This Month's Featured Bike:
Gene's 2002 Monster 900

The story of this bike begins in September 2004 when I was looking for a bike that was more comfortable to ride all day than my Moto Guzzi V11 Lemans. The dealer that had sold me the Lemans also sold Ducati and suggested I try a Monster. He happened to have this 2002 900 Dark leftover at the shop and he gave me the keys and said ride it for a week – how cool is that! A riding buddy had just bought a 2004 Ducati ST3, so I got to ride both bikes back to back that week. Out in the VA/WV mountain twisties both bikes felt good but the Monster felt the best with an obvious advantage when the roads got really tight.
After 5 days, I went back to the dealer and told him I loved the bike but thought it was kind of ugly as I was not into the dark look and I thought the suspension needed some help. That is when one of his sales staff who also was the parts guy produced a book with parts galore, specific to the Monster. He then went onto explain that the monster was a platform from which to build my own custom Monster and that I could do most of that with available parts, some time, and a decent set of tools. I was hooked when the dealer gave me a good deal on the price, with a full warranty plus the ability to add three more years to the warranty for a very reasonable price.

What you see in this picture is a 2-year effort to transform the bike into a bike that is exactly what I wanted. Everything is based on the Ducati Corse kit I purchased from the DP catalog. While I knew there would be other Monsters with this kit it was the execution of that theme throughout the bike, top to bottom, that I knew I could execute differently and make it my own. I think what sets it apart is the complete execution of the theme

Color-matched racing hand grips

Color-matched Monstrack mirrors

The list of mods include:

Engine and Frame: Stock, except for removal of decals.
Brakes: Galfer Wave Rotors/Pads front and rear, color matched Stainless Steel brake lines, Rizoma Billet reservoirs
Suspension: Front and rear suspension has been re-valved with Race Tech Gold kit and set to my weight, rear spring swapped for single rate vs progressive and color matched – BTW this suspension is awesome as I recently discovered when I rode new S2R100 back to back with my M900, the Race Tech suspension clearly outperformed the stock S2R 1000 suspension. The S2R is scheduled to get this upgrade this winter.
Exhaust: Ducati Performance High-mount Carbon Fiber, mounting brackets have been powder coated black wrinkle finish, header pipe and collector have been polished
Clutch: Cycle cat pressure plate and open clutch cover, Evoluzione billet clutch slave cylinder, Rizoma Billet reservoir
Controls: CRG Brake and Clutch Levers, Gen Mar Risers, Risers and Top Triple clamp have been powder coated black wrinkle finish, Cycle cat rear sets, color matched racing grips
Wheels: Brembo Aluminum Wheels, color matched with white pinstripe and ducati logos
Body: Red/white Ducati Corse kit (Tank, Fenders, Headlight Cowling, Seat cowling), , Carbon Fiber Belly pan, Carbon Fiber Timing Belt Covers, Carbon Fiber Air Scoops with hand painted/mounted screen on inside of scoop opening, Carbon Fiber Side Panels, Carbon Fiber Rear Hugger, Carbon Fiber License Plate Holder and Frame, Color Matched Monstrack Mirrors, CF look bar ends, wiring has been re-routed and hidden where possible.
Seat: The bike has two seats, shown is the Ducati Performance Carbon Fiber solo seat which has been color matched with the Carbon Fiber showing through on the sides where it meets the Carbon Fiber Side Panels and the slots on the seat have been screened. Other: Color Matched helmet, and Red tank/tail bag

Solo Seat Detail

Side view off the Sargent seat

The bike has two seats, A Ducati Performance Carbon Fiber solo seat which has been color matched with the Carbon Fiber showing through on the sides where it meets the Carbon Fiber Side Panels and the slots on the seat have been screened, this seat is used for riding solo daily and trips of less than 500 miles.

For longer trips, the Sargent seat, which has been color matched is used.
I t only takes me five minutes to switch the seat and side panels.

Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the bike in stock trim but most here know what a stock “dark” Monster looks like.
When I got started the guys that I ride with were not that convinced that I would be able to transform this bike, especially as I waited months for parts to come in, as the parts arrived I put them on the bike, resulting in a very unfinished look, so while I got the Corse kit (front fender, headlight and seat cowl, and beer tray) the matching tank took several more months, meanwhile I rode it in it’s unfinished form as I look back it must have been quite a sight.
After a year or so I found out more and more about the Monsters, a lot of that from the DML, and I knew what things worked and what did not, and some that had not been tried before. I also then found out about the Monster Challenge, so in early September 2005 I began in earnest to complete the bike to get ready for the DC round.

This is a picture of the bike as entered in the DC round of the Monster

The big difference between the current version and the version I entered in the Monster Challenge is the switch to Cycle Cat rear sets, the Titanium open clutch and sprocket cover and the addition of cycle cat frame sliders. This switch was made by the fact that I started doing track days. The stock pegs were causing me to brush the pavement occasionally. The cycle cat rears sets not only solved this but also allowed me to adjust to a more comfortable position for street use and the frame sliders gave me some hope that if I did something stupid some of the expensive parts would be saved. This bike is no Garage Queen, it now has over 18,000 miles on it, has been to all of the Superbike races east of the Mississippi for the last 2 years, Road Atlanta, VIR, Barber, Mid-ohio, has seen numerous track days, and is my ride of choice for any trip of ~500 miles. More than that and I take the ST3.

While this Ducati began as a “Dark” converting it to a whole package that worked together was fun for me, with my lack of mechanical ability and tools, but yet I learned how to dis-assemble virtually all of the bike except for the engine and then put it back together. Every part of the bike goes with the overall theme and all modifications were undertaken to improve performance, function, or the visual impact. My favorite thing is the result, a bike that is very fun to ride, the ergonomics are perfect for me, it performs well both on the street and the back mountain roads, and visually it looks great.

Stock the bike is a very competent bike, very comfortable for an old guy like me - so it was already cool just needed some visual help. There are many of us out here who have little mechanical ability and lack the tools/shop to do any major modifications. My bike is cool because it is a statement of what one can do to modify a monster through aftermarket parts, minimal tools, little mechanical ability, and a little perseverance in searching for things that go with the overall theme. The helmet is a Shoei that I had bought to go with a 99’ Monster City that I owned briefly, it was blue with white/black and I had it re-done to match the bike, the detail is way out of my league the paint not only matches perfectly but the finish is as smooth as my girlfriends, I mean as good as the factory finish

Click here for past featured bikes