On January 11th, the Ducati Monster 1100 and 1100S were on display in the United States despite having been initially unveiled last October in International Motorcycle Show in Germany. So while the new Monster has already been on European roads, this is the first we Americans are seeing of it.

The new 1100 is the big brother of the recently revamped Monster 696, the style of which has been significantly refined and polished in 2008-2009. The Monster has had a legion of followers since it’s debut in 1993. In 2005, the over half of all Ducati motorcycles sold were Monsters. I’m personally a fan of naked bikes and the Monster 696/1100 is perfect in my eyes, and a much needed improvement over the previous Monsters.

The 1100 shares the same frame as the 696, but has a slightly higher seat, improved suspension and brakes in addition to the obviously larger engine. The two-valve 1100cc engine puts out 95 horsepower at 7500 rpm and 80 foot-pounds of torque at 6000 rpm. This is a significant jump from the 696’s 80 hp and 50 ft-lbs. So for those of you who like to have more power than you’ll ever use (or SHOULD use), the 1100 gives the Monster a nice boost.

My local Ducati dealer had two Monsters of the 1100S variety, which feature fully adjustable 43mm titanium nitride coated Ohlins forks and a progressive Ohlins rear shock absorber with adjustable pre-load and return damping. Some bits of carbon fiber to reduce weight by a couple pounds and gold wheels to adorn the single-sided swingarm finish off the package.

More images below

On a related note, I bought the Monster 696 that day, and love it. It’s got more power than I need, which I am thankful for because I was eye'ing the 1100. Now I just need to keep telling myself that I don’t need a 150 hp bike when the Ducati Streetfighter is unveiled in the good ol’ U S of A in June/July.

My new 696:



Ducati Monster 1100S:









And for those of you that would like to know what a 6 foot 5 person looks like on a Monster 1100 (supposedly it's a little taller than the 696 but I couldn't tell the difference):