Ducati made its entry in India in 2011 and launched the entire line-up. In January the company introduced the Asia specific model the Ducati Monster 795 at the 2012 Auto Expo. The bike was launched at Rs. 6.99 lakhs, but the company offered a Rs. 1 lakh discount to the first 300 customers.
By end of February we got news of Ducati opening its showroom in Goa. The news was confirmed and the showroom started operations in July.
Ducati which is now owned by Audi has set-up is dealership in Verna, Goa. The brand has generated a lot of curiosity in the Goan market, which made our friend and GEARS Admin Akshay Tendulkar explore the bikes further.
Here is a small review by Akshay himself on the Ducati Monster 796
Since the time I had got to know that Ducati Goa had un-officially started its operations catering to the hometown market & to customers outside Goa. Since then I was on a prowl to catch hold of a a guy from Goa who owned this Italian beauty.
The best part was I’am from Goa & getting a contact is never a big deal here. Some or the other person here knows the person one is hunting for. SO with the help of my friend who is an ace automotive racer from Goa & a well known figure & very well known for his smiling face (Now I know y’all have pretty much figured out who I’am referring to 😛 ).
I got the contact to the owner of Goa’s first official Ducati Monster 796. And to a surprise the owner generously agreed for the shoot & was scheduled for the very next day. I seriously did not expect such a quick response & immediately put all the clicking gear in place & awaited the sleepless & anxiety filled night to pass. Came the D-day & I was ready & I headed towards the place where we had planned to meet. Sadly due to the heavy rains in Goa the meeting was delayed by an hour or so (who cares for the delays uh?? The stars are always assumed to make a late & power packed entry……& this was a sexy Italian star 😉 ).
Finally the time arrived & the Beastly looking Monster arrived, clad in red clothes. Just the way one perceives a Ducati should be. With just one look from a distance & I was blown away….completely! The bike just look BIG & Massive. Just the way a street fighter should look.
The typical Ducati single sided swing & that lovely sculpted Marchesini Alloy wheels were a treat to my eyes. By the time I was pleasing my eyes looking at the swing arm, alloys & the insane looking L-Twin motor, came the massive bazooka like under tail twin canister exhaust. Simple & Elegant.
The Speedo of the bike was small, neat & yet very functional. Provided all the necessary information the rider needed to know. With all this happening around I did not even bother to listen to the famous Ducati L-Twin motor. So now I turned on the ignition key which was neatly resting on the fuel tank (Just like on the 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 650).
As usual seen on all the bikes with Digital speedo’s the bike self-check was completed. Just a push on the starter switch & the Bike came to life. And boy it was awesomely different sounding machine, unlike what I have heard the in-line 4’s of FZ-1N, Bandit 1250S etc. Neither it was similar to the note produced by the Hyosung’s GT 650’s. It was sounding like some heavy duty machinery coming to life. In the mean time I had got a chance to get on the bike & feel it.
The first thing I noticed is the top notch quality of the fit & finish the Bike had. True to what Italians are known to deliver. I could visibly see the dedication put in by the Ducati workers in Bologna, Italy in making this bike a masterpiece of perfection. The seat was quite comfy, wide & very supportive despite of a bulky person like me sitting on it.
Also the seating position was little bit forward biased (Inspite of me being a 6ft+ tall person), it isn’t uncomfortable at all. This bike can be used to tour all day long but one might have to take some short breaks on the way to loosen up a bit 😉
Now with due permission from the generous owner I had a chance to spin the bike for sometime. The bike had just clocked 1000kms on odo & was due for its first service hence I could not ride it hard & not rev it beyond 4500rpm.
After starting the bike I pressed the clutch & realized how smooth & light the hydraulic clutch of the monster felt unlike some of the heavy clutch feels I had on other superbikes. And stepped on the toe shifting gear lever to engage the bike in 1st gear, the gear got engaged with a pretty loud thud.
Slowly revving the bike I released the clutch & the bike smoothly began rolling (unlike what I had expected the bike propel with some massive & unforgiving power & torque which might dislocate my shoulder). But I knew that I will be getting to know the real power of this bike only if I could rev it past 4500rpm. But keeping the owners trust I rode it on a short spin including some curves tackling & keeping it well under 4500rm & still the bike could do 80kmph less than 4000rpm!
The bike with its upside down Ohlin shockers in from & adjustable monoshock again from Ohlin behind felt really planted & little bit of stiffer side aiding the bikes superb street fighter handling. The handling was also assisted by the sticky Pirelli Diablo Corsa tyres on front & rear providing exceptional grip levels even on rain dampened corners.
And then just before my joy ride on this lovely beast was coming to an end, I got to experience it spot on braking power which was aided by the twin discs up front & the famous twin-pot floating brakes from Brembo provided crisp & direct braking response & a single pot disc on the rear tyre doing the job just fine. Well the joy ride came to an end & it was time to put the bike under lens. The bike happily posed showing off her grace, beauty & all the muscle she got. And yet again a wonderful day came to an end, all thanks to the gorgeous Italian.
A special thanks to Akshay for the short and crisp review and some amazing photographs.
