Monster challenge not so great according to owners....suggestions?

[Statler]

So....there is this 1100 monster challenge and a majority of the posts are rather negative about it.   It was related mostly to customizing the tank skins and lots of dealers put some time into it...but it didn't get the reviews I think some were anticipating.


What went wrong?

not enough press?


not enough promoting from Ducati or from the DMF (we didn't get advanced notice)?



we don't care about just custom paint so it was a waste of DNA time?


We're independent and in no way connected with DNA, but we have some sponsors who put some time in and overall DMF members didn't exactly share the love (no pressure to of course)....so what went wrong?

What would we want to see different that would be of interest to monster owners?

Input please....in case they are reading. 

[RichD]

I think there was (from what little I know) not enough time/exposure for the "hype" to build...
I know some dealers didn't even have enough time to complete bikes because of paint shop delays and limited work time.
Monster riders care less about flashy paint than trick parts, tuning, chopping (i.e. "real innovations"), etc.

That being said, I think some of the entries have interesting ideas and style!

[Grampa]

#1 based as a dealer only thing (bad)
#2 it would appear that more time was needed. (most of the bikes look hurried)
#3 the TE was not invited
#4 not promoted well IMO
#5 no Stu bike (boooooooo)

[Kopfjäger]

Not enough press.

[flynbulldog]

DNA dropped the ball in promoting this idea. It could have gone much better and promoted the idea behind the interchangeable body panels but they didn't follow through. 

[Drunken Monkey]

The first monster challenge was a huuuge hit and the 2nd one... not so much (Hell, I was a finalist. That shows just how low the bar was  )

The first one was a combo of dealer bikes and just plain folks bikes (and was won by a Stu, a non-dealer, I might add) and essentially allowed for almost a full decades worth of customized monsters to enter.

The 2nd one was a "no dealers allowed" affair, and that may have limited participation.

A lot of folks thought "Well, my bike isn't custom enough." Which is pretty foolish, IMHO. Why not enter just for the fun of it? I entered saying "Why the hell not get a free dinner from Ducati?" Who knew I'd end up with my bike being put on display at the Barber Museum?

My take is a successful monster challenge:

Should be open to everyone. If you're concerned about dealers vs. 'civilians' then have two classes.

Should be held no more often than every 2 years. Give it time for the hype to build and give the new bikes time to build an aftermarket.

Make the judging a bit more... widespread. As it was it felt like we were being judged at the whims of a small number of folks who may not have understood Monsters quite so well (BTW: this comes from my perception of how other folks' bikes were judged. If anything I thought they were a bit too kind to my bike. )

More awards of lesser value. This would encourage more entrants at the local bike shows.

More Press.

Work with the dealers & clubs more to encourage them to help get folks put their bikes into the shows. Maybe even offer incentives to dealers to help get the bikes to local shows. Tie that into the aftermarket as well, so dealers could pimp more accessories to get folks to enter. So maybe clubs and dealers could nominate bikes too.

Mind you, I'm not pregnant doging. *I* had an awesome time in the challenge. Others... not so much. But it's a hard thing to put your Precious up for judging and not feel a bit crushed.

My Dos Centavos.

[Drunken Monkey]

Oh yeah. A working web site for the challenge would also be a plus 

[Grrrly]

was this a competition for painters?
I would have liked to see more info on the painters that did the work.
Some of them had some AWESOME paint!!!!!  But that's all I saw.

[Drunken Monkey]

^^^^ BTW: I was POed your bike didn't make the finals.

[ducpainter]

was this a competition for painters?
I would have liked to see more info on the painters that did the work.
Some of them had some AWESOME paint!!!!!  But that's all I saw.

IMO there wasn't much awesomeness in the paint either.

A couple were good ideas but ended up way too overdone.

I do appreciate the effort and talent from the painters...

what was shown isn't easy...certainly not my skillset.

I didn't think Monsters were about just another expensive paint job,

I guess.

[herm]

1) many (most) of the paint jobs reminded me more of bike from west coast choppers than a ducati monster

2) few dealers did anything beyond painting the skins. i attribute this in equal parts to the time constraints and the lack of aftermarket mods available for a bike that has not even "hit the streets" yet. (to be fair, there are a couple of notable exceptions to this)

a sure winner would have fabbed a new, tubular sub frame for the 1100s


i would like to see a monster challenge every couple of years, with different classes.
maybe a dealer class, a private class, etc...

[zooom]

from what I saw...most dealers put bare bones basics on...I only saw 1 that put a full system on...most did similar modification like blacking out various bits and pieces...all had little time to literally or otherwise transform their bikes..so that was a serious hampstring on the whole dealio...not all shops had the resources to be able to truly dedicate someone or someones to the project in the truncated timeframe...and then to top it off...the photo's on the bikes I saw in person versus what was on the site did no justice to how they actually came out....so there's my .02....but I am betting Ducati isn't listening, even if the dealers are.

[acemoney]

to me (someone who knows very little about bikes)  all the finished product looked like was a contest on who could have the "loudest" paintjob that 95% of ducati OWNERS would never think about putting on there bike. i was excited and couldn't wait to see the pics and results but upon seeing them i seriously wanted to cry. now i didn't pay attention to the "rules" or what this contest really consisted of but i figure one of two things: 1) either the dealers fell far short of expectations and have no idea what to do with a bike besides selling them uncostumized. or 2) the organizers of the contest itself fell short by having only a "paint the tank" contest. those bikes are for sure not what i want to picture in my mind when i hear or think of ducati. just my thoughts.

[Travman]

The safe answer is that people weren't interested because it was mostly a paint contest.  But the real problem is deep down everyone knows that no matter what is done to a 2009 Monster 1100 it will never look as awesome as a well done 1994 Monster.  So why bother. 

[CowboyBeebop]

1.  The bike is ugly to begin with and not appreciated among Monster aficionados, so they were facing an uphill battle.  The 696 isn't much better, but it doesn't have the part-bin special look that the 1100s suffers from, and it would have made a better base for the designs.  

2.  Monsters are not OCC choppers, and the people who ride them are not generally trailer-queen chopper fans.  Paint is not what impresses a Monster owner.

3.  I got the impression that contestants were limited to bolt-on parts (maybe in an effort to help sell accessories)?  I don't know this for a fact, but the lack of innovative chopping suggests it. If that was the case, it was a mistake.  

3.  The paint themes, while executed well, were not very inspired, and some were very, very ugly.  

There wasn't much PR, but even if there had been, I think the response would have been the same.  The designs just weren't that good, and neither is the bike.