n of qua lity that's m atched by the brakes and suspension . You c a n ride the S4 one of two ways : e ith e r as a naked 9 16 /996 , br ing ing t he dy na mic quali ties of Du cati's wor ld-title wi nni ng Supe rbikes to t he naked c la s s - in wh ic h ca se you'll reve l in rid in g it hard around twisty country roads and maxxing out th e very c a p a b le han dling . Or , you ca n treat it as the ult i- m ate poin t -a nd -s q uirt pe rform an c e pa ck a ge - in wh ich case th e Brem bo brakes fitted to th e S4 straig ht off the c ustomer Superbikes are ben chm a rk stuff, with a hu ge degr e e o f bite a llied with progressivity , th a nks also to the b raided steel brake lin es and adj ustable lever. Th a t does n't stop yo u waving the back wheel in the air wh ile stopping fro m high speed , if yo u want to , tho ugh. And while the 43mm Showa fo rks g ive good rid e q uality a nd iro n out a ny bumps yo u might run into while c ra nk ed o ve r taki ng advantage of the ground cle a ra nce offered by the high mounted e ngi ne and e xcell ent grip fro m the Michelin rubbe r, the angle of lean is pretty impressive even by th e standards of the naked class, thus help ing yo u to ma inta in turn speed even before using all that torqu e to grunt out of the corner. B u t when you do , the fully a d j u s t a bl e Sachs shock , and the double -sided alloy swingarm pi vot ing in th e eng ine and delivering a 57.6 -inch wh ee lbase , c a n be dial ed in j u s t r ight to maximi z e g rip though it's a bit of a s h a me Du c a t i didn 't ta ke Galluzzi's a d vice and fit th e singl e - sided ' m o n o b r a c c ia ' swingarm off their Sup erbik e range. th ough th ere 's s ti ll no cente r sta nd fitt e d . Inst e ad , th ere 's lots of ca rbo n fibe r o n view, includ ing the c a m bel t cove rs , si de b od y p an els , mud gu a rds and he a t g ua rds - a nd th ank goo d ness Terb la nc he h a s ins isted o n p a intin g the e ngi ne a handsome sh ade of gunmetal gre y - s a me as t he five-s poke wheels sourced from t he Su perb ike pa rts bin , not three s pok e wh eels like o n a ll ot her Mon sters. And I'm s u re th at , b e fo re long (m a ybe next yea r at th e Milan Show), th ere ' ll be an Evoluzion e ve rs io n of th e S4 , c o mplete with m on obra c cia a nd th e wider 19 0/ 50- 17 rear tire that is pres ent ly o nly ava ilable as an o pt ion , rather than th e s toc k 180/55 17 Michelin on th e test bike. Bette r late than nev er , Ducati has turned a long -awaited page with the a dve nt of the S4 Monster , which is so mu ch diffe rent fr om the sty le bike pa ck ag e repre s ented by the Cagiva Rapto r that th e two wi ll ap pea l t o q uite differ ent s ec to rs o f t h e nudiebike m a rket, with relative ly littl e c ro s so ve r. It's t he M900 des mod ue m odels that wil l c o nt inue t o s uffer most at t h e hands of the Rapto r, whereas the S4 is in a c lass of its own. Plus , it's a Ducati. CN Cost was pr obabl y th e issue h er e : a t $99 5 0 in it s hom e m ark et , agai nst th e Raptor 1000's $8400 - sa me a s a n M900 d esmodue Mon ster - Du c ati ha s had to be careful not to p rice the S4 o u t of it s m a rk etpl a c e . Tha t proba bly also ex plains the lack of a tem pe ratu r e g a ug e o n a Iiq u id coo led m ot o rc ycl e (t ut, t ut), as well as t he fli msy co ns t ructio n o f t h e nose fai ring an d re ar tail p iece. Th e way th e wind d e flecto r wav e s around wh ile yo u' re rid ing th e b ike is both d is tract ing and anno y ing - th e s e parts need to be s tr utted , or a t lea st made of t hic ke r material. The radiator lo o ks like a bit o f a c ompromise, too - the way it stic ks out unprotected ly o n e ither side of th e engine would mak e it very vu lnerable in an a ccident - bu t with th e e n g in e so fa r fo rwa rd in th e frame , there probabl y is n 't th e room to fit a narrower , deeper on e . But th en against t h a t , there 's a n inbuilt immobil izer in corporat ed in th e CD U, so you m ust use t he o rig in a l ke y to s tart the bike , plus - hoora y! - a n ew sidest and sy stem whi ch d oesn 't e ve n all ow you to fire up th e e n g ine wh en it ' s down , le t a lo ne se lect a gear. Th e Du cat i sui -s id e s t a n d is n ow a thing o f th e p a st eye I e n e _ S • N OVEMB ER 29 , 2000 13

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