2024 Ducati Monster SP Review Daily Rider
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00Good day two-wheeled friends, Zach here with RevZilla and welcome to another episode of
00:11Daily Rider where we learn about motorcycles as we ride.
00:14Our guest for this episode is the Ducati Monster.
00:18It weighs about 400 pounds, it makes about 100 horsepower, and this being the up spec
00:22SP version, it costs a little under $16,000.
00:27Now any motorcycle nerd will tell you that the Ducati Monster is one of the most famous
00:31names in the world of motorcycling and it's been many different things over the years
00:36from sort of a basic gateway beginner bike to a fire-breathing high horsepower sport
00:41bike killer.
00:42This latest version is very different than the original Monster that debuted back in
00:461993 and yet it's very much the same.
00:49So on the ride to work today we'll talk about the revolution of the Ducati Monster, the
00:53evolution of the Ducati Monster, and where it fits into the world of motorcycling today.
00:59Let's ride everybody!
01:08All righty everybody before we get going on this Ducati Monster daily ride, a quick reminder
01:13that this daily ride is brought to you by RevZilla, not just the YouTube channel that
01:17you are watching but also an e-commerce company that sells parts, accessories, and apparel
01:20for motorcycles and people who love them.
01:24So the next time you need something for you or your bike, if you choose to spend that
01:27money at RevZilla, a little bit of your spending will go into making videos like this.
01:32That's all.
01:33That's the message.
01:34In the meantime, thank you very much for watching.
01:37All righty.
01:38Ducati Monster SP.
01:39We'll start with the basics as we always do.
01:42This is a 937cc 90 degree V-twin, very much quintessential Ducati in this day and age.
01:50It's a little bit shrouded by these plastic covers for the valve train and whatnot, but
01:57you can kind of see the cast cylinders under there.
02:00It's a fairly utilitarian engine.
02:02It's used, of course, in the Supersport, in the Multistrada V2, in the 950 Hyper, and
02:09in the Desert X.
02:10And I think it's probably more exposed in this bike than almost any other, maybe the
02:13Hyper.
02:14We'll talk more about the engine, of course, as the ride goes on.
02:17The big news with this new Monster when it came out in 2021, I believe, is this cast
02:21aluminum frame.
02:22Historically, Monsters have used a steel trellis, a set of tubular steel triangles that kind
02:28of come down and brace the engine and provide the skeleton for the motorcycle.
02:32For this version of the Monster, Ducati decided to go with a more typical cast aluminum frame
02:39and a cast aluminum subframe.
02:41All of that makes the Monster lighter than its predecessors, at least that's what Ducati
02:46says about why it made that decision.
02:48Of course, it changes the look of the bike quite a bit, and anyone who knows the way
02:52that old Monsters looked will be a little bit taken aback by the fact that there's no
02:56steel trellis like there's always been.
02:58Other componentry is very much standard Ducati.
03:01This is the SP version, like I said, the upspec SP version, which we'll talk a little more
03:04about later.
03:05But that means you get an Ohlins shock and you get this Ohlins fork instead of the base
03:09stuff, which is Sachs and Showa, maybe?
03:11Or just Sachs?
03:12I'm not exactly sure.
03:14Anywho, it's very high-end stuff, and of course you get these Brembo Stylema calipers on the
03:19SP instead of the slightly less exotic Brembo calipers on the base Monster Plus.
03:26Steel braided lines, radial pull master cylinder, all this sort of high-end stuff that you expect
03:30to see on a $16,000 Ducati, and this bike's got it.
03:35Let's see what else you get with the SP.
03:36You get this fancy carbon-tipped Cermignoni exhaust, or muffler anyway, and then little
03:42color-splash wheels, maybe?
03:43The paint, you get the fancy paint, this sort of multi-tone red paint that kind of looks
03:47like the MotoGP bike a little bit.
03:50Slightly taller seat, which we'll talk about in a minute here.
03:53But you know, very basically, it's like an engine, a seat, two wheels, and a handlebar.
04:00It's a fairly elemental motorcycle, which is what a Ducati Monster is supposed to be.
04:06And of course there's lots of other little nuance and details that we'll talk about as
04:09we ride.
04:10So now, let's fire up this something, what is it, 4.3-inch TFT maybe?
04:15Kind of clean and classy, we'll talk more about that later.
04:17Oh yeah, I think you get the steering damper with the SP as well, which I'm not actually
04:24that interested in, but I think you get that.
