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/585066
DUCATI MONSTER 1200 R FIRST RIDE P90 The 1200 R has gone a long way to correcting this and now steers with the precision the S should have had all along. The extra 15mm of height thanks to the revamped front and rear Öhlins means you can be a lot more aggressive on corner entry, throwing the Monster from side to side easily without feeling like you're riding a grinder. The wider 200-section rear tire gives the 1200 R a surefooted feel in the middle and exit of the corner—it's interesting that Ducati has made the 1200 R steer better with a wider rear tire than the 190-sec- tion used on 1200 S. The Monster has always been styled by the shape of the tank. Cast your mind back to any Ducati other than one that starts with the letter M and you will not see another tank like it, so this was something chief designer Gianandrea Fabbro tried very hard to maintain the looks of. The new 1200 R's tank is a touch more svelte than the S's but it's got deeper knee indents to allow a better tuck on the track. This, combined with the slightly more forward-mounted and higher bars, gives the 1200 R a bit more of a motard feel, giving you more room to move, making the chassis more maneuverable in corners. We were spoiled a touch at Ascari as we had Ducati test rider Alessandro Valia set the clickers for us for the morning and afternoon sessions, so the Monster was pretty much as good as it could be with stock suspension, so we'll have to wait until we get a road test unit to see how it handles on anything other than billiard smooth tarmac with settings picked by the Ducati test rider. So now we come to the $18K question—is the new Monster now top dog in the super naked category? The answer, simply, is no. Having just completed our super naked shootout a couple of weeks ago, I can safely say it wouldn't knock the Aprilia off its perch as the reigning king. But that's not to say it is not a great bike, because the Monster 1200 R is far better than the 1200 S it now stands in front of on the spec sheet (not replaced, you can still buy the S), and it's not a race-derived bike like the top two that finished up in our com- paro test. There are parts of the Monster that are disappointing— no quickshifter, that seat cover, and electronics that are annoy- ing to change base settings on (like the KTM)—but these are off- set by the deft touch of the trac- tion control system, the beautiful swooping lines of the tank and those oh-so-sweet black Öhlins forks. And it has become a very handy track machine. Ducati has done exactly as they planned with the 1200 R— THE WIDER 200-SECTION REAR TIRE GIVES THE 1200 R A SURE- FOOTED FEEL IN THE MIDDLE AND EXIT OF THE CORNER—IT'S INTERESTING THAT DUCATI HAS MADE THE 1200 R STEER BETTER WITH A WIDER REAR TIRE THAN THE 190-SECTION USED ON 1200 S. Ducati is claiming 160 horsepower out of its new beast, but the improved throttle response is the real star of the engine changes.