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/1542343
Enere rs notnrnq worse rnan I t"tr" hope, hyped promises. ! exaggerated claims and flow- ! er7 marketing that ends in dis- I appointment. This is often the case in the world of "naked bikes" - bikes marketed as old school or back-to-basics superbikes. Claims that retuned engines provide more torque for the street rider are usually e,xcuses for their missing horse- power. The bottom line is that a lot of these bikes were meant to be less expen- sive, stripped down budget bikes in the first place. The naked craze was started by riders who wanted a nastl look, added perform- ance and a unique style all their own, They started stripping their CBRs, Rls and GSX- Rs when the manufacturers tried to stuff underpowered, under-suspended budget bikes down their throats. Ducati learned a long time ago that its customers want performance; its cus- tomers will pay for performance, and above all, they want it to look good at the same time. The Monster range of motor- cycles is Ducati's bread and br]tter. The l"lonster range has somethin8 for even/one from the entryJevel 620 Monster to the S2R 1000 torque beast. But at the top of the range is the all-new S4Rs l'lonster - call it the monster of Monsterc. Ducati has taken the latest veEion of the 998cc Testastretta deep-sump engine and shoe- horned rt rnto an all-new trellis chassis. Now we're talking! The introduction for the 54& couldn't have taken place at a cooler or more appropriate track. The Ascari Race Resort is a private country-club racetrack iust out- side of Ronda, Spain. Dutchman Klass Zwart, taking elements of his favorrte cir- cuits from around the world and then feed- ing them into a computer, created what is now the 3.37-mile, 26-turn Ascari circuit. Laguna Seca, Suzuka, Brands Hatch, Monza and many more tracks are all represented in his creation. As you can imagine, the traak has so many corners that the nature of the track is constantly changing a5 you navigate its curves. Cutting to the chase, the 54& is all about its engine. Not to disrespect the chassis'amaziog capabilities, but it's the Testastretta powerplant between the frame rails that makes thinSs excitinS. The S4R (previous model) was powered by the older 996cc Superbike engine, but for the first-time ever Ducati has stuffed its cur- rent top-of-the-range unit into a l'lonstet The new bike carries the 998cc, deep sump 9o-degree L-twin from the current 999 model. The bore and stroke measure 100 x 63-5mm. respectively. with huge, flat-crown pistons pulsinS up and down. The "narrow head'' (Jbstastretta) cylinder heads have an ll.4:l compression ratio with desmodromically actuated 40mm inrake and 33mm exhaust valves. Feeding fuel into the 50mm throttle bodies are new l2-hole iniectors, which at start up are regulated by a new automatic stePper 32 MARCH 8,2006 . CYCLE NEWS IflTEI Ducoti Monster SlRs € I /l 7t , $, late Monster is all attitude 7 l I Bv Buxr Coxxtn PHoros :couRrEsY oF DUGA ,t't il \ \ a