Ducati Monster Forum

Saw a guy post on CL the other week saying he had a torn-down '94 Monster 900 where the frame had been cut up.  The price was worth it for the parts alone, but my goal is to have a second Monster in my garage by the time riding season comes back around here. 

I'm looking for some suggestions in two categories: first, I need a cool design.  I suppose if worst came to worst I could go back to Ducati Red or flat black, but it seems like a wasted opportunity to do something cool with the paint scheme if I did that.  I'm not good at art ideas, so suggestions are welcome.

Secondly, that 900 motor is literally just sitting on my garage floor... it would be a pity not to start making some mods there as well.  I've seen that ST2 cams are a good way to improve performance, but I was wondering if there were other suggestions that I could implement without totally breaking the bank on this one.  It's got about 15k on it right now and looks to be in decent condition from the outside, but definitely needs cleaned up a bit.

1ST QUESTION.....budget?

2ND QUESTION.....as far as aesthetics, what are your preferences before people start bellowing out suggestions??

Unique color scheme = Sharpie!

http://s955.photobucket.com/albums/ae36/twistdchick/Sharpie%20marker%20Ducati/ (http://s955.photobucket.com/albums/ae36/twistdchick/Sharpie%20marker%20Ducati/)

I haven't figured out a specific number for the budget yet, I'm kind of playing it by ear with my finances through the Christmas season.  I'm figuring the final number for the engine budget will come out in the range of about $2k for the winter, though I don't know yet whether that'll include the FCR41's I'd like to pick up or whether those will get their own pool separately.... got to see how badly I overspend on presents for other people this year before I know how much I can spend on presents for me.

Aesthetics-wise, I'm honestly kind of looking for people to shout out ideas and then let me filter it from there.  I'm aiming for unique yet tasteful, so I'm not going to run with a pinup girl on the tank (this isn't a Harley, after all!).  I thought the Gulf 1098 was cool, and I'm fairly certain I've seen a Monster done in army green with a white star on the tank like the old WWII motorcycles, which was cool to see.  The pink Monster is cool but definitely not the path I'm going to take, especially if my brother is the first guy I try to sell the bike to.  :P   I actually thought the Sharpie bike was amazing, but I totally lack any innate artistic ability and would hate to rip off such an awesome idea.

put a 916 fairing and headlight unit on it with a demi half fairing like a CR 94-98 Supersport and paint it up in like an angry P51 Mustang!

Did you buy this stuff from Paul in the indianapolis area? Of so i have the parts to get it running again.

1974 Ducati SS 750 Green Frame

If you do that year and paint scheme, don't forget to add at least 2 flies in the paint.  ;)

BTW, the last clean one of those I recall went for ~ $50,000 at auction.

Yeah, Paul was the guy I bought it from.  PM me with what you've got.

pm sent

As for engine mods on a low budget of about 2K, I say look for V heads from a SS engine, unless your lucky and have them already.  There is a discussion thread on V vs W heads here http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=46928.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=46928.0)
V heads, a big bore kit, and a set of FCRs should get you where your going in a hurry.  One more thing that should make a noticeable improvement is a light flywheel.  You can go with a billet flywheel or have the OEM flywheel lightened through machining for less $.  

Yeah, I'm fairly certain the big bore kit is out of my price range for a mod this winter, unfortunately.  How much of a difference would SS heads and cams make versus just cams from an SS/900ie/ST2? 

Not a huge fan of the full fairing, but that might be cool to try with a vintage-style half fairing.  Times like this make me wish I was good with Photoshop.  :-\

You could go with the stock bore and JE high comp pistons. V heads with the better cams and valves are important if the bike has W heads. A set of FCR carbs would be excellent if you have any money left over. Light flywheels work well. A friendly machinist could do it for low $$.
The W heads will leave you dissappointed if you leave them on, so make the V heads your priority.

It's a '94, so I'm fairly certain that they're V heads already.  Where exactly do they stamp that on the head so I can verify it?

94, I missed that, you're fine, they're V heads. The cams and valves are good.
FCRs, hi comp pistons will give a big improvement. A lightened flywheel is icing on the cake.

On the left side of the head by the camshaft end caps. I sent you an email last night.

oh no...wasn't suggesting a full fairing job....just using the upper and maybe a short mid for attchment and finishing of the lines for to tie it in together...