04:27Alright, let's fire it up, everybody.
04:34It's got this, you know, sexy, termie muffler with the carbon tip, and it's got these like
04:38hexagonal grates over the muffler, like very MotoGP, very high performance.
04:42If you look in there, you can see that there's a little outlet that's about the size of my
04:45finger or thumb maybe.
04:47So it's not a terribly loud motorcycle, it's very much a street-legal sound and feel from
04:52the muffler, even though it looks real racy.
04:57Definitely energetic though, that's for sure.
05:00So let's get to riding it already, huh?
05:03Anyone else have sweat running down their back from standing in a parking lot in the
05:06sun?
05:07Talking about motorcycles?
05:08No?
05:09It's just me?
05:10Okie doke.
05:11Fair enough.
05:12Well, off we go.
05:25Now that we're rolling, we can go through some more specific specifications.
05:29This is a 937cc V-Twin, as I said.
05:33It makes about 111hp and some amount of torques, which I don't remember.
05:37All that's listed in the description of the video as usual.
05:41It weighs a little more than 400lbs, 412lbs to be precise, on the daily rider's scales,
05:47with a full 3.7 gallons of gasoline in the tank.
05:52And the MSRP for this SP version is $15,695, I believe, so just under $16,000, I rounded
05:59up.
06:00Hopefully you'll forgive me.
06:01The seat height, as we sit at this red light briefly, 33.1 inches, which is a little taller
06:06than the base bike, the Monster Plus.
06:10But you can actually get a Monster Plus with a seat height as low as, I believe, 30.5 inches,
06:15which is pretty low if you use the lowering link and the suspension and all that jazz.
06:20The price of the base Monster Plus is around $13,000, I think, something like that.
06:28So it's about a $3,000 spread between the base bike, which has a little bit more of
06:32a beginner feel, and this SP, which has the high-spec suspension and some of the other
06:36stuff that we talked about.
06:38Oop, green light already, here we go.
06:44But the two bikes share the engine and chassis and most of the sort of basic specs and feel.
06:53Speaking of feel, I say quintessential is a good way to describe the riding position
06:57too.
06:58The seat is sort of firm and the 33.1 inch seat is fairly tall.
07:02The handlebar is sort of not wide and not narrow.
07:06Leg room is not cramped and tight like a sport bike, but also the pegs feel pretty high up.
07:12They feel pretty sporty.
07:14It's sort of the riding position you'd expect and you'd want from a sporty naked bike like
07:20this.
07:21The big thing that I really noticed when I sit on the Monster is how kind of small it
07:24feels, especially between the knees.
07:26It's very narrow and though the seat height is significant, I would say, at a little over
07:3233 inches, the standover height's not that bad.
07:34It doesn't feel like a super high seat.
07:37Feels very compact, almost like a 7.8 size motorcycle, which is nice considering nothing
07:43about the specifications is 7.8 size, but the feel of sitting on it is very live, compact.
07:52It's nice.
07:54Alrighty, onto the freeway here going 40 something miles an hour.
07:58We're going to roll the throttle on and hope this Range Rover doesn't cut us off.
08:03Obviously not a super extensive performance test there, but when you roll the throttle
08:07on at 5, 6,000 RPM, especially in second, third, fourth gear, something like that, it
08:11hits pretty hard.
08:12What is that, 110, 111 horsepower?
08:14So figure around 100 realistically at the wheel and it's a nice amount of horsepower.
08:19I said for many years that 100 horsepower usually satisfies me and the Monster SP is
08:24a good example of that.
08:27The riding position is sporty and compact, as I said, but it's not uncomfortable.
08:32It's pretty good.
08:33Even at six foot two, I feel like I've got a little bit of room to move forward and back
08:36on the seat.
08:37Leg room is, you know, like I said, sporty, but not ridiculous.
08:40In general, pretty comfortable.
08:41I actually think the seat is a nice shape.
08:43The density of the foam is good.
08:45I was impressed at how supportive and, I don't know, kind of well thought out the seat feels.
08:51It's not perfect.
08:52After a couple hours in the saddle, my buns got a little bit tired of it.
08:56You know, kind of as you'd expect from a sport naked bike like this.
08:59In general, I don't know.
09:00I didn't have a lot of complaints.
09:01I think it's pretty good.
09:03Another thing I suppose might be worth talking about is vibes from the engine.
