When Ducati brought its Monster 600 to the U.S. last year, it looked brilliant on paper. Aimed at the budget/beginner segment, the M600 was light (383 pounds dry), low (30.3 inches) and sexy (keep reading).
It had an exposed trellis frame true to Miguel Galuzzi’s original 1993 Monster design, an attractive air-cooled Desmodromic V-twin engine and an elite Italian name.
The smallest member of the Monster line, which is marketed as blurring the lines between a sportbike and a cruiser, is Ducati’s best-selling bike worldwide, and conditions seemed ripe for the 600’s success here. Naked bikes were the hot new niche, and two big-brother versions, the Monster 750 and 900, were enjoying modest but growing sales in America.
Best of all, it was cheap at $6,195.
All good on paper, but it flopped on this side of the pond, wrecking Ducati’s 2001 U.S. growth targets.
Nicola Greco, interim general manager of Ducati’s U.S. operations, said the baby Monsters accounted for about one-fourth of the 40,000 Ducatis sold worldwide last year. But in the U.S., which accounts for about 25 percent of Ducati’s market, only about 350 M600s found homes.
“We knew something was wrong,” Greco said. “It was the wrong bike for this market.”
A big part of the problem was that the Monster 600 was not emissions-certified for sale in California. It’s hard to sell a lot of motorcycles if you can’t sell them in California. Also, the 600 was considered a bit under-powered next to the class-owning Suzuki SV650.
Though the Monster 600 is wildly popular in Europe, Ducati decided to address the problems rather than chalk up weak sales here to fickle Americans.
Enter the new Monster 620 i.e., which solves the emissions problem with a pair of catalytic converters and iniezione elettronica (electronic fuel ignition), which replaces carburetors from the old 600.
The EFI system also is at the center of a host of improvements aimed at making the M620 a quicker, better-handling Monster that’s more appetizing for riders who want a little whoosh in their diets.
The air-cooled Pantah-style engine was stroked 3 millimeters to increase displacement by 35 cc, to 618 cc. This, along with new piston heads, larger valves, a new air box and a 9,500 r.p.m. redline (up from 8,000) help the M620 churn out 60 horsepower–almost 18 percent more than the M600, Ducati says.
The M620 also gets a major upgrade to a 28-mm tube trellis-style frame derived from the king of the line, the Monster S4. Ducati says it’s 30 percent stiffer than the old M600 frame, and it’s mated to a new swing arm, shock and fork. The front brakes were reworked as well, to a Brembo dual-disc setup that replaces a single-disc system.
These improvements don’t come without a cost, and in this case that’s about 6 pounds and $800 (claimed dry weight is 389 pounds and MSRP is $6,995). Bargain-hunters might consider the $500 cheaper M620 i.e. Dark, with matte-black paint and a less-expensive but plenty good single-disc brake upfront.
At the bike’s U.S. press launch this month in La Jolla, Calif., 2-wheel Drive got a chance to try out the Monster’s manners.
Upon turning the key, an attractive analog speedometer and tachometer spring to life and hint of the fun to come by sweeping to their pegs and back to zero. Cockpit instrumentation is rounded out by a digital odometer, trip-odometer, clock and temperature gauge, along with the usual indicator lights.
We found our copy reluctant to wake up after overnight temperatures had dropped to an unseasonable 39 degrees. It took pinning the fast-idle lever (placed conveniently on the left-hand control unit) and several seconds of cranking before the little twin roared to life.
Once under way, the 620 was easy to maneuver around the hilly side streets of La Jolla, thanks to its upright riding position, light weight and the easy reach from foot pegs to pavement. Acceleration was snappier than I expected, too.
The little Monster was great fun on curvy roads, too. Though Ducati markets the bike as a sport-cruiser, you wouldn’t look or feel ridiculous “hanging off” a little in tight corners.
Still, I think of the Monster as a city bike first, probably because of its cosmopolitan looks and ready-for-anything riding position. A slightly stiff clutch and a cheap seat are about all that holds it back from being the ideal urban assault cycle.
The only other complaint I logged is with the helmet lock, which consists of a thin steel cable to thread through helmet D-rings and a post under the seat. The locking process is awkward, requiring removal of the seat. Also, if you lose the cable, you’re out of lock.
Otherwise, it’s a fun, competent performer for a beginner who has mastered the basics, and one an intermediate rider won’t soon outgrow. Throw in Madison Avenue looks at a Mall of America price, and you’ve got a worthy, exotic alternative to the Suzuki SV650.
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Brian Neale co-hosts Open Road Radio the last Sunday of every month from 8 to 9 p.m. on WCKG-FM 105.9. E-mail him at motojournalist@hotmail.com.
