2017 Ducati Monster 821
The Monster 821 is the mid-size version of the current generation Monster range
More than two decades on from the Monster’s first unveiling, the Monster 821 maintains the stylish character, the same chassis and styling as the Monster 1200 and is designed with premium components fully integrated with Ducati’s latest technologies.
Powered by the Ducati’s highly successful 821 Testastretta 11° engine, the highly accessible Monster combines 112 hp and 65.9ft-lb of torque with an impressively lightweight *179.5kg (395.7lb) overall package.
High-spec brakes, excellent suspension and stylish componentry merge with Ducati’s best-yet ergonomics to offer the Italian manufacturer’s most attractive mid-range Monster ever. Super comfortable and with an innovative adjustable seat height, the model also combines 8-level traction control, 3-level ABS and 3-level Ride-by-Wire into Ducati’s user-friendly, press-button Riding Modes.
The Monster 821 uses next generation technologies to create an enhanced rider/motorcycle relationship, delivering a high-adrenaline experience while constantly reassuring with the feeling of complete control and ergonomic integration.
Available at Ducati Dealerships the Monster 821 is dressed in Ducati red with red frame and black wheels or in the brand new Dust Grey with red frame and red wheels. Both red and white liveries are equipped with colour-matched single-seat covers.
The Monster 821 Stripe, instead, sports the exclusive red colour scheme with double white side-stripe on mudguard, tank and passenger seat cover, plus the red frame and black wheels.
Over 300,000 Monsters have now been sold, creating a growing world of Monsteristi with a creative passion for personalisation. The Monster has always been a statement on two wheels, an expression that created a cult following and, above all, a premium lifestyle motorcycle easily accessible to everyone.
From the super-smooth refinement of the latest 821 Testastretta 11° engine and its Panigale-style direct attachment to the frame to best-ever ergonomics, this iconic motorcycle now mixes authentic sport character with sophistication.
Mirroring the Monster 1200, the Monster’s larger metal fuel tank is emphasised by a narrow seat and an incredibly compact headlamp. The clean and minimal handlebar area continues the nakedbikes character with distinctive quality to component finish.
Monster 821 main features
- Colour option: Ducati Red with red frame and black wheel rims
- Colour option: Dust Grey with red frame and red wheels
- 821 cm³ Testastretta 11° engine
- Euro 4 emissions
- Maximum power 112 hp
- Trellis frame attached to cylinder heads
- Double-sided swingarm
- LCD instrumentation
- Riding Modes
- Ducati Safety Pack (3-level ABS, 8-level DTC)
- 43 mm Kayaba forks
- Adjustable Sachs shock
- Height-adjustable seat
- Passenger seat cover
Monster 821 Stripe main features
- Colour option: Red with dedicated graphics, red frame and black wheels
- 821 cm³ Testastretta 11° engine
- Euro 4 emissions
- Maximum power 112 hp
- Trellis frame attached to cylinder heads
- Double-sided swingarm
- Riding Modes
- LCD instrumentation
- Ducati Safety Pack (3-level ABS, 8-level DTC)
- Adjustable 43 mm Kayaba forks
- Nose fairing
- Height-adjustable seat
Engine
The second generation 821cc Testastretta 11° engine, now becomes a fully-stressed chassis member with Panigale-style attachment points for the Trellis frame. The Desmodromic motor delivers an impressive 112hp at 9250rpm and torque of 65.9lb-ft at 7750rpm.
In addition to the crankshaft rotating on shell main bearings lubricated with a new-style oil pump, breathing through circular Ride-by-Wire throttle bodies, the 821 Testastretta 11° uses the latest fuel injector positioning to target spray directly onto the rear of the hot intake valve instead of the relatively cold surface of the intake port wall for enhanced vaporisation.
The engine, which is cooled by a curved radiator equipped with two high-efficiency electric fans, uses Ducati’s secondary air system, maintaining performance-optimised fuel mapping for smoother cycle-to-cycle engine operation, without compromising emissions.
The Testastretta 11° engine also effectively increased user-friendliness by reducing the amount of valve over-lap from around 41° – typical in performance engines that operate constantly at high RPM – to just 11°, which enhanced mid-range and overall smoothness.
The Monster 821 engine features an oil bath, cable-operated APTC clutch with ‘slipper’ function and super-light feel at the lever. Its design uses a progressive self-servo mechanism that presses the plates together when under drive from the engine, enabling the reduction of the clutch spring rates.