09:06I think I might've complained a little bit about the Ducati Desert X Adventure bike,
09:11which uses the same engine, and how it was kind of vibey, surprisingly so, in situations
09:15like this.
09:16I don't think the Monster is too bad.
09:17You get kind of a nice pulse through the handlebar and the foot pegs.
09:21The foot pegs are rubber coated, I believe.
09:22Yeah, there's rubber on the foot pegs, which kind of tells me the Ducati was a little bit
09:25worried about the vibes, and so they softened that a little bit.
09:30I get kind of exactly the feel that I would want from a machine like this in this situation.
09:34It's not plush and ultra comfortable, but I feel connected to the bike in kind of the
09:39way that I feel like I should be.
09:42As for fuel mileage and range, I'm completely blanking on what my fuel mileage figures were.
09:49I want to say they were in the low 40s.
09:52We'll put the average fuel mileage on screen here.
09:54I will tell you that, anecdotally, I often saw the fuel light come on just over 100 miles,
10:01which is pretty progressive.
10:033.7 gallons of gas in the tank, so you're not getting a ton of range.
10:09Anytime the fuel light comes on before 110, 120 miles, I'm always kind of like, wow, that
10:16seems early.
10:17I was able to learn, though, that the fuel gauge is pretty pessimistic, so that's good
10:22because that means when the bike says you only got 20 miles of range left, you're actually
10:26good for a little bit more than that, in my experience.
10:29Not that I would recommend you test it too much.
10:32Point being, not a touring bike, obviously, and I reckon you can get 140, 150 miles out
10:37of a tank, but the fuel light is probably going to come on pretty soon after the trip
10:41meter rolls over into triple digits, and that might be a little bit nerve-wracking, depending
10:45on the kind of rider you are.
10:48For a quick review of the mirrors, I can say right now we're going just 65, 70 miles an
10:52hour here, and the mirrors are pretty smooth, actually.
10:56That's at 4,500 RPM, something like that.
10:58However, the mirrors are not placed particularly well, I don't think.
11:04I mostly get a view of my forearm.
11:06There's not quite high enough or not quite far enough out, one or the other.
11:10They're sleek and the shape's not bad, but in general, not my favorite.
11:13Plus, like I said, at 4,500 RPM or something like that, they're not too bad, but if you
11:17go faster, we'll downshift just to get an example, and you're pulling maybe 5,500 revs
11:22or something like that, they start to blur a little bit.
11:25I never really expect Ducati Monster mirrors to be particularly good, but I wouldn't hate
11:31being surprised, is all I'm saying.
11:34Into the neighborhood for the round town challenge, and of course, the footless stop challenge.
11:40See how the old Monster does, fairly lightweight and pretty direct.
11:46Oh, that was a pretty good one, pretty good one.
11:49I historically, I don't love the feel of hydraulic clutches.
11:54I think cable operated clutches are a little better for transmitting that feel to the rider,
11:59but this one's pretty good, I got to say.
12:01I find the KTM and Ducati hydraulic clutches in particular seem pretty refined, and I reckon
12:07that's because a lot of the bikes have them, they've been doing it a while, and as for
12:12throttle response, oh yeah, that was a good one, a little shaky at the beginning, but
12:17nailed it.
12:18I think throttle response is pretty good, there are a few ride modes, there's road,
12:22sport, and urban maybe, or wet, what is it, I'll have to look, but you can adjust the
12:29throttle response for varying degrees of aggression.
12:32I usually just leave it in road, I think that that's the best sort of version of the
12:38motorcycle, it doesn't leave me wanting for power, or for softness and tractability, and
12:44I think in general, it has maybe a few ride by wire gremlins, where it doesn't feel quite
12:49as direct as, or connected, as a classic cable throttle might, but in general it's awfully
12:56good I think.
12:57It's adapted to it quite quickly, the engine is in a relatively friendly state of tune,
13:04it's not too hot-blooded even though it kind of backfires and sputters and stuff sometimes,
13:08whoops, I messed that one up, but all of the backfiring and sputtering and whatnot feels
13:15very intentional, it's only like on decel, anytime you pick up the throttle it feels
13:18smooth and yeah, connected in exactly the way that I feel like it should be.
