The first Monster project

Let's start with one fact. Austin Powers is not Ducati Tifoso.
Now the Monster 600. The Monster 600 was a great challenge for me. It is one small cheap alternative of the Ducati idea. Like anything in this word it has pro's and con's, up's and down's, black's and white's, possitive's and negative's.
Possitives: first of all it's a Ducati. It has that 851/888 derived frame, that pantah originated bullet-proof V-2 air cooled engine, Brembo pumps, wheels and discs and that's it.
Negatives: Only 50 (give or take) hp, non-adjustable suspension, low mounted seat (which is a good thing when you ride arround town, but a disapointment when you want to go fast and of course a tired looking shape. The bigger displacement Monsters (the dry cluched 900, S4, S2R, 1000) although with the same shape, due to their engine and peripherals, they are still great collectibles and classics. But the poor 600, is like the outlaw child of a millionair. Athough with the right geenes never to be accepted as a member of the dynasty.
But the Monster 600 has one very strong characteristic, that it may look as a negative at first sight but it is actualy a possitve one. It is very cheap. So you can buy one and build a great bike with a small budget. In fact i have four projects for the Monster 600 at first, but they can fit to any air-cooled Monster.
Some analysis now on the project Monster. At first we must see what is strong with this bike and see if we can make it stronger. Since we start with a great frame and with great brakes we have to make sure that we keep them that way. So a well maintained brake package, pump, fluids, pads rotors is essential. Second thing is to have a well maintained suspension. Those two things i did on the Monster that i use as a mule for my projects. It is a fact that we have a poor engine and we have to balance that with great handling. If you want to go fast get it on track, they say. Now the most important thing on the track is the corner. The corner has 3 stages, entry , middle , exit. In order to have a good entry you need good tyres, brakes and suspension (maintained and balanced). Through the corner you need tyres, set-up and technique. In the exit you need again tyres, technique, set-up, engine and balls. So of all the above mentioned characteristics the Monster lacks engine and balls( those come with the rider). So to come to a conclusion, a well maintained Monster 600, it can be everything a Ducati can be, that is a killer on track.
In the following pick you see a Monster 800ie, apart from the engine no big diferences from the 600. This guy is also Greek and the pic is in the Megara Racing Circuit, a small circuit (2.1km only) outside Athens. He was laping at 1:09, when the Supersport 600 Racers lap at 1' dead with racing tyres in qualifying.

What i want to proove is that the racing heritage is there under the skin of the Monster 600 and with a small budget you can have a great bike. The only problem with the 600 is the looks. After 20 years on the market it looks old. Well we can change that.
As i wrote earlier i have 4 projects for the 600 which eventually can fit to any air-cooled Monster and i'm about to present the first one and give a couple of sneak pics of the second.
For the name of the Monster projects i thought that i could use the music industry. What DJs do is, take hole or parts of a song and combine them in a totaly new way in order to create a new song, that sounds like the original but it is somehow different. In some parts of the song you can clearly tell which song you are listening in, but in other parts it sounds totaly new.
Usually DJs name their collections, Remixes and they give a number to every new one (Vol.1, Vol.2, etc).
So i now present the Ducati Tifoso Monster Remix Vol.1.
I started with that, a year 2000 black 600.

In my eyes the basic problem with the Monster's shape, is the big gap in the front beneath the frame and over the engine. In the Monster 750, 800ie and 900, this gap isn't so obvious due to the oil radiator. Another thing is the very long seat and tail.
As you can see in the above pics, the first thing that i did was to replace the very long and old looking front fender with the more vintage styled Sport-Classic derived one. The front fender shown on these pics is made from 14mm (2mm thick) aluminum tube based on the MH900ie holder and a fiberglass Sport-Classic fender. Both parts made by Tifoso can be found on our e-shop (ducatitifoso.com) or on our e-bay store (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ducati-Sport-Classic-Monster-Cafe-Racer-front-fender-/291140718722?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43c956d082&vxp=mtr).
The next thing is to find a wind shield because the Monster rider can use some protection at speed over 80km/h. I did not used anyone of the Ducati designed windshields, because in my opinion they look old together with the Monster's shape. Instead i used the Triumph's windshield for the Thruxton. This one is also made from fiberglass, with a double mold, inside and out, in order to have a plastic like finish. Then to close this optical gap over the front cylinder i used Ducati's RT 450 number plates.
That was the first approach of the Monster Cafe-Racer project and you can see the result in the pictures bellow. Something that i believe made a great optical impact on the overall design was the Ducati logo on the wheels.

