VOL. 51 ISSUE 9 MARCH 4, 2014 P57
state-of-the-art features.
For all practical purposes, it's
a complete redesign from the
ground up.
Our first stop on our ride was
at the base of the Volcano that
makes up the Island of Tener-
ife in the Parque Nacional Del
Teide. Here I was able to reflect
on my initial introduction to the
new Monster 1200 S. So far the
new Monster, with its industry
changing (as Ducati claims) Rid-
ing Modes was quite enjoyable.
Just scroll between the modes
and you're able to find a power
delivery suited to your needs.
As we climbed up to higher
elevations on the way to our first
stop, I noticed very little in the
way of power loss. I will say, how-
ever, that the throttle response
was more to my liking in the Sport
mode as opposed to the Touring
mode - even on the tighter sec-
tions of the road. It seemed to be
crisper at elevation, and perhaps
that had something to do with it.
I played around with these two
modes for the first part of our
ride, but they would prove to be of
more significance later on down
the road. The new chassis and
suspension were also leaving a
good first impression on me.
Ducati had brought its Monster
1200 S version for all of us to ride
and why not. The S model has 10
more horsepower and five more
foot-pounds of torque than the
standard model and also comes
with Ohlins suspension front and
rear. As far as handling goes, the
Monster did a good job on unfa-
miliar roads – roads where I nev-
er knew what was lurking around
the next corner. I over-cooked it a
few times, but was able to recov-
er without incident as the brakes
and suspension responded with-
out fail.
The road was fairly smooth up
the mountain, but there was the
occasional damp patch left from
the rain the night before. That's
where the new Bosch ABS was
a big help, giving maximum
braking power while not send-
ing you down the road on your
backside. Otherwise you barely
noticed the effect of the ABS –
an indication of just how well the
system was set up.
During our brief break I realized
that the new Monster has quite a
wheelbase. From a distance the
Monster looks long and at 59.48
inches I was right, but you will
be amazed at how well the 1200
S carved its way up the moun-
tain through the tight sections of
road. Early on, I really didn't find
anything that I didn't like.
When it came time to move on,
I decided to check out some of
the many advanced performance
features of the new 1200 Mon-
ster and 1200 S.
DSP stands for Ducati Safety
Pack and this is a combination
of a new Bosch/Brembo ABS
system and Ducati's own Trac-
tion Control system (DTC). At one
point not too long ago ABS and
Traction Control were a black art
when it came to motorcycles.
Very few bikes had ABS and none
of them had DTC. Now it seems
to be the standard and perhaps
even more so on the less-race,
more-street-natured bikes.
Sure the Monster 1200 is a
performance-oriented bike, but
it's not your standard Superbike
and that's the great thing about
The new Monster 1200 and 1200 S
get a longer wheelbase than previous
models and more power.