13:26Ducati definitely seems like they're tuning that stuff in, it's something I've noticed
13:30on other bikes, like even the big Streetfighter V4, it kind of sounds like metallic and monstrous,
13:37if you'll pardon the pun, kind of like ra ra ra ra ra, I'm gonna bite your head off,
13:41and then when you actually ride it, it's pretty smooth and easy, and I think Ducati's done
13:46a good job lately balancing that kind of outward facing attitude with actually motorcycles
13:56that are easy to use, which I totally appreciate.
14:00On to Lover's Lane where we talk about passenger accommodations, this bike does have passenger
14:04pegs but of course it has that racy cowl over where the passenger seat should be, I did
14:08not test passenger accommodations, I do not think there are going to be very many surprises,
14:13I will say my guess, it'll feel kind of sport bike-y back there, the pegs are fairly high,
14:17it's not going to be like an all-day comfortable place to sit for a passenger, but it'll be
14:22serviceable if that's something you want to do even on the reg.
14:26Into the twisty section of the daily rider route, Monster's real good at this.
14:32I sometimes ride bikes that weigh 500 pounds and I say, oh it just feels so light when
14:36you go through corners, and they do, certainly, I'm not blowing smoke when I say that, well
14:41engineered motorcycles will feel very light to the touch and they feel good when you drift
14:45through a set of corners, the thing about the Monster is that it's already light, it
14:49already weighs a little over 400 pounds, which is a good weight for a bike like this,
14:54it doesn't have to fool you into thinking that it's light, it is light, and it is narrow,
14:59it is small, it means that it doesn't have to cut any corners or sort of pull any tricks,
15:03it just has to be itself.
15:04Off the top of my head I'm trying to think of a lighter motorcycle that has this much
15:09horsepower and this kind of refinement with Ohlin suspension and Brembo brakes and stuff
15:14like that.
15:15It doesn't necessarily look as unique as it used to look, the Monster, and maybe it's
15:20lost some of its flair in some other categories, but as far as being a unique combination of
15:27attributes, especially on a twisty road, I think it has that.
15:31It's responsive and powerful in all the ways that it should be to carry the Monster Torch.
15:37Anyway, back to reality I suppose, back to surface streets and the rest of our commute.
15:43Coming up on this red light, let's talk about brakes, shall we?
15:51Good brakes.
15:52Real good, I think.
15:54High spec Brembo Stylemic calipers down there.
15:57Not technically the hotness anymore in Brembo's lineup, but really high quality stuff.
16:02Got into the ABS kind of fast there, I'm actually a little surprised.
16:06So let me just jump into the menu here and see.
16:09So riding mode, there is road, wet, sport.
16:14They're all programmable, which I like about Ducati's.
16:16They say, we give you these ride modes, we give you some parameters, but you can just
16:19change anything you want.
16:20You can make wet the ride mode that has ultra fast throttle response and maximum power if
16:23you want to, and traction control off, whatever.
16:25You can just do whatever you want with each amount of the modes, which I think is kind
16:28of smart.
16:29I like that.
16:30So I'm going to go into road.
16:32You can see you've got programming for the engine, traction control, ABS, wheelie control,
16:36quick shifter, and some other stuff maybe.
16:40We're going to turn rear ABS off and sport ABS, we're going to try that.
16:47See how that goes.
16:48Oh, it's getting a big warning there on the dash that says rear ABS off, which is probably
16:53fair, but I'm just kind of curious to experiment with the brakes again if we get to another
16:56stoplight there.
16:58Sometimes this part of the ride, we talk about whether or not you'd buy this bike just for
17:01the engine.
17:03And it's an interesting discussion with the Monster because like, obviously it doesn't
17:06set itself apart much in the world of Ducati by having a 90 degree Desmondronic V-twin,
17:12but among its other competitors, like, yeah, right.
17:16I mean, you can't get this engine in anything else, whether it's a Yamaha MT-09, a KTM 890,
17:23I don't know, whatever else you want to compare it to.
17:24It does have a unique sound and feel and is classically Ducati, which is, I think has
17:31some value.
17:32I guess I don't think it's the most charismatic or potent or classic engine that Ducati has
17:40ever produced, but within the 2024 lineup, it's, like I said, it's kind of a staple and
17:49I appreciate that even if it's not super evocative.
17:55All right, it's coming up on another yellow light here.
17:57We can do one more brake test.
17:58What do you think?
18:01You can jump on the brakes.
18:03Yeah.
18:04See, I like that better.
