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Ducati North America is pleased to announce a customization contest as part of the forthcoming Ducati Monster 1100 S showroom premiere.

In order to launch the Monster 1100 S to the public in real monster style, Ducati has launched a dealer contest to see who can build the best custom Monster. As the original custom-ready naked bike, the new Monster 1100 S is ready for modifications, and the gloves are coming off in a contest to build the best.

Fifty-eight dealers in the US and Canada have taken delivery of a body panel set in order to begin paintwork on the dealership’s dream Monster; and all have accessories in house waiting to be fitted on the dealership’s first bike. The results promise to be nothing less than spectacular and will launch the Monster with a bang.

The Ducatti dealers will have two weeks over the holidays to build their custom; and their bikes will be unveiled to customers over the National Premiere weekend, January 9-10th. The weekend will celebrate the individuality and personal expression inspired by Ducati’s original naked bike and highlight the vast potential of the Monster 1100 S.

For a list of participating dealers, and to vote for the coolest custom Monster, please visit www.ducatiusa.com; where the contest will run January 1st through January 13th.
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I don’t know about you but I like them beautiful, naked, noisy and lively; bikes that is!

If you’re the same then you’ll love the Ducati Monster range.

The Ducati Monster was originally designed by Miguel Angel Galluzzi (god bless him!) and was first launched by the Bologna superbike firm in 1993.

It is a testament to Galluzzi’s vision that the Monster now accounts for half of Ducati’s overall sales.

Like all of the best Ducati’s the Monster is an 90 degree v-twin, often called an L-twin. It has the now infamous desmodomic valve engine lovingly cradled within a tubullar steel trellis chassis.

With its initial launch in the early 1990s Ducati introduced three Monster options; M600, M750 and M900.

The M900, was the first model released in in 1993

The M600 followed a year later in 1994 and the M750 finally graced our shores in in 1996.

Later on a smaller displacement model, the M400, was developed for those countries where the tax system punishes the ownersof large capacity, high performance bikes.

The M400 was mainly aimed at the far east and pacific rim,although it was also sold in Ducatis native market;Italy. The M400 had the same engine components as the M600 but had a shorter stroke crankshaft and smaller diameter pistons.

The design of the Monster remained pretty much unchanged until around 2000, when fuel injection was added to the M900. In 2001 Ducati unveiled the S4, adding a liquid-cooled 4-valve Superbike to the range.

2001 also saw the addition of improved braking capacity using semi-floating front disc brakes with Brembo four-piston calipers, weight was further reduced with much lighter Brembo wheels, and suspension was upgraded to 43 mm Showa inverted forks.

In 2002 a special edition, the first of many; the S4 Fogarty was offered. To guarantee exclusivity it was limited to a production run of 300.

Between 2005-7 the Monster freak could choose from six basic models: the 695, 696, S2R 1000, S4R Testastretta, S4R S Testastretta, and S4R S Tricolore.

The Monster 695 replaced the Monster 620 and was the foundation of the range and offered the greatest power per CC of any Ducati air-cooled engine to date.

The new flagship model;the S4RS Testastretta was a beast and employed the engine from the 999 Superbike and was supplied with Öhlins suspension front and rear and radial front brakes.

The Monster 696 was officially launched in early April, 2008 in Barcelona. It soon became the best selling Monster in the history of the range.

Ducati Followed rapidly with the awesome Monster 1100 in September 2008.

http://www.ducatimonster.org

This was Based on the Monster 696, but came with a much larger 1100cc engine, radial brake calipers and a single-sided swing arm.

A sportier edition,the 1100 “S” came with upgraded Öhlins suspension.

Weight savings such as a lighter crankcases and a single-sided swingarm that is 11lb lighter than the

1098 sports bike’s, contribute to making the 373lb bike the lightest in its class.

The Monster has lots oodles of torque much of which is delivered well before the 6,000rpm peak.

It is the torque, combined with lightness that make the Monster so popular.Above 2,000rpm the bike is a delight to ride on tight twisting roads.There may be more powerful bikes but show me something more fun to ride than the Monster and I’ll eat my crash helmet.

For a Ducati the Monster is well priced and relatively cheap to maintain and run.The tank is quite small but even the 1100 will see 50mpg if you don’t strangle the throttle too much.

Gerald Peters

http://www.ducatiforsale.co.uk/blog

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gerald_Peters

Buying a scooter tempered to to seem like a far-fetched idea, or at least one that was only thought of by younger, more impressionable minds, but the idea of owning that perfect moped or scooter is becoming more all there in people’s minds. Maybe it’s the insanity of gas prices that brings us to make justifications and excuses in our heads, or possibly just the thought of doing anything we possibly can to save an extra dollar, but either way, scooters are owning the streets like they never before.

Whether it’s the stimulating and gas efficient Vespa or the more sporty and power hungry Honda or Yamaha moped one wants, it’s usually the vindicate for saving money on gas that prompts the decision, but the sheer fun of riding one of these scooters around town is probably the thought that makes the procure happen.

So what should you look for when buying a scooter? Well, it primarily depends on your purpose for getting one. Perhaps you are in the market hardly because they look fun and you have some bonus cash to spare, then you may want to look into the Honda or Suzuki scooters out there. With some having 250cc engines these scooters can outdistance speeds of 80mph, which I wouldn’t necessarily want to try out in those little bikes by the way.

If you want to buy a scooter just to fit in with those faithful neighbors who have been “going green” ever since those CFL light-bulbs came out, then by all means, check out an electric scooter. Not only is excitement much more inexpensive than gas, but the quality in electric scooters has improved greatly over the past few years and decades. These scooters can now overextend speeds of 30mph and cruise for over 30 miles before having to plugged in again. With an electric scooter, there will be one less trip to the gas station you have to proceed towards, so there is some relief there as well. And of course, your neighbors will be delighted when they see your humming, electricity driven moped pull up your driveway.

However, if you are like me, you just want a scooter because you are just tired of paying so much at the pump, and ANY reprieve at all is an option. These gasoline savers can go 80 miles on a distinct gallon of gas.

If you don’t want to bother with having to your scooter registered then you will want to find a scooter that is less than 50cc, because by law anything over that does call for to be registered. To avoid all that paperwork, you can get a 49cc scooter. They can be amazingly quiet compared to the common thoughts about them and have some zip in them as well. Anything going up to 35 mph is devoted because after all, the goal is not to go just as fast as before, it’s just to get there for less money. If you want to buy a cheap moped or scooter check out the vinculum below to find just the right one that suits your lifestyle.