For the color combination i used Ducati's tradition. I must say that all the colors that i use for any project are always original Ducati colors, taken from the PPG's color catalog.

Well the Monster's appearance it is improoved, but not something very dramatic. It just gained some color and some interesting new lines. Although it gained some attention on the street. Next step in order to create a more cafe-racer look was the tail. I modified the original seat and made it shorter, with a more rounded rear end. Thanks to a seat builder here in Athens who provides new Monster seats, this seat will be available by the TiFOSO company by the end of May. Together with the new seat it was time for the new tail-light, turning signals and of course the TiFOSO trade mark bar-end mirrors. I also used a pair of new dark red grips. The result comes bellow.

 

   Those two pics (above and bellow) are definetelly my favorite ones, together with the first full sized pic.

So the hole package contains windshield, number plates, grips, mirrors, bullet shaped turning signals, cafe-racer rear stop-light, front fender and seat. Total cost as offered by TiFOSO.
Windshield:           70eu
Number plates:      60eu
Mirrors:                 25eu
Grips:                    18eu
Stop-light:              15eu
Turning signals (4):  50eu
Seat:                     130eu
Front fender:         120eu
Total:                    480eu

I said in the begining of this post, that i will give a couple of sneak pics of the Monster Remix Vol.2. When designing this seat i had in mind that i must build a monoposto seat cover. The seat cover finished together with the Vol.2 so here it is.

That part was build on the seat and the new seat needed one more new part. A rear cover to hide the seat's ugly under side details when the monoposto cover not in place.

Although it is on the bike on the Vol.2 pics i dont have any pics with the monoposto off. So we'll have to wait for that until the Vol.2 is reveiled.

So with this pack the Monster maintains it's everyday practicality- high bars, two-seater- and also gains some cafe-racer flair, with less than 500 eu.

But i'm that kind of guy that always likes drama. I needed to build something more extreme out of that Mr. nice guy looking Monster. at first i tryed to build a more agressive steering. A steering that brings the bars on the level of the upper plate. It gained some drama, here it is.

With this bars the Monster gained some feeling on the front end but it wasn't a great looker. Athough it was still acceptable in everyday city riding. But i wanted something more agressive. I was wondering from the first day that i owned the Monster how would it look and handle with Ace-Bars on. So i build the most agressive Ace-Bars i could possibly think.

The result, great handler, great looker, retro aroma in every second of every ride, but you really need powerfull wrists and shoulders if you ride it in traffic. On the other hand if you ride your Monster only for weekend rides it has the best leaning position on a motorcycle. Thanks to the Monster's chooper-like fuel tank. You can ride it lied on the tank for hours, protected from the wind by that small but very effective wind shield. And here is the proof. In this picture the rider is Cato, my manservant. Cato is instructed to attack me unexpectedly, in order to keep my combat skills sharp. You can see how Cato's cheeks stay still at speed.

    This is the cruising position. Relaxed as a Bhudda. 

And this is the urban riding position. Stressed like a 29 years old virgin.

Standing still. Cool as a mummy.

Now this is a nice looking butt. I'm talking about the Duc. 

All of the above pics were taken before the rebuild that i did to the Monster. And here is the Monster nice and shiny.

So this is it. The TiFOSO Monster Remix Vol.1. I've lived with this bike for 8 months. I've loved it with the stock bars, it was nice with the neutral ones, i'm a fanatic of the Ace-bars. If you decide to buy the Ace-bars for your Monster, i can guarantee you one thing. This will be the only bike in your life, that when you look to your rearview mirrors, you will see your knees instead of your elbows. 

I will leave for now with a photo festival and i'll be back -soon i hope- with the Monster remix Vol.2.