When the drive force is reversed (over-run), the same mechanism reduces the pressure on the clutch plates, enabling them to provide a race-like ‘slipper’ action, which reduces the destabilizing effect of the rear-end under aggressive down-shifting and provides a much smoother feeling when closing the throttle or down-shifting under normal riding conditions.
The 50-52mm section exhaust headers lead the two-into-one-into-two system through power-enhancing equal lengths that help the Monster’s efficient power delivery. The engine management system dedicates a lambda probe to each header to provide precise fueling, while the vertically-merged silencers carry the catalytic converter to provide Euro 4 conformity and a electronically controlled mid-section valve to optimise exhaust pressures throughout the rev-range.
The Monster’s Testastretta 11° engine underlines another milestone in Ducati’s constant investment in quality by enabling the distance between major service intervals (valve clearance check) to be set at an owner-friendly 30,000 kilometres.
Chassis
While maintaining the vitally important aspects of the original Monster concept, the chassis uses Ducati’s advanced design techniques. The model’s signature Trellis frame still features predominantly in the overall styling, while its attachment points move directly to the engine’s cylinder heads, a method pioneered on the innovative Panigale Superbike.
This compact frame design combined with its large diameter steel tubing has effectively doubled its torsional stiffness compared to previous models, while reducing weight.
Considerable attention has been applied to the ergonomics of the model with a stability-enhancing 30mm longer wheelbase ideal for two-up riding comfort, and handlebars a ride-transforming 40mm higher and 40mm closer to the rider.
The seat design with high-grip surface boasts a comfortable 80 mm of foam at its deepest point and is equipped with Ducati’s adjustable seat height system.
Using a simple block-and-pin system, the seat is able to be transformed from its standard 810mm seat height to a confidence-inspiring 785mm and even further to 765mm or 745mm with the accessory low seat – Ducati’s lowest ever.
Grab-rails provide a confidence-enhancing grip for the passenger without compromising the lines of the Monster’s beautifully styled tailpiece. A sleek and sporty single seat cover comes as standard equipment, giving the rear-end a clean and sharp look. The 17.5L steel fuel tank is carefully shaped to fit the rider perfectly.
Steel handlebars, finished in matte chrome, are mounted with Ducati’s well-proven compact switchgear with adjustable brake lever and axial master cylinders with integrated reservoirs and cable-operated clutch.
Foot controls are mounted on dark grey, diecast aluminium hangers, contrasting elegantly against the bronze-coloured single-sided swingarm, colour-matched with the Testastretta 11° engine’s outer-cases.
The Monster uses 43mm Kayaba forks up front with a single Sachs unit on the rear, adjustable in spring preload and rebound damping, attached directly to the rear cylinder and operating through a diecast aluminium, double-sided swingarm.
Shorter than the Monster 1200, the swingarm provides enhanced agility with precise handling for optimum riding pleasure.
On the Stripe version the suspension consists of 43mm Kayaba forks up front and a Sachs unit at the rear, adjustable in spring preload and rebound damping, which employs a progressive pull-rod linkage attached to the vertical cylinder on one side and the double-sided cast aluminium swingarm on the other.
The Monster rolls on Panigale-style 10-spoke light alloy wheels with rim sizes of 3.50 x 17 for the front and 5.50 x 17 on the rear, mounted with Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tyres in 120/70 for the front and an agile 180/60 for the rear, constructed in bi-Compound to combine long lasting mileage with excellent full-lean grip.
The Monster also uses Ducati’s Riding Mode technology to incorporate three-level ABS and eight-level DTC into the Ducati Safety Pack (DSP) concept, further underlining the company’s increased focus on performance safety.
Included as an integral part of the Ducati Safety Pack (DSP), the Monster is equipped with the Bosch ABS 9MP controlled Brembo braking system, with integrated pressure sensor, as standard equipment.
This impressive combination of state-of-the-art security and proven performance provides shorter stopping distances with enhanced stability appropriate to the motorcycle’s environment by being fully integrated with the Monster’s Riding Modes.
While level-1 of the system enables a sport-oriented ABS intervention with no rear lift-up prevention, level-2 delivers the same intervention with medium rear lift-up prevention activated. Level-3 provides maximum braking stability and rear lift-up prevention.
