Saturday 26 March 2011

Ducati M600 Monster

Cynical minds might merely wonder if the M600 is just a reworked Pantah. Even nastier minds might wonder why the M only has 55hp against the older bike's 60hp! The Monster is mostly sold in European