2012 Ducati Monster 1100 EVO

Ducati is set to unveil the new Monster 1100 EVO motorcycle, an early 2012 model, at the New York International Motorcycle Show (IMS) on Jan. 21-23, 2011.

This EVO naked bike is the new flagship model of the air-cooled Monster family, the best selling of the Ducati model family ever, although sales of the Monster have certainly slowed in the last few years. This may be partly due to the fact that the Streetfighter is now the naked bike platform for the Ducati liquid-cooled Testastretta engines.

The '12 Monster 1100 EVO is powered by the Desmodue Evoluzione engine, which is the first two-valve Ducati to hit the 100 hp. Compared with the previous 1100 cc twin-cylinder air-cooled L-Desmodromic, this new engine has high revs while a more linear torque curve designed to ensure a smoother power delivery.

The inlet ports and the combustion chamber shape have been redesigned, while the new camshafts have an extreme profile to provide an increased valve lift. The pistons are new too and feature an high compression profile. To ensure high standards of reliability the head cooling system has been revised with improved lubrication to enhance the cooling performance.

The Monster 1100EVO also marks the arrival of the new "Ducati Safety Pack", a simple and effective combination of adjustable Ducati Traction Control (DTC) and ABS brakes designed to aid rider safety.

This new 2012 Ducati Monster 1100 EVO also features a new APTC wet clutch which ensures quiet operation and long life. In addition, the progressive self-servo mechanism reduces the lever effort at the handlebar and makes the Monster even more practical in traffic.

The Monster APTC wet clutch works with a race-like ‘slipper' system which reduces the destabilizing effect of the rear-end under aggressive down-shifting, and compared with other wet clutch used so far by Ducati, features an additional cush-drive damper mechanism which smoothes the repeated transition from drive to over-run during stop-start traffic.

This innovative new 2012 Ducati EVO package is the first of its kind to be offered in the interest of rider safety as opposed to outright performance figures. At an MSRP of $11,995, the new EVO looks to up the game for the Monster family.