18:05You can hear the front wheel locking up a little bit, which of course is flirting with
18:08danger, but having only front ABS on make a lot more aggressive.
18:11Doesn't just cut an ABS when the, you know, two different wheel speeds change.
18:15And I suppose I could spin through the dash to some extent.
18:18We kind of already did.
18:19You jump into this setting menu here and you can adjust all the kind of usual stuff that
18:23you'd expect to be.
18:25Oh, they spelled tire wrong.
18:26I wonder if we have a British bike here or something.
18:28Anyway, it's sort of a basic set of menus as far as Ducati is concerned.
18:32And I think the dash is kind of small, but it's got a lot of info and I think it's pretty
18:36easy to read, but to take a step back, to take a step way back from the dash and to
18:45really, to see the whole motorcycle on the whole line, the monster came out in 1993 and
18:50was sort of an immediate lightning rod.
18:51You know, like people really were drawn to it.
18:53And there were many, many different iterations over the years.
18:56So many different engine types and styles and levels of exoticism in the lineup.
19:02The monster has been so many, many different things over the years that it's a little bit
19:06hard to pin down what it should be now.
19:09But the fact that it's been an icon in motorcycling, there have been hundred and something horsepower
19:16super bike engine powered monsters, as well as 600 CC city bikes with the monster name.
19:24The weight of the icon is what this bike is bearing.
19:27And it's really hard, I think, to accept that it is one thing when the monster in history
19:33has been so many things.
19:35But I guess what I would land on is that I don't know exactly what I would change about
19:40this bike.
19:41Do I miss the trellis frame?
19:42Yes.
19:43Do I miss the dry clutch?
19:44Yes.
19:44Do I miss the air cooled engine?
19:46Yeah, sure.
19:46Like it looks cool.
19:47It sounds cool.
19:48It has real presence in a way that this bike kind of doesn't.
19:51It has lost a little bit, but considering the constraints of what Ducati is trying to
19:56do, they're trying to make bikes lighter.
19:57They're trying to make them legal for government regulations and blah, blah, blah.
20:01I kind of see why Ducati went in this direction and I find it a little hard to be completely
20:06frustrated with the result because the result is pretty good, actually.
20:11And like at least a little bit monstrous.
20:15I guess if I was going to change one thing, I might work on having it run a little bit
20:18cooler because the 75 degree day after sitting at that traffic light, it's at a little over
20:23200 degrees engine temp and my legs are hot.
20:26And I know that's a classic Ducati thing to cook your legs.
20:29This bike, you know, this amount of horsepower, like it's a, it's a, it's a fast enough bike.
20:34Sure.
20:34But it's, I don't know.
20:37It doesn't feel like the amount of heat that blows on my legs on a 75 degree day is commensurate
20:42with the amount of performance on tap, though it is significant.
20:47I appreciate what the Monster has always been and what it is today.
20:50It's just another, another step in the, in the evolution.
20:54And I guess I'll be excited to see what's next.
20:57What's next for the ride is pretty obvious.
20:58That's a dirt road shortcut, right?
21:00We can play around some trash control.
21:02I don't remember exactly how many settings of trash control this bike has.
21:06We can play around with that a little bit here.
21:08So let's go to level three.
21:10So this is sport, relatively safe and stable version of sport trash control.
21:17According to the dash, we'll give that a try.
21:24I mean, it's letting me accelerate more than I really want to.
21:28I think that's actually pretty fun.
21:31I like that.
21:33And ABS is working just fine.
21:35The radiator fan is now on.
21:37Let's try to turn all the way down to performance sport.
21:41See what that gets us.
21:43I'm just out of curiosity.
21:46It's like, it doesn't like the dirt.
21:48You hear it going.
21:53Maybe if the engine's spinning a little faster.
21:56I mean, it's letting me accelerate so much faster than I'd expect.
22:00Okay.
22:00And then I guess just for the sake of who we are here at Daily Rider, we'll shut it off.
22:07Here we go.
22:18That's good fun.
22:19That's good fun, everybody.
22:20That's good fun.
22:21That's good fun, everybody.
22:24I'm going to turn TC back on.
22:26One of the things I really like about this bike and the settings is that you can...
22:29Let's see here.
22:29Road, traction control.
22:31So I'm going to turn traction control back on to level three.
22:35It might've been like five before, whatever.
22:36Level three is fine.
22:38No big deal-ski.
22:39But you can see that Ducati wheelie control is off, which is just how I like it.
