bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

THE Ducati Monster has arrived in Hongkong through the new official importers, Metro Motors.

  The M900, dubbed Il Mostro (the Monster) by the Ducati development staff, is the strangest machine to come from the Italian factory famed for its sportsters - and it might also be the all-time best seller for Ducati.

  Certainly, the more relaxed riding position with its emphasis on cruising, rather than racing, makes the Monster better suited to Hongkong.

  Metro Motors is lucky to be able to get supplies of the new bike - most markets in the world will be allocated only a fraction of the number of Monsters ordered.

  This is because the popularity of the M900 has caught the factory by surprise.

  The Monster is the brain-child of Miguel Angel Galluzi, an Argentine-born designer, who joined the Cagiva Group, owners of Ducati, three years ago.

  The team has brought out some of the most charismatic semi-racing bikes the world has seen, and at first he was alone in his belief that a Ducati that sacrificed some speed for style could be success.

  Ducati is doing very nicely under the ownership of the Cagiva group, producing sports bikes not far removed from their world-beating racers.

  Most of the efforts of the design team go towards further developing the water-cooled eight-valve racers - to fend off Japanese competition - and make production bikes resemble more closely the machines that win on the track.

  Selling the idea of building a bike with an upright riding position, which is suited to cruising as much as scratching round corners, was a problem.

   Cagiva management was not anxious to risk throwing away Ducati's hard-earned reputation by backing an ugly duckling that would not sell.

  When the commercial department finally relented, it agreed to a production run of only 1,000 bikes, reasoning that such a small number of M900s would be easier to dispose of if the bike was a complete flop.

  But the Monster has proved a hit with the public and stole the limelight at the Cologne show launch.

  Ducati representatives revised production figures upwards, as it became clear that demand was huge, However, at that late stage, 3,000 bikes was the most that could be accommodated on the production line.

  Clearly, Ducati could sell many more if only it could build them more quickly.

  Originally, the Monster was meant to be a sort of drag bike, with a bored-out 900 cc V-twin engine, displacing about 1,000 cc.

  But the new engine was not developed in time and the M900 has to settle for the standard two-valve per cylinder motor from the 900SS sports bike.

   Apart from running slightly lower gearing, the engine and drive train are carried over unaltered.

  What is different is the style.

  There is nothing else quite like it. The flat handle bars and big fuel tank give a little of the desert racer look, and the single round headlight - which is of the same type used on the Ducati Darmah in the mid-1970s and specially re-made for the M900 -is definitely retro.

  There is no fairing to hide the modified frame and the big, 90 degree angle V-twin engine hangs out in the breeze for all to admire.

  The lack of a rev-meter, always found on race-replica sports bikes, is a clue to the more relaxed nature of the Monster.

   But trimming equipment has not reduced the weight: it tips the scales at a couple of kilos more than the 184.5-kilo 900SS.

  If Metro Motors can secure sufficient supplies of the Monster, it might be that the machine replaces Harley-Davidson as the chosen bike of the Hongkong motorcyclist.

  For the fans of traditional sporting Ducatis, there is always the new 900SL, a slightly lightened 900SS, featuring a single seat and full fairing.

  And the off-road Cagiva Elefant puts in an appearance, too.

    For the younger rider, there is the Cagiva Mito, which wraps up some sophisticated technology and a 125 cc two-stroke engine in a package of fabulous styling.

  The Ducati/Cagiva range of motorcycles has never been so strong, and in Metro Motors the marque now has a representative in the territory prepared to promote the machines.



Ducati comes up with a real Monster