Spring Refresh: Price update $10,000.

Today’s Featured Listing Ducati Monster S4RS Tricolore represents the performance high water mark of the iconic first-generation machine. Introduced in 1993, Ducati’s original Monster might have been a bit overly-ambitious in terms of its name. It was no slouch in terms of performance, but the claimed 80hp produced by the bike’s venerable air/oil-cooled, two-valve v-twin made for something that was much more “friendly” than “terrifying.” But that didn’t really matter to buyers. Honda had dipped their toe into the naked sportbike market with their Hawk GT and CB-1 but, even in its early form, the Monster was something largely new: a practical, reasonably affordable exotic. It was also, significantly, a major success for Ducati and likely saved the company from financial ruin. When shown at the Cologne Motor Show in 1992, the French importer famously waved a blank check at Ducati and begged them to send him every one they could build.

80hp in a naked sportbike might have seemed like good fun in the early 1990s but, by the early 2000s, other manufacturers had jumped on the bandwagon and started producing minimalist machines that blew the old air-cooled Monster into the weeds. Aprilia’s Tuono came along in 2002 and was, quite simply, a denuded RSV Mille with 123hp, a bikini fairing, and high bars, a full-bore sportbike with all-day comfort and real knack for wheelies. Cagiva’s Raptor and Triumph’s Speed Triple offered similarly superior performance, compared to the air-cooled Monster.

Luckily, Ducati had seen the writing on the wall, and introduced their Ducati Monster S4 in 2001. Powered by Ducati’s four-valve, liquid-cooled 916 motor, it should have been a real performer but, instead of being built around the 888 frame of the original bike, used the more relaxed, touring-oriented ST4 unit instead, and the engine was detuned and down on horses, compared to its rivals. The overall aesthetics seemed to lack the cohesion of the original bike as well, since the liquid-cooled engine was never really designed to be on full display.

It took a couple more generations to get the formula right, with the S4 being followed by the S4R that featured a larger 996cc engine, a single-sided swingarm, and stacked, shotgun-style exhausts. The S4R was followed in 2007 by the S4RS seen here, which refined the bike to integrate the various styled and normally un-styled elements into a more cohesive whole. Note the reshaped radiators, particularly the triangular oil-cooler at the bottom of the stack. The RS also included top-shelf suspension by Öhlins, lightweight wheels, and a fire-breathing 998cc Testastretta engine making 129hp, with no traction control anywhere in sight. Finally, a Monster that lived up to the name.

SELLER
This 2008 S4RS Tricolore is #284 of 400 with 15,548 miles. I have every receipt since I bought it around 2010. It just had its annual service and it had its Desmo service with only about 1,000 miles on it since then.

This has been my favorite motorcycle of my 23 motorcycles. I am the second owner and all of the aftermarket items were already installed when I bought it from Indianapolis Ducati, so I don’t have any of the stock parts. It also had carbon fiber rims on it when I bought it that I didn’t want. I swapped them out for the Black Marchesini wheels currently installed. This motorcycle has a carbon fiber front fender, rear hugger, a rarely seen bottom cowling, tail piece and radiator shroud, all carbon fiber. It also has an aftermarket clutch slave, CRG adjustable levers, Rizoma mirrors, a dark shield on the fairing, Carbon Termigoni exhaust, LED blinkers, fender eliminator kit, Ducati steering dampener, gold clutch plates and ventilated clutch cover, tank protector, frame sliders, and has a Mototech tankbags. It has Diablo Rossi 4 tires on it. The rear is brand new and the front is like new.

You can contact Ducati Austin to verify that I bleed Ducati and any questions about the maintenance upkeep (ask for Josh) I’m asking $10,000 for my favorite bike and can be reached at Edinger.david@gmail.com

The seller is up-front that he doesn’t have all of the original parts for this Ducati Monster S4RS Tricolore, but the aftermarket parts that are on the bike are of top quality, and many Ducatisti would have made the same changes, assuming they had the budget.

With 15,000 miles on the odometer, this is clearly no garage queen, but there is still plenty of life left in this bike, should the next owner want to indulge in riding it and not ruin the bike’s collectible value, and that recent Desmo service he mentions should include both belts and a valve adjustment, saving the next owner a pretty penny.

Ultimately, if you’re the type of enthusiast who also wants to ride the bikes in their collection, this is a very sharp and tastefully-modified example of the ultimate first-generation Monster, in what many feel is the best color scheme ever to grace the model.

-tad