22:45And of course, what we need here, this section of the daily ride.
22:49I appreciate that you can separate wheelie control and traction control.
22:54So I can have the safety of traction control, but I can also have wheelie control off
22:59should I need to prove that this bike can do a wheelie, for example.
23:05Oh yeah.
23:06Monstrous wheelies.
23:07Look at it go.
23:08Yes, sir.
23:12Dynamite.
23:14And of course, we still have rear ABS off.
23:16So can you back it in?
23:18Oh, yes, sir.
23:23It's kind of classic Ducati letting you do stuff like that.
23:26It's cool.
23:28I like it.
23:30And a bike called the Monster should definitely be able to do stuff like that.
23:38Right?
23:39Come on.
23:39I mean, come on.
23:41All right.
23:42Not enough parking spaces to do a U-turn, obviously with all this stupid junk in our way.
23:46But we can line up on this line here.
23:49I will go feet up.
23:50I will go full lock left and we'll see what we get.
23:53Just about two.
23:55Yeah.
23:56The steering sweep is acceptable, I would say.
23:58I'm not blown away how good it is, but I'm not taken aback at how poor it is,
24:02which is something that Ducatis have done historically.
24:05Sometimes they have steering radiuses that are just surprisingly not good.
24:10That was fun, everybody.
24:11I had fun.
24:12Did you have fun?
24:14I certainly hope so.
24:15Let's listen to the sucker one more time, shall we?
24:22Interesting.
24:22It's got an anti-rev thing.
24:23Do you remember?
24:24I think Carly Davidson did this too.
24:25But look, I can't do it.
24:27This is pin.
24:29It just holds revs at 4000 RPM so you can get like little revs.
24:36But that's it.
24:37Interesting.
24:39Wouldn't have expected Ducati to nanny me in that way.
24:42I suppose that's a good segue into some of your Instagram questions and talking about
24:46where the motorcycle sits in the world of its peers, this monster.
24:51All right.
24:52The first question we're going to address here is from Major Llama who asks,
24:57in your heart of hearts, if you had to buy, own, and maintain one,
25:00would you take this or a Yamaha MT-10?
25:03So a few things here.
25:04One, I would like to call out how many different motorcycles were thrown at me
25:07to compare to this monster.
25:10Yamaha MT-10 was one.
25:11Yamaha MT-09, Yamaha MT-07, Suzuki SV650, KTM 790, KTM 890,
25:16Triumph Street Triple, Triumph Speed Triple.
25:18The spectrum was just huge.
25:20Kawasaki Z900.
25:21Lots of bikes that are sort of in this category, sure.
25:24But also lots of stuff outside that realm.
25:26A little bit of a tip of the cap to Ducati being that people are so interested in so
25:30many different comparisons to this bike.
25:33I feel like that says that it can do lots of different things, at least in people's mind.
25:37Another thing I'd like to call out in reference to Major Llama's question here
25:41about owning and maintaining this bike,
25:43is Ducati has worked pretty hard to beat back this negative reputation of
25:48bikes being maintenance intensive and inexpensive to own and that kind of thing.
25:52So a lot of new Ducatis have pretty long valve service intervals.
25:55This one, I think, is 18,600 miles, something like that.
25:57Almost 20,000 miles.
25:59Which, I don't know, seems pretty good considering the performance you get.
26:02Yamaha MT-10, I believe, is 26,000 miles.
26:05So better yet than the monster.
26:07If I had to own and maintain one, I love the MT-10.
26:12I do.
26:12I love that engine.
26:13It's special.
26:14It's cool.
26:15I'm not that hung up on its weird looks.
26:18And would it be cheaper to own and maintain?
26:20Yeah.
26:20But like, I mean, I own a KTM now.
26:23I didn't buy it because it was cheap to maintain and own.
26:25I bought it because I liked it.
26:26And I guess that's my sentiment with motorcycle ownership in a broad sense anyway.
26:31And I can totally appreciate you being smart about your purchase and like,
26:34I'm going to buy a Kawasaki and not another bike because I want the reputation of
26:38Team Green and whatever.
26:39That's fair.
26:40That's totally fine.
26:40I appreciate that and whatever your viewpoint is.
26:43But that's not why I buy a bike.
26:45Why I buy a bike is sort of the capability, the versatility,
26:48and does it speak to me and what I want to do?
