2011 Ducati Monster 1100 EVO Review – First Impressions

Pete says, ‘Grrawarsnarlke grmble grmble!’ He’s become a monster for this new Ducati.

Salve, from Catania, Sicilia!

It’s always nice meeting up with an old friend you haven’t seen in a couple years. And how much more fun is it when you get to connect at your friend’s place?!

I had last saddled up to the biggest of Ducati’s Monsters, the Monster 1100, more than two years ago. This always admirable naked roadster has recently been made extra enjoyable in its new EVO trim. To get a taste of this newest Monster, Ducati invited the motomedia to Catania, Sicily (Italy), for the bike’s world launch.

The 2011 Ducati Monster 1100 EVO adds a number of updates including ABS and Ducati Traction Control – what Ducati calls the Safety Pack – as well as Ducati Data Acquisition. The 1100 EVO replaces the standard and S models in the 2011 Monster lineup.

Lined up and ready to ascend the road leading to the ever-smoldering Mt. Etna.

The twin underseat exhausts on the original Monster 1100 are now moved to a side-mounted setup, while the two-valve heads got some tweaks and updates. According to Ducati, these changes give the Monster 1100 EVO a 5 hp boost in peak power, making the Monster’s 100 hp air-cooled Twin the most powerful air-cooled tw0-valve engine yet from Ducati. Peak torque of 76 ft-lbs at 6000 rpm remains unchanged from the previous model.

Up front, the EVO uses a fully adjustable Marzocchi fork, compared to the 2010 Monster 1100’s Showa fork and the Monster 1100S’ Ohlins suspension. At the rear is a Sachs monoshock with adjustable preload and rebound.

Styling updates to the tail section and taller handlebar risers are additional improvements implemented on the M-1100 EVO.

As we wound our way through the narrow, ancient streets of Catania, and up the serpentine road to the top of Mount Etna, I was again reminded of what an excellent urban assault vehicle the Monster 1100 is.

The big hill was no challenge for the Monster 1100 EVO.

The new Marzocchi fork gobbled up the bumpy imperfections marring old, raggedy surface streets; and once headed up the mountain road that has both tight and flowing turns, I was also reminded of what a wonderfully unflappable chassis the Monster possesses.

While I can’t say I necessarily felt the claim of an extra 5 ponies, I did, however, fall back in lust with the biggest Monster’s torque-licious midrange stonk, particularly noticeable starting around the 4000 rpm mark.

Look for a fuller report on this kickass Ducati in the coming days.