The Monster uses twin radially-mounted Brembo, four piston, Monobloc M4-32 callipers gripping 320mm discs, with an axial front brake pumps with integrated reservoirs and a single 245mm disc on the rear gripped by a single Brembo calliper. Typical of all Ducatis, these components ensure high performance braking and set the standard in this segment.
An option to disable the ABS in each individual Riding Mode is available via the instrumentation, and the system allows the setting to be saved and memorised at the next ignition-on.
The Monster’s super compact headlamp assembly uses conventional halogen main light illumination with LED position lights on either side and full LED lighting for the beautifully shaped rear and brake light illumination. The directional indicators sport also provide a hazard light function, activated by holding the left-turn signal button on for four seconds.
The Ducati Traction Control is an intelligent system which acts as a filter between the rider’s right hand and the rear tyre. Within milliseconds, DTC is able to detect and then control rear wheel-spin, considerably increasing the bike’s active safety and performance, an important component of the Ducati Safety Pack (DSP).
The Monster uses the very latest DTC software, optimised with seamless intervention to ignition timing only.
The system offers eight ‘levels of sensitivity’, each programmed with a level of rear wheel-spin tolerance in line with progressive levels of riding skills classified from one to eight. Level one is programmed to offer the least amount of interaction while level eight uses the most amount of interaction.
DTC levels are factory pre-set in each of the three Riding Modes, but can be individually customised and saved to suit the rider by accessing the set-up menu within each mode. A ‘Default’ option is available to easily return all settings to factory pre-sets.
Ducati’s industry-changing Riding Modes effectively offer optimised settings appropriate to rider and environment by selecting from a choice of three pre-set modes: “Sport”, “Touring” and “Urban”.
Each Riding Mode is pre-programmed to instantly change engine character, ABS and DTC intervention – even while riding. The modes are made possible by combining a number of class-leading technologies.
An electronic Ride-by-Wire (RbW) system uses Ducati’s innovative e-Grip throttle to administer different mappings to regulate power delivery, while the Ducati Traction Control system (DTC) uses eight levels of system interaction to enhance control by reducing rear wheel-spin and the ABS processor provides pre-programmed three levels of anti-lock braking.
- The “Sport” Riding Mode provides 112 hp delivered with a “High” RbW throttle response, reduced DTC system intervention and level-one ABS of sport-oriented intervention with no rear lift-up prevention.
- The Touring Riding Mode provides 112 hp delivered with a “Medium” RbW throttle response, increased DTC system intervention and level-two ABS with medium rear lift-up prevention activated.
- The Urban Riding Mode provides 75 hp, delivered with a “Low” RbW throttle response, further increased DTC system intervention and level-three ABS with maximum braking stability and rear lift-up prevention.
The full Ride-by-Wire (RbW) system is an electronic interface between the twistgrip and the engine which decides the ideal power response depending on the Riding Mode selected and according to the rider’s throttle input.
The twistgrip no longer uses a throttle cable to control the throttle body butterflies, but instead Ducati’s “e-Grip” delivers a signal to a control unit, which in turn operates the butterfly opening.
The RbW system enables the use of three different mappings to regulate the power delivery. The three maps offer 112 hp with a “High” sports-type delivery, 112 hp with a “Medium” progressive delivery suitable for touring and 75 hp with a “Low” reduced delivery for urban use.
The Monster has a compact instrumentation panel with a well arranged and data-rich black on white LCD display. The unit displays RPM from 0-12,000 in an easy-to-read bargraph positioned in a semi-circular shape across the top of the unit with speed indicated prominently in the centre of the screen.
The three riding modes of Sport, Touring and Urban are positioned left of the vehicle speed value and are easily scrollable using the indicator cancel button on the left-hand switchgear.
When each Riding Mode is selected its corresponding DTC and ABS levels are displayed to the right of the vehicle speed value in additional to a service icon which appears when scheduled maintenance is due. Further left of the three Riding Modes, the screen also displays a tag to confirm that Stopwatch mode is activated and ready for use.
When the Monster is stationary, the instrumentation is accessible as a user-friendly control panel to personalise and save ABS, DTC, and RbW settings within each Riding Mode.
Additionally, the stopwatch function, actuated manually by using the flasher button on the left-hand switchgear can list the last 30 recorded lap times, each time also displaying the associated lap number, maximum speed and maximum rpm.
The brightness level of the display can also be adjusted from the same control panel area.