26:50As much as I love the MT-10, I think that it's heavy and comfortable in a way that
26:56steers it away from the type of bike that I like to own.
26:59If I'm being honest, I like to own bikes that are a little bit raucous,
27:02they're a little bit hot-blooded, and that have a relatively high performance ceiling.
27:05MT-10 is a great bike.
27:07I dig it, like I said.
27:08But I would be drawn to the Ducati.
27:11Maybe it's because I never got that Monster S2R that I talked about earlier in the program.
27:16I guess the bottom line is, I'm not going to buy one of these.
27:20And like, I can reach deep into my heart and tell you that I would probably
27:23get a Monster or like, oh, I'm getting old.
27:25I would get an MT-10.
27:26But I don't actually know.
27:27It's hard to say.
27:28That's your decision, Major Llama, and everyone else's, I suppose.
27:32Next question is from my buddy Jackson Foto.
27:35Trying not to take too many questions from friends,
27:37because I don't want to seem like I'm biased here.
27:38But this is a good question.
27:40Objectively, Jackson Foto says, of all the bikes that share the 950 motor,
27:45the Hyper 950, the Supersport, Desert X, Monster, and I think he left out the Multistrada V2,
27:49which I believe also uses the same engine,
27:53which makes the most out of this engine platform?
27:55Good question.
27:57I have not complained heavily enough in this episode yet about my problem with this engine.
28:02I've told you about the things I like about it.
28:03I think it's very refined.
28:04I think it's very good at what it does.
28:06I think that little rev thing that we learned about just now,
28:09where you pin it when it's parked and it won't rev past 4,000 rpm,
28:12that's kind of my issue with this engine in a microcosm.
28:16It might be too refined for me.
28:19It might be not raw and raucous enough to be a Monster.
28:22Does it deliver on everything it's supposed to do?
28:24Does it have good torque?
28:25Does it have good power?
28:26Does it have good throttle response?
28:28Does it work well when you whip down a set of twisties and pull a wheelie?
28:31Absolutely.
28:32It does all those things.
28:33No question.
28:34But do I kind of want it to be a little bit more raucous and raw and,
28:38dare I say, unpredictable?
28:40Yeah, I kind of do.
28:42And I feel like for that reason, I don't think it suits this bike
28:45the best of all the ones that were mentioned.
28:47And I would say the same thing with the Hyper 950.
28:49The advantage of the Hyper 950 is that it's extra silly from a chassis
28:53standpoint and sort of encourages you with ergonomics and whatnot to do extra silly things.
28:57So that's all well and good.
28:59Next, we can talk about the Desert X,
29:00which has been reviewed here on Daily Rider for what it's worth.
29:03And I think the engine is pretty good off-road, actually, as an adventure engine.
29:06But it's not really an off-road engine.
29:08Does it have good torque?
29:09Yes, sure it does.
29:10Absolutely.
29:11Does it serve the adventure touring purpose pretty well?
29:13Yes.
29:14But I don't think it's quite off-road focused enough to really
29:18nail that in the way that other engines from other manufacturers
29:21do a little bit better job, I think.
29:23So that leaves the Multistrada V2 and the Supersport.
29:26Road-going motorcycles, I think, a little more elegant,
29:30a little bit more majestic, maybe, and a little more refined.
29:33And I think that's where this motor fits the best.
29:35I haven't ridden a Supersport in years.
29:37I really do like that bike a lot.
29:38Multistrada V2 is also good.
29:40To answer your question, I'm going to say it suits the Supersport best.
29:44I think it might be a Supersport engine, you know.
29:46It's grunty.
29:47It's utilitarian.
29:48It works well as a daily rider, as a Sunday rider.
29:50But it's got enough performance that if you take it to a track or something like that,
29:53you'd have a good time.
29:54Which, incidentally, is something I appreciate about the Monster SP,
29:56that it feels like it's really ready to tackle a track day or something like that,
29:59which is maybe a reason I'd get it instead of an MT-10.
30:02Last question.
30:03Mitchell Jimmy Ryan asked the question that many, many, many people did
30:06in the comment section of this Instagram post, which is,
30:09Which character is this from Pixar's Monsters Incorporated?
30:13And would the scare meter be high?
30:15I love a Disney or Pixar question, as some of you may know.
30:18If you're familiar with Monsters Inc., which Mitchell Jimmy Ryan, I assume you are,
30:22as are at least a dozen other people who asked a similar question,
30:26I'm going to go with the Abominable Snowman.
