TEST DRIVE: Ducati Monster 696 (2008) – Monstrum Minimus

RU-MOTO RATING

• Reliability
• Chassis
• Appearance
• Comfort

4

Verdict

The Ducati Monster 696 is a typical naked motorcycle, specially designed for riding on the streets of a metropolis in congested conditions. Here the device is unrivaled: light, maneuverable and well controlled by the steering wheel.

The naked essence of this bike - the frame and mechanisms uncovered by plastic panels - fascinates with power and strength. Studying the review of Ducati Monster 696 , you understand that the manufacturer managed to create a truly iconic device. The motorcycle was produced from 2008 to 2014 and is the direct successor to the “monster” that was developed and rolled off the assembly line in 1993. Designed and manufactured by the famous Italian company Ducati Motor Holding SpA

Price for Ducati Monster 696

Prices are indicated only for used motorcycles (since they are no longer produced) from 2008 to 2014.

prices on moto.auto

Price for avito

The cost greatly depends on the technical condition and mileage. The average price of a device ranges from 310 to 570 thousand rubles, with the following distribution by year:

• 2008: 330 – 360 thousand rubles.
• 2009: 310 – 380 thousand rubles.
• 2010: 350 – 399 thousand rubles.
• 2013: 350 – 570 thousand rubles.

Despite the fact that the model is not currently in production, it is still popular and in demand.

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Specifications

Main technical characteristics of the bike:

• Maximum speed - 228 km/h (speedometer is limited to 299 km/h)
• Fuel tank volume – 15 l.
• Fuel consumption is 5 liters per 100 km. It has a decent power reserve of 300 km .
• The weight of the motorcycle without fuel and operating fluids is 161 kg .

Overclocking for the monster 696 varies depending on the year of manufacture. So for a 2009 motorcycle, acceleration to 100 km/h is 4 seconds , and for a 2012 motorcycle - 4.6 seconds .

The motorcycle is equipped with an air-cooled engine with a displacement of 696 cc. cm, which provides decent dynamics.

The bike needs to be broken in, and given the fact that components and spare parts for the Ducati Monster 696 are quite expensive, this process must be carried out strictly in accordance with the manual.

Spare parts can be found on aliexpress or in VK groups.

You will also find the official monster 696 manual in Russian and the abs manual very useful

It so happened that I got this monster as my first motorcycle. As a reason to finally get category A. First buy a motorcycle, then go to study. Classics of the genre. In order not to lead myself into unnecessary temptations, I did all this in the winter, passed my license at the beginning of the season and started riding. So, what is the Ducati monster, what can it do and why is it needed? Owner's biased impressions. The motorcycle itself is low and quite light - ~170 kg; due to the low center of gravity, even a girl can easily hold it with her feet. The landing is low, semi-sporty - the legs go slightly back, the body is tilted forward. The saddle is quite low, easy to control when stopping even for short people. There is no wind protection, but with or without such a landing, you want to snuggle closer to the tank under any acceleration.

All plastic and controls are tactilely pleasant. The seat has a patch covering the place of the second number. If necessary, it can be removed at the moment, but landing the second number is generally like a sport, in other words, why the hell did he not give up here.

The motik has been produced for so long that it has already become a “neoclassic”. Therefore, now this is a device that the Italians have finally thought out in detail - this does not happen right away. For example, only from the age of 14 they began to install plastic covers on the high muffler so that the pluses would not get burned. For 15 years they couldn’t start putting it in the database. But the letters of the Ducati Monster inscription on the black motorcycle version are not varnished, and after several years of very careful use and garage storage, they begin to slowly peel off. I think they will be completely worn out during the summer outdoor storage. Painted versions of monsters - white and red - do not have this problem. Before we started riding, we made a custom protection as an extension of the “birdcage”.

