Moto test: Ducati Monster 821
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Moto test: Ducati Monster 821

26.05.2022 /

Unsuitable for motorcycle parties, but as an iconic product (watch) from Bologna, the new Ducati Monster 821 confirms that as the Monster family ages, like wine, motorcycles can become more and more noble.

Download PDF test: Ducati Ducati 821

Moto test: Ducati Monster 821




Sasha Kapetanovich


In these autumn days, Slovenian buyers and the professional public were encouraged by the news that Ducati is officially returning to Slovenia. From now on, the legendary Italian brand will be represented in Trzin. AS Domžale has been taking care of Honda for many years – will they go together? It will be, they say in Trzin, where they are planning separate stories, about the Italian and Japanese chapters, as this does not seem to confuse future customers in terms of philosophy, technology and tradition.

The Italian suite also includes a planned new building that will house the Ducati showroom and everything else associated with it. We are already looking forward to it, as we will welcome the enrichment of the Slovenian motorcycle market! And we have no doubt that AS will not do this work correctly and with full responsibility both to customers and to the media. Two decades of the family of monsters 1993 is far away, when the astute Miguel Galuzzi, at the initiative of the then technical director Massimo Bordi, created the first Monster 900.

In the early XNUMXs, Ducati was looking for the direction of the development of a new model range. Monster attacked the market, which, despite the moderate price, was at first rather restrained at the price. A stripped-down machine with a simple concept, a flat-rudder twin-cylinder engine and a large canopy mounted on a traditional bar frame was something new for the time; but it was clothed with the charm of Ducati's past. However, the idea stuck, and in the years that followed, the Monster remained a model Ducati was associated with survival. They also compete in the Suprebike Championship and then MotoGP.

Eight hundred twenty one. Monster's core philosophy of being an affordable bike in a simplified form has changed over the course of more than 21 years. It has been fitted with units ranging from 400cc to clones of Testastretta machines that decompose in the supersport phalanx at home. The youngest member of the family is the Monster 821, which replaced the 796 introduced in 2010. It already has fresher, more modern lines, with a pair of (particularly loud) tailpipes on the right side - so no more "under". butt than the 796. Good seat protection that can be easily removed by those who ride in pairs other than single riding. It is powered by a liquid-cooled Testastretta 11° unit taken from the Hypermotard model.

While Ducati claims the 821 is an entry-level model, it hides a wealth of electronics inside. It contains, for example, adjustable parameters for the machine, traction control and brakes. There are three options: urban, tourist and sports. Its DSP package combines the standard ABS and DTC system, as well as an anti-skid system. When driving, the new Monster, like most of its brethren, is nimble and fast both in and out of town, and its engine (especially in the Sport program) already delivers a pretty decent racing experience. Those are the brakes. Hooray, a new patina of history has graced the Monster!

text: Primož Ûrman

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