30:29Not a main character in Monsters Inc., but you remember the Abominable Snowman?
30:32Remember Sully and Mike, they get sent out to the snowy wasteland
30:36and they see the Abominable Snowman and they're like,
30:38Oh my God, the Abominable Snowman, oh no.
30:40And then he turns out to be really nice.
30:42He's like, welcome to the Himalayas.
30:43Like, why do they call me Abominable?
30:45Why not like the Agreeable Snowman?
30:47Which I get a kick out of.
30:48And I think again, that's what this bike is, right?
30:50This bike is like scary at first sight, maybe.
30:53And then you see the name, Monster, oh my gosh.
30:55You know, and then when you get to know it,
30:56it's actually pretty agreeable, pretty nice, friendly.
30:59Maybe not as funny as the Abominable Snowman was in Monsters Inc., but that's my answer.
31:04Well, thank you all so much for the good Instagram questions.
31:07I did say in my post, only good questions this time.
31:09And I have to say, I think everybody pretty much honored that.
31:12It was amazing.
31:13Really good questions all around.
31:15I appreciate you taking the time.
31:17Bear with me just a minute longer.
31:18We're going to put this sucker on the Daily Rider leaderboard,
31:20and then I'll let you get on with the rest of your life.
31:22Hang on.
31:24All right, everybody.
31:25Here we are inside RevZilla West.
31:29And we have a Ducati Monster SP ready to go on the 2024 Daily Rider leaderboard.
31:35As a reminder, at the top of the heap there is BMW's R1300GS,
31:39a KTM 890 SMT, and a KTM 1390 Super Duke,
31:43which is both pricey and spicy, as we say here on DR.
31:48So, Ducati Monster SP.
31:50Where does it go on the board?
31:51I actually think BMW M1000 Single R is an interesting bike to compare the Monster to,
31:56because in some ways the M1000 Single R is sort of like a bigger, more advanced,
32:02more powerful, more expensive, more, more, more version of the Ducati Monster.
32:07From the standpoint of being sort of premium, being sporty, and yet trying to be comfortable,
32:12that's a bike that I think is surprisingly similar,
32:15considering how different they are on the spec sheet.
32:18And I would say the BMW is better.
32:21It's not as approachable.
32:22I think it's heavier, that kind of thing.
32:25The Ducati Monster is small and narrow and does feel approachable in many ways.
32:33But I think the BMW is still better.
32:35It's better with refinement, with features like cruise control.
32:39It's better with the seats more comfortable, dissipates heat a little bit better.
32:44Stuff like that.
32:45The Monster is not as good an F900GS, just from a versatility standpoint.
32:49Sorry, not as good.
32:51Scrambler 1200X, that's also a very good motorcycle.
32:56Here's the thing.
32:57The Monster is going to go on the board right here,
33:04above the Kawasaki Z900SE, below the BMW F900GS.
33:09Here's my rationale.
33:11F900GS goes above the Monster because it just has that versatility.
33:14It's a comfortable touring bike realistically,
33:17certainly compared to the Monster anyway.
33:19And it has all those off-road chops, which is pretty good.
33:22The Monster, I think, has sporting chops beyond what people might expect.
33:26I think that bike, I didn't ride it on track, I can't say,
33:28but I bet it's pretty good.
33:30Good enough to really keep an intermediate,
33:32maybe even low-level expert track rider entertained for at least a day on the track.
33:36That Monster SP, it's sharp.
33:38Really, really tight, good package.
33:41That's what the Z900SE does not have.
33:43I think it will deliver on a lot of the promises that the brochure makes.
33:46I don't think it has that sharp performance edge that the Monster has.
33:51And I think in this category, that's worth something.
33:54So I'm going to give the nod to the Monster SP.
33:56And I think that's not a bad spot to land.
33:58I guess it's sort of mid-pack,
33:59which maybe will be an insult to people who love Ducatis.
34:02From a naked sport bike standpoint,
34:04you're behind a Super Duke and an M1000 single R.
34:07That's pretty good company.
34:08The Monster SP is on the board.
34:10That means I can let you go.
34:12And I can thank you for hanging out for another ride.
34:14Appreciate it.
34:15Thanks for taking the time.
34:16Please ride safe.
34:17See you next time.
34:36Coming up on this red light,
34:37let's talk about brakes, shall we?