It's rare that we cover motorcycles on AutoMK, but a new Ducati Monster is too big to pass up. Ducati has rattled off a string of successful new model launches as of late, including the SportClassic range, the 1098 and the Hypermotard. But its true bread-and-butter model remains the Monster. Introduced way back in 1993 with a 900cc 90° V-Twin engine, the Monster is what many think of when they hear the word Ducati. Being that the Monster practically invented the naked bike genre, Ducati doesn't want to mess too much with success when it introduces its totally redesigned Monster in 2008. Rumor has it that the Monster range will include only air-cooled engines with a separate naked bike line featuring versions of Ducati's water cooled engines, including the awesome 1098's Desmo twin.
Take a look at the spy photo here of the new Monster undergoing testing. Little detail can be seen in the super-grainy photo, but a few things that jump out are the high mounted exhaust and the currently in-thing-to-do on naked bikes: a chopped tailsection. We wonder if Ducati should be setting trends, not following them; but we'll wait for official pictures to make any final conclusions on the design. To be sure, though, Ducati has a tough act to follow based on the success and cult following that its current Monster range enjoys, and deservedly so. We're anxiously waiting for November's show in Milan to see the real thing!
[Source: Motorcycle News]
