Ducati Monster 696

                                           Ducati Monster 696

The name pretty much says it all as far as this Ducati super bike is concerned. The Monster 696 is a true beast of the open road, complete with a ’less-is-more’ philosophy that underlines Ducati’s never-ending pursuit of a genuinely compact, high performance motorcycle.

Every single component of the Monster 696 has been redesigned and redeveloped to adhere to the tried-and-tested adage of form following function. The Monster’s radical styling has also provided the inspiration for an entire after-market sector specializing in hot-rod parts for this legendary machine. For this reason, rarely do you see two Monsters the same.

In terms of performance, the Monster 696 is no slouch. It comes packed with a 696cc L-Twin cylinder, 2 valve per cylinder Desmodromic, air cooled engine that produces inane levels of power and torque numbers. To complement the unbridled rage of the Monster 696, Ducati put in an APTC ‘wet’ clutch that gives a ‘slipper’ type action, preventing destabilizing of the rear-end under aggressive down-shifting and also gives the extra benefit of a super-light feel at the lever, a great benefit in stop-start city traffic or during longer journeys. Meanwhile, the 21-plate oil-bath clutch (11 friction and 10 steel) represents a power-enhancing weight reduction over the ‘dry’ system as well as having a quieter operation and requiring less maintenance.

The new crankcases hug the gearbox internals much closer to create a smaller and more compact outer profile and achieve considerable weight savings over previous cases.