I have a 2002 Ducati Monster
M750S ie that I bought in December 2004 from a guy in Roslindale (see
BuyingTheDuc). Evidently he hadn't ridden it much because it had only 400 miles.
The Ducati Monster List web site (
http://www.ducatimonster.org/) is full of interesting chatter about riding and modifying monsters. It has one unpleasant side effect though - if you spend even a few minutes on the site you tend to get excited about making changes to the bike. Things that you previously didn't even notice, now really
really bug you. The
#emissions_cannister for example
Spare parts catalog -
http://www.ducati.com/bikes/catalogs.jhtml;MY=2002
Hacks
reflectors
Everyone removes the reflectors from the front forks. I hadn't noticed until I read about it, and then sure enough they started to bug me. They're nasty little plastic things stuck on with double-sided tape. They're clearly tacked on at the last minute to meet some regulation or other. The good news is that they're easy to remove with a hair dryer and a little elbow grease. One almost fell off, the other needed a little convincing with a screwdriver. Afterwards the forks needed a little cleanup with some alcohol to get rid of the crusty glue that the adhesive tape had left behind.
gas tank stickers
Again, a little heat with a hair dryer and some careful peeling got the two gas tank stickers up. A better idea than the hair dryer is to just leave the bike in the sun for an hour or two - I'd bet this will heat the tank more than the hair dryer.
I stuck the stickers on the inside cover of my owner's manual just so I have them for reference.
emissions cannister
Purely cosmetic, but it's surprising how much better it looks when it's done.
http://www.ducatimonster.org/faq/faq_emissions.html
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jerseyjeffshinn/album?.dir=c233&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jerseyjeffshinn/my_photos
exhaust
You can hack on the stock exhausts to make them louder:
http://home.earthlink.net/~desmoduck/muffler_mod.html
Or you can pay someone to do it:
http://www.ducatipipemod.com/
rear brake
http://www.tcmproducts.com/Ducati_Rotors.html will drill lots of holes in your rear brake rotor to make it lighter.
Mirrors
http://www.dual-star.com/index2/Equipment/adjustable_mirror1.htm - inexpensive, mounts on the handlebar.
Pix on a monster at
http://www.ducatimonster.org/smf/index.php/topic,8750.0.html .
http://www.constructorsrg.com/products.html - expensive but very high quality.
Turn Signals
http://www.custombike.org/shock_racing_marker_lights.htm - LED's, about $25
http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=3&L2=&L3=&L4=&item=MRX_OI1_G - look like OEM, but smaller. Bulbs.
Horn
You can never be too loud.
http://www.ridesafer.com/page/mfc0/Home.html
License Plate Lights
http://www.watsendesign.com/products/current/LEDPLATELIGHT/index.html
http://www.4strokesonly.com/LicensePlateLights.html
Track Days
I'd like to ride the duc on a track sometime.
http://www.tonystrackdays.com/ - program for beginners, sounds good.
http://www.nesba.com/ - a group that runs track days.