Many places write that such a motorcycle is quite good as a first one, but this is not entirely true. There are many reasons, starting with the engine. L-twin from Ducati is an L-shaped engine design, when the cylinders are joined at an angle of 90 degrees, which gives a special bass velvety sound and powerful pickup in a wide speed range. And here there is one nuance - why is it not the best choice for a complete beginner - there are no lows in this wide range. It doesn't go slower than 20 km/h without jerking in first gear. Starts to sausage. It pulls normally from 25. And often it turns out that you have to drive in the axle box - apply the gas with the clutch partially depressed. This requires some skill when you have to do this all the time.

If you cope with this, the problem of mirrors remains. The standard mirrors are very beautiful and harmoniously match the design of the entire motorcycle. But nothing is visible in them! Since the connection is very bad, I’ll spell it out: Nikifor, Ivan, Khariton, Ulyana, Yakov. That’s exactly how you can see everything that’s happening behind you through these beautiful mirrors. For the most part, these narrow glasses, barely adjustable, show your own hands and a piece of the sky. A possible option is with a piece of the curb instead of the sky. In a word - it doesn't help. To perform the maneuver, you need to move your head properly, looking at the reflections in the mirror from different angles. But beautiful.

There is a clear explanation for these “troubles” - I bought a Ducati, it’s not worth throwing up. As soon as you begin to live up to this principle, everything becomes wonderful. Why do you need mirrors if you are already the fastest? The engine doesn’t move, the engine convulses at less than 20 km/h? Well, drive faster. Actually the engine itself, “only” 700 cc and 80 hp. is quite sufficient for this motorcycle - although the Ducati company no longer thinks so, and is now producing a Monster with a younger engine 100 cc more. Moreover, the increase went mainly to the traction at the bottom. Here the engine simply asks to be turned, starting to work pleasantly from four thousand revolutions. 6 gears in the city are completely unnecessary; I only used the first 4. You can drive 100 at 5 to save fuel, but without power reserves. It’s not clear why Ducati is needed then? ))

The digital black and white display is the same - there is neither an indicator of the selected gear nor a fuel level - there is a neutral and fuel reserve light. At first I didn’t understand what kind of nonsense it was. What's so difficult about showing a show on the panel? Motik 2014 after all! But after a couple of months I realized that there was nothing to watch on this display. When landing correctly, it is somewhere below, and you only have the road in front of your face. You don't need mirrors - remember how those you overtook moved. If you keep the engine in a comfortable range, then 2nd gear is 40-80 km/h, third - 80-120. And in a comfortable way, it’s not unscrewing until the cutoff, but when the engine is filled with purring vibrations. And the sound of the engine in place and the vibrations while driving here are simply wonderful. By the way, the mirrors from them also shake violently. Who needs mirrors anyway?..

If you go out on the highway, you also understand that the motorcycle is made to cut through city traffic, and not for long, uniform movement. Sitting at an angle puts stress on your back and arms. In the complete absence of wind protection, the wind begins to blow even at 120, more than 150 it is not comfortable to drive in principle, even lying on the tank. But that's for me. On the same Monsters, but 1200, people race 150-200 leaning on the wind. However, the little monster is not like that - it goes 200, but after 150 the dynamics completely disappear.

At one time I thought that this was more of a city motorcycle with a slight hint of sport. It turned out that it is much closer to sports than to city motorcycles. At the same time, I started driving a 1200S Multistrada. There are 160 forces but at the same time you drive much calmer. She can do a lot, but she doesn’t provoke at all. When you transfer to the Monster, you feel like he is a street fighter. Yes, it is very good as a city motorcycle. His long-distance route is to a nearby dacha. The lack of fuel level indication and the ability to secure the luggage system seem to hint that it’s not worth it. Cruising range on the highway on one tank - 200-250 km

In the end, I realized that this motorcycle was not too powerful for me. He's too much of a sportbike. I can imagine how the owners of sports liters smiled now. Friends, this is definitely a “sportbike” only for beginners. But I want to say that this motorcycle is too aggressive for me. He constantly provokes people to unscrew in the city.

Here I would like to separately note that I not only do not encourage driving in the city “as if I were the fastest.” I think it’s not safe and I didn’t intend to ride like that when I chose the motorcycle. But I can’t help but write that this device with all its spirit asks to be unscrewed.

