2009 Ducati Fighter

[DCXCV]

I like that the radiators look a lot cleaner - I think that belly pan mass looks way better than the "bolted on as an afterthought" look on the S4 - easily the weakest design point of the current monster IMHO.  Not sure on the headlights on this one.  Certain angles it kinda looks good and others it kinda looks awful.  Like the tail.  Like the FULL trellis.  Like the overall concept and look.  Maybe have to switch out the front light and do something with the reservoirs as someone else mentioned.  

Tech specs aside (say everything was equal) I'd still be more willing to plunk money down on a fighter before a new monster.  Then again, just taking an 848 and stripping it might be a better bet other than the ergonomics.

[ICON]

You guys know damn well if that tank said Yamaha, Honda, or Kawasaki on it, you'd be saying, "another Jap bug design."  But, since it says DUCATI, you can't wait to cream all over it and hail it for its passionate Italian design.

Heck, I love Ducati too.  I had an S4RS and was looking forward to this Streetfighter as my next bike.  But in all honesty, I just feel like I've seen it before.  When you look at the Monster, you know IMMEDIATELY that it's a MONSTER.  There's no doubt about it, no confusion.  When you look at this bike, you could mistake it for another Japanese bike or KTM Superduke easily.

Well said.

[Lukey]

so just go out and buy a partially wrecked 1098 and don't put the farinig back on and you have the street fighter.

OH YEAH! Now we're talking!

[sbrguy]

yeah if you look at it the tail is just the 1098 tail no change, so its sorta like he brutale tail, and the front faring looks like they just took of teh windscreen and cut down the front faring so that only the part around the headlights are there and the entire side farings are gone.

the tank looks practically identical to the 1098 tank, sort of what the brutale did with the f-4 tank, so its really more like the brutale/f-4 idea than anything else.  streetfighter/1098

just get a partically wrecked 1098 and if the farings are toast, so long as the the tank and the tail are good you are set, you basically have a street fighter which you can now change the headlight to make it more like the traditional "monster" if you wanted.

[TAftonomos]

I just want to know how they have made the thing so damn light ?  There is MORE junk on that thing, and it's lighter?

[Lukey]

You know something weird?  I saw a 999 missing its fairings (in for an oil change) and I thought it was beautiful.  The tank and frame look great uncovered.  I would really like to see a streetfightered 1098.

[Evil_Ductator]

You know something weird?  I saw a 999 missing its fairings (in for an oil change) and I thought it was beautiful.  The tank and frame look great uncovered.  I would really like to see a streetfightered 1098.

+1   -  saw a guy in the canyons a few weeks ago with a 749 that got rashed up so he just ran no fairings, and i thought it looked pretty cool.

[Dave R]

Here's one I made back in 2002

[Statler]

Dave, put the clipons back on and I'd ride it home.   (well...no...it is me after all...I'd trailer it)


niiiiice.

[mitt]

Here's one I made back in 2002

The first mcn "concept" photos that came out looked soooo much like that, I though of your bike.

mitt

[Kopfjäger]

Please do not mention the 696 and the Streetfighter, in the same sentence.

[heathenmonster]

Looking back, I think the pivotal moment for me with Ducati was when they licensed the brand to Sandisk to produce a usb flash drive.  That's when I realized the focus of the company had shifted.  Before Sandisk, Ducati raced motorcycles by selling motorcycles.  Today, Ducati markets a brand and sells motorcycles by racing motorcycles.  The bikes are clearly targeting mainstream riders in design, construction, and features and they make compromises at every step along the way.

The 999 design missed, but even if you hated it, you had to respect the uncompromising spirit from which it sprang.  Indeed, the fact that the design was so polarizing belies the uncompromising nature of that bike.  The 1098 has been a great success and is very well received, but the design doesn't push the envelope and probably benefits disproportionately from its predecessor's divisiveness.  The new monsters are the least cohesive designs yet and now Ducati introduces a completely different design within the same line.  There is a lot to recommend the new monsters, and they are almost certainly much better bikes than 2001 monster 900 that I ride.  Sadly, what I and many other monster owners realize is that the new monsters are merely comparably favorable, not overwhelmingly dominate like the original monsters.  So it goes, nothing lasts forever.  Ducati seems to be content pursuing above average not outstanding.  That's not enough for me and luckily alternatives do exist like the KTM Super Duke or even Moto Morini.  If Bimota were half as expensive as they are, my next bike would almost certainly be a Delirio with mods.

So, that's it.  I'm just disappointed to realize that the original monster will represent a singular accomplishment for Ducati, rather than establishing a lineage of lucid design and innovative technological application which by any measure was its destiny, now abruptly halted.

[Giannis]

the first monster was a "streetfighter idea", take a superbike (851-888) strip the bodywork  ad handlebars and  a small tail section and here you go! Did run  the twin headlights (which by the way  was twin on most SF because early GSXR with out bodywork looked like that) Motor was aircooled too compared to 851.

The new streetfighter is nothing new i have seen similar bikes from pretty much all the manufacters

Agusta   F4 -Brutale
Yamaha  R1 -FZ1
Kawasaki ZX9R - Z1000/Z750
Suzuki hayabusa - B-King
Honda CBR1000RR - CB1000R/CB919
Triumph  Daytona - Speedtriple
Bimota  DB6 - Delirio
Aprilia RSV - Tuono

and KTm with Superduke which is one of the few bikes that starts as a naked (superduke) and turns into a superbike (RC8)

[CountGreffi]

I think that this bike with a shortie Termi would just be sick. I'm digging this thing more and more though. It is kinda annoying me. That I look at my bike today and think it looks "dated" compared to that of the Streetfighter, the new Monster 1100. I really wanna see what the Venom is gonna look like too. Yet I read in a article that the RC8 vs 1098S (or was it 1098) and the Ducati beat it. I still think getting hit on the depreciation for a new one of these (Streetfighter or Monster 1100) is completely not worth it. I still think SuperDuke looks "current/modern" in comparison to my bike, and the new 2009 Ducati's. Do I hear a "Streetfighter vs Monster 1100" poll? Question is which one will you buy? The new 2009 line-up takes one line and creates two. Greed is good.


cg

[CountGreffi]

so that's it... maybe there won't be a 4v engine for the new monster frame... the street fighter may be replacing the S4Rs..  those specs are brutal!

I think that is apparently obvious. That this IS the new S4R S. It's all about profits. They will make/sell less of these than Monster 696's & 1100's, but it will keep buyers from going to other European brands. Most Ducati riders don't like Jap bikes (I know that is incorrect but a popular belief) so they chose more "unique" brands. Why let them all go get the Venom, Brutale, Aprilia or Speed Triple (since it's liquid cooled)? Having this keeps S4R/S4R S owners from ditching Ducati's. Although you do ditch owning a "Monster", Gonna have a Streetfighterforum.org soon. Unless some Capcom geeks have that name.

cg