New Ducati Monster 937 review: What you should know about features, price and performance

Ducati Monster 937's seat is low and the handlebar is set high, so you feel like you’re almost blending into the bike.

When the all-new Ducati Monster was unveiled, a strange thing happened. People began complaining that it wasn’t meaty enough, that it lacked presence, that it was almost... wimpy, compared to the outgoing model.

I remember looking at photographs of it and thinking to myself that either all these people needed to have their eyesight tested, or that they were dead inside. When I stood in front of the Monster in the flesh for the first time, those musings were heavily reinforced. I couldn’t for the life of me understand what the fuss had been about, because the bike looked fantastic.

You need to forget about the previous bike and look at this one with fresh eyes, honestly. Where the older model was all about unabashed butchness, this one brings more subtlety to the party, which in my opinion has made it look better.

By the looks of it

There’s enough muscularity around the fuel tank - with some prominent bulges and contours – and in the bike’s profile, with the hefty engine looking nice and beefy. The oval headlamp is a visual triumph, and looks arresting from pretty much any angle.

The tail section looks razor sharp, with the carbon-fibre finish on the fenders lending the Monster an edgy flavour, along with the slash-cut exhaust pipes. This bike looks wimpy?

Handling the Monster is simplicity itself, and even a newcomer to big-bike riding will feel at ease on it.

You have taken leave of your senses, good sir. In terms of fit and finish, other than a couple of uneven panel gaps, the Monster looks and feels extremely well put together, front to rear.

The ergonomics are spot on too. The seat is low and the handlebar is set high, so you feel like you’re almost blending into the bike.

The foot pegs are set a little back, so the riding position is sporty without being extreme – but if you want to give it the full beans, it’s easy to crouch, shift your legs further back and blast off. The compact feeling extends to the overall height, because shorter riders will have no trouble putting their feet firmly on the ground.

This Monster has Ducati’s 937cc, L-twin, liquid-cooled ‘Testastretta’ engine, a powerplant you’ll also find on other Ducatis like the Multistrada; it replaces the older Monster’s 821cc engine, and makes 111 bhp and 93 Nm of torque. Another significant change is the new aluminium monocoque chassis, which replaces Ducati’s iconic trellis frame; this new frame is 37 percent lighter, which is a huge weight saving. The swingarm, wheels and engine are also lighter, which means that the Monster is lighter by a massive 18 kg – trust me, on a powerful motorcycle, that is a lot.

Speed monster

The more powerful engine and the weight loss result in a bike that just wants to get up and go from the ... well, get-go. It’s next to impossible to get on it and merely tickle the throttle – whacking it open is the default mode you’ll want to get to.

As soon as you do, it hares off with glee, accelerating hard from around 3,000 rpm all the way to its redline; in the first few gears, the front wheel wants to point at the clouds, and only the wheelie-control feature keeps both wheels on the tarmac – this bike is truly a Monster.

You’ll hit 100 kph before you can say ‘Bellissima!’, and if you keep the throttle wrung open long enough, you’ll definitely need a good lawyer at some stage. However, if you want to play it safe, keeping the revs between 3,000 rpm and around 5,500 rpm gives you enough leeway to have a good time as well as retain your licence.

There are a few downsides to all this happy chaos, however. The engine has a very linear character and lots of oomph, but in typical Ducati fashion, it also becomes grumpy if you’re cruising around at around 60 kph in top gear; below 3,000 rpm, if you suddenly accelerate hard, the engine judders a bit before slotting into momentum mode.

And the damn engine gets hot – like really hot. Spend 10 minutes crawling around in slow traffic and you’ll be able to barbecue a steak quickly on the engine (your thigh will also feel like a well-done steak). The six-speed, bi-directional quick-shifting gearbox is wonderfully slick, and I didn’t encounter any false neutrals.

The Monster has a host of electronics working overtime to keep you right side up (the aforementioned wheelie control, traction control et al), but they're not intrusive and don’t get in the way of the bike’s refreshingly analogue feel.

Handling the Monster is simplicity itself, and even a newcomer to big-bike riding will feel at ease on it. It’s light (like I said, 18kg shaved off makes a big difference), very sharp and communicative, so all you have to do is aim it into a corner, make sure you don’t do anything silly and it does the rest.

I found a set of quick, winding corners which necessitated rapidly flinging the bike from side to side, and it shot through them without feeling in the least bit unsettled. The superlative Pirelli Diablo Rosso III tyres play a large part in this, with their chewing gum-like adhesion to the road.

The brakes are fantastic – twin Brembo 320mm discs up front and a 245mm rear disc all deliver a reassuring bite, and the feedback from them is great too. If you really go and make an ass of yourself, the bike's electronics will likely save your hide. You get 8-level traction control, 4-level wheelie control, 3-level cornering ABS and three riding modes - sport, touring, urban - that are hugely customisable

The ride quality on offer is very good too – better than I had expected. There’s a really nice sweet spot between comfort and sharp handling, and even though the front forks aren’t pre-load adjustable (the rear monoshock is), the overall experience is one that is as close to best-of-both-worlds as you can get.

At Rs 11.92 lakh for the standard edition and Rs 12.16 lakh for the Plus (ex-showroom), the Monster is naturally not easy on the pocket, like most exotic bikes.

Small bumps are barely felt, and larger ones as well as potholes are handled confidently, even though you can feel a certain firmness under you. Ridden hard (which is pretty much how it wants to be ridden all the time), the Monster will return about 17 kpl, translating to a full-tank range of about 240 km; a lighter throttle hand will push that figure up to around 300, in my estimation.

At Rs 11.92 lakh for the standard edition and Rs 12.16 lakh for the Plus (ex-showroom), the Monster is naturally not easy on the pocket, like most exotic bikes. You may even argue that other bikes (like, say, a Triumph Street Triple) are more powerful, smoother and offer better features, and you would be right.

The Monster, however, connects with you in a very direct way, and its quirks are part of its charm – plus there’s the undeniably exotic appeal of the Ducati badge, and its fabulous looks. If I had that kind of money stashed away, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy it.