A couple of years ago I became interested in enduro and stopped riding the monster completely. It's a pity to sell and it's a pity that it's worth it. I’m thinking of changing it to a Ducati Scrambler - it has everything I like about the Monster, and nothing that it doesn’t. If suddenly someone wants to change, I will consider it with interest, with my additional payment. Geography within the Russian Federation is not particularly important, but still I am in St. Petersburg.

Possible motorcycle malfunctions

The motorcycle is characterized by specialists and owners as quite reliable and not causing much trouble. The most common malfunctions:

• Melting of the plastic screen and fuel line pipes located next to the exhaust. The repair consists of installing additional thermal insulation.
• The engine crankcase may be damaged at the side stand attachment point. If detected, replacement is required.
• Destruction of steering limiters. They are restored by removing old parts and installing new ones.

You can purchase original Ducati Monster 696 spare parts and have them repaired at the company’s specialized services.

Crash tests

The consequences of falls in the case of the Ducati Monster are often predictable - the steering wheel rarely breaks and the geometry of the chassis changes, but very often all attachments crumble (this applies to a greater extent to second-generation motorcycles), engine covers are rubbed, mufflers are bent and scratched. If sliders are installed, it breaks out the front ear on the frame where the engine is mounted and breaks the rear part of the crankcase where it is attached to the frame. Therefore, there is only one recipe - try not to fall. If a motorcycle with a dry clutch falls on the right side, the clutch cover usually goes to another world and the inner drum breaks off behind the disc mount. The front brake and clutch levers along with the rear brake pedal are consumables! The left side drop is more expensive due to the left cover being made of magnesium alloy (not weldable). Particularly strong impacts may damage the generator rotor.

Motorcycle tuning

The market offers a wide arsenal of components to customize the device and improve its characteristics. The most common type of tuning: installing direct flow pipes in place of standard mufflers. For trips in cold weather, larger glass and heated grips are installed. When choosing sliders for installation on a model, it is recommended to give preference to designs with aluminum adapters.

Ducati Monster 696 custom

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Tuning ducati Monster 696

Comparison with analogues

The Monster's closest competitors in class are: BMW F800FR, Kawasaki ER-6f and Suzuki SV650. The bike has the following advantages over them:

• Maneuverability
• Appearance

However, it is inferior to them in the following parameters:

• Maximum speed
• Comfort
• Low saddle

The device is purely urban and good for relatively short trips and when avoiding traffic jams.

Competitors

“Monster” has several analogues in its class: BMW F800FR, Suzuki SV650 and Kawasaki ER-6f. In comparison with them, we can highlight the following advantages of the Monster 696 Ducati motorcycle:

• high maneuverability;
• bright appearance.

However, in the following parameters, “Monster” is somewhat inferior to its competitors:

• maximum speed;
• saddle height;
• driver comfort on the road.

This motorcycle is purely urban. It's good for relatively short trips, and you can rely on it in traffic jams.

Owner reviews

Review of ducati monster

One of the reviews of the ducati monster

Reviews from motorcycle owners are generally favorable and, above all, note the advanced engine design. “Monster” is designed for use in cities, is distinguished by excellent maneuverability and the ability to literally filter through traffic jams. Fans are distinguished by a rather low fit, however, even for those with a height of more than 180 cm, it is quite comfortable.

Weak spots

Both experts and amateurs evaluate the “Monster” as a reliable bike that does not cause much trouble. However, it also has faults. Reviews often say the following:

• melting of the plastic screen;
• deformation of fuel line pipes;
• insufficient thermal insulation;
• fragile engine crankcase, which is easy to damage;
• insufficient strength of the steering wheel limiters.

At the same time, the established traffic for the supply of spare parts negates most of the above. Weak spots can be modernized, strengthened, and, if necessary, repaired.

Photo and video

Photo

Just a beautiful photo of Monster 696

Red Monster

Two Ducatis in the village

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Girl on a red motorcycle

Monster 696 and beautiful landscape

Video