Ducati Monster S4rs
Ducati Monster S4Rs
CW RIDING IMPRESSION
The classic high-perf naked bike evolves yet again
DALE LOMAS
IN SOME RESPECTS, IT WAS DUCATI'S LAST big risk. Together with the 916, the original air-cooled Monster of ’93 was the big gamble that made the Italian firm into the financial and design success it is today. But where the 916 shape was eventually replaced, some would say for the worse, by the 999,
Ducati still hasn’t had the huevos to risk replacing the Monster. Instead, they fiddle and tweak, sometimes without even a trace of originality at all.
Witness the Monster S4Rs. In a fit of sheer predictability, the latest liquid-cooled Monster utilizes the Testastretta 998cc engine and some of the best chassis components money can buy. Those big 100mm pistons short-stroke their way up to a very healthy 130 horsepower at 11,000 rpm. Suspension is Öhlins, brakes are radial-mount Brembos.
If you’re even ever-so-slightly obsessed with speed and danger, these are very good things.
But if you’re clutching your man-bag, staring at your moccasins and muttering, stop reading now. Go back to your aesthetically pleasing air-cooled machine, because the S4Rs has more pipework on display than a vasectomy ward at half-time.
I happen to know that the original Monster designer, Miguel Galluzzi, wanted a liquid-cooled 888 motor in his 1991 prototype Monster. Apologies, Miguel, but you were wrong. Like a true supermodel, there’s no denying this Ducati looks best without any external plumbing. So don’t look too hard at the S4Rs; instead, just absorb some of the naked aggression it exudes, then get on it and ride.
Within seconds of letting out the clutch, it’s obvious that you're on something a bit special. Maybe it’s that slightly muffled Desmo thump-more likely it’s the horizon pitching violently as mayhem is accidentally unleashed upon the rear Michelin Pilot Power. The S4Rs has punch to rival any sport motorcycle on the market today. What it doesn’t have is a nice fairing and forward-bias riding position to insulate you from
that fact. You feel everything, every single mph, every thump ofthat Superbike powerplant. Hopefully, you enjoy it.
Open up the noise-handle from 4000 rpm and the bark from the airbox is loud. The torque builds and a new note emerges at 7000 rpm. That noise is pure World Superbike, and the acceleration that accompanies it is addictive. The wide bars waggle on corner exit, the trademark “Monster weave,” but it’s never enough to change the exit-point and always enough to inspire a grin. I tested the bike on the four-mile Ascari Race Resort in Spain, a track with a 150-mph back straight. And two blind kinks. Not only could the naked machine hit superbike speeds, it changed direction like a Gazelle on speed.
Braking at the end of the aforementioned straight shows up the other new item. The whole front end. With radial-mount Brembos and a bigger master cylinder, brake response can best be described as "immediate." The first time I simplyfe/t for the brake lever, I scrubbed off at least 20 mph. Brake hard and appreciate that beautiful inverted Ohlins fork. Although there wasn't enough rebound damping to start with (transition from braking to corner ing was less than smooth), the wide adjustability meant that perfection was just a few clicks away.
Was that the word, "perfection?" Well, let's not get carried away. The exhaust conspires with the rearset footpegs to prevent you from riding on the balls of your feet. The only way to fit my size lOs on there was to ride like a beginner, toes on the deck, pegs on my instep. Dismount, and you'll spot some more things. Like the lovingly welded oil cooler right behind the front wheel. To say it looks vulnerable would be an understatement of epic proportions-although it's still not the lowest point of the bike. That dubious award goes to the sump, a protruding mass of alloy that is just crying out to be cracked by the first fool to try to ride off a curb and on to the road. An expensive theoretical, as the sump is part the engine cases themselves. Crack it, by bump or by over-tightened sump plug, and you'll besplittmg the engine to replace it
But nobody ever bought a Ducati to wony abo~4~ tomorrow and what might happen. Which is why the S4Rs will be a success. Purists and moccasinwearers have the beautiful, minimalist 992cc air-cooled lump in the Monster 1000S, or the more trick S2R 1000 that cuts a similar figure as the S4Rs, but without all that plumbing.
But hard-core performance fans (and Italian Naked Cup racers) now have a state-of-the-art Testastretta 999S engine and chassis components in the classic Monster package. No doubt in 2009 we’ll be given a Monster with the 999R treatment. It seems like the perfect progression and will no doubt make a great bike.
But what about an all-new supernaked model? Would that be too much of a risk, or has the Monster reached Institution status? Twist the throttle, deck your knee in a corner and you won’t care. E3
Dale Lomas is a self-described “Destroyer of Piston RingS? Worrier of the Scrutineer,’’ but his day job is as Road Test Editor at England ’s Performance Bikes, a position he s held for three years.
