The more it changes...

[triangleforge]

I'm digging through boxes & boxes of old motorcycle magazines a friend left, and can't resist looking through a few of them. I had to smile at one of the opening paragraphs from a 1983 Motorcyclist side-by-side review of the 888 S.P.O. and the M900 Monster:

"The M900 Monster is easy enough to pronounce, but it's a little harder to understand exactly why Ducati Meccanica is building it. Well, with a lineup stretching from the entry level 750SS to the crown-jewel 888 series, Ducati already has the sport-bike end of the business covered. So think of the Monster as an interesting technological detour. The Monster - known as il Monstro [sic] at the factory - is a attempt to diversify and cash in on the cachet of the Ducati name with buyers who aren't interested in pure sporting hardware. As one marketing type put it, "We're trying to put Ducati on the Shopping list of riders other than the hard-core sport guys.

"But don't call it a standard.  Ducati and standard blend like olive oil and water. Factory types cringe when the two words are parked too closely together. And don't call the M900 a cruiser, either. The Cagiva Indiana of 1988 was a cruiser, and Ducati would like to forget that little episode."

Sound familiar to a similar debate over the past few months?

Elsewhere in the same issue were artists' renderings of the upcoming 916 that supposedly had Ducati "suspecting a spy" because they were so uncannily accurate - except, thankfully, they weren't even close. There was also a report that there was in the works "as early as 1995, a budget-priced Monster-type, naked single, which would use a Supermono-derived mill." Now that sounds kinda fun...

[Monsterlover]

The Supermono is one of my favorite bikes.

A thumper with a Monster trellis frame would kick ass as long as the weight was low. . .

[IZ]

That must be from '93 instead of '83, right T?

[triangleforge]

Um, yeah, 1993. The '80s & '90s are kind of a blur for me...

[junior varsity]

Sound familiar to a similar debate over the past few months?

I agree!  Its the Diavel debate (we've already got a ... wait. this is so un-Ducati!). Its the Hypermotard debate (we've already got a naked!).  Going back in time, its the Multistrada debate (we've already got a sport-tourer!)

A little bit of outside the box thinking is good for the brand. You can't take steps forward without first picking up the foot and placing it somewhere to figure out if its forward or not.

sure would like an 888SPO, even today.  I'd almost need two, because I would want to both ride it all over creation and on the track; and keep it pristine / unridden / museum-like in the house on a display!

Elsewhere in the same issue were artists' renderings of the upcoming 916 that supposedly had Ducati "suspecting a spy" because they were so uncannily accurate - except, thankfully, they weren't even close.

Got pics that I can see of the rumor pics?

[Bigbore4]

The Supermono is one of my favorite bikes.

A thumper with a Monster trellis frame would kick ass as long as the weight was low. . .

How about a Yamaha with a perimeter frame?  One year wonder:

[Jarvicious]

^^ Looks like a GS500 (550?) as well

Cool article.  Main point: haters gon' hate.  Any company would go belly up if they didn't shake things up and look for growth.  Ducati, ftw.