Ducati

Ducati Monster 30° Anniversario By Ben Purvis

It's not hyperbole to say that without the Monster there's a good chance that Ducati might not exist today. Despite being overshadowed by the glamourous 916 superbike back in the 1990s, the company's radically simple naked bike provided essential cashflow during some tough times and the fact it lives on today - still recognisable after several generations - shows how effective the ultra-simple styling of the original machine was.

Miguel Angel Galluzzi's design stripped back the idea of a motorcycle to the absolute essentials. An engine, a frame, a fuel tank, a headlight and a seat. Combined in a forward-hunched package that concentrated the bike's visual mass towards the front wheel, it laid a template that virtually every rival has since copied. Ducati itself has made Monsters from 400 cc to 1200 cc, but in today's line-up there's just one engine on offer - the 111 hp, 973 cc Testastretta V-twin - and that's what appears in the limited-edition Ducati Monster 30° Anniversario.

Only 500 examples will be made, and given the way short-run Ducatis have been snapped up in recent years, they're likely to be gone fast. 

The Ducati Monster 30° Anniversario's specs are essentially similar to the Monster SP, with Öhlins NIX30 forks and an Öhlins monoshock along with Brembo Stylema brakes as upgrades compared to the cheaper Monster and Monster+. To that package, the Anniversario adds a Termignoni exhaust and an adjustable Öhlins steering damper, plus forged alloy wheels instead of cast ones and a lighter, lithium-ion battery. Those wheels and the battery mean the Anniversario is 2 kg lighter than the Monster SP and 4 kg less than the base model at 184 kg wet.

Tricolour paint in Ducati's patriotic red, white and green, along with the inevitable numbered plaque to mark its limited-edition status, complete the changes.