Johannesburg - After having recently ridden Ducati’s powerful 1200cc Monster, which was one of the nine finalists in this year’s SA Bike of the Year competition, I got to swing a leg over its baby brother, the just-launched 821cc version.
Baby brother may be a misleading term because the two bikes are almost identical in size and share the same chassis, the differences being that the 821 has less power and a shorter wheelbase, with a twin-sided swingarm compared to the 1200’s single unit.
Though it’s down on thrust, the 821 has all the high-tech safety of its more expensive stablemate, including ABS brakes and traction control, along with a slipper clutch.
The 821cc liquid-cooled V-twin engine replaces the air-cooled 796cc used in the previous entry-level Monster, and is the same unit introduced last year in the Ducati Hypermotard. With its outputs of 82.4kW and 89Nm the Monster 821 lacks the brutal acceleration of the 1200, but it’s still plenty fast.
Twist the throttle and this Monster leaps forward very enthusiastically, growling away with one of the best-sounding hollers I’ve heard from a factory-fitted exhaust.
It’s an accessible power delivery that hauls out plenty of torque from low down in the rev range, but still has plenty to give at higher rpm and spins very briskly to just over 10 000rpm.
TAILORED MODES
Like the 1200, the 821 boasts three ride modes, each of which tailors settings for the ride-by-wire throttle, traction control, and anti-lock brakes to Urban, Touring or Sport modes. Urban neuters the engine output to 56kW and is essentially a rain mode, and I found Touring delivered a good balance of power and useability in the traffic.
Sport unleashes the full beast, but without making the throttle unmanageably snatchy in stop-start riding. Not bad fuel consumption either; our test bike averaged 5.5 litres per 100km. Great job there, fellas.
The 821’s not as fast as the 1200 but a top speed of about 225km/h is more than enough for a naked bike with no wind protection.
The Monster’s a relatively compact machine that’s easy to manoeuvre and to straddle (the three-way adjustable seat caters for riders of different heights) and has a very easygoing demeanour. My breakfast run through some of Magaliesburg’s twisty roads also revealed that this Italian machine has great agility, and effortlessly flicks through turns.
It adds decent bump-absorption to the equation, and the rear shock is adjustable for firmness.
ITALIAN STYLING
The exhausts are routed along the side of the engine, and even though there’s a heat shield to protect you from being burnt, always feeling that lump against my thigh was a tad distracting. Neatly tucking the exhausts underneath the bike would be a more efficient solution, but it’s possibly an Italian thing to do with styling.
Also, the action of the six-speed gearshift is light but could do with a more positive feel. The cogs don’t always engage with a definite “click” and a couple of times I selected a false neutral between gears.
But these are minor annoyances that don’t spoil the all-round appeal of this charismatic Italian machine.
Ducati’s sold more than 250 000 Monsters since the launch of this “naked” range more than 20 years ago and it’s a very important bike in the Italian firm’s line up.
At R139 000 the new 821 is a significant saving over the R168 000 Monster 1200 and the top-of-the-range R198 000 Monster 1200S.
Far from feeling like a watered-down Monster for those on a limited budget, it still offers very lively, grin-spreading performance.
In fact, with no wind protection the less powerful version seems the more relevant bike.
Test bike from Ducati Johannesburg. -Star Motoring
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