FRAME OF MIND Ducati Monster!
I get it, to some punters, looks, heritage and nostalgia are more important than performance and technology. That’s why the likes of Harley-Davidson and Royal Enfield are still doing well in the sales charts, I guess.
To lots of diehard fans, the 2021 Ducati Monster is no longer worthy of carrying the Monster name. The traditional steel-trellis frame that has long been the centrepiece of the Italian firm’s most iconic model’s design is gone. And some Monster fans aren’t happy.
Ducati has sold more than 350,000 Monsters since the original model was released in 1993, and it’s the bike credited with saving the floundering Italian manufacturer that has always been defined by its tubular-steel trellis frame housing a laid-forward V-twin. But that can’t be the only reason for the model’s enormous success – a trellis frame and V-twin described every Ducati in the range in 1993. The real reason for the Monster’s success is that it has always provided big fun in a small package, while giving riders access to the premium Italian brand at a reasonable price. So it makes no sense to judge the Monster by different criteria, because the Monster, with its swanky new frame is a lighter, faster, safer and more enjoyable bike than it has ever been.
The contentious new frame is similar in design to the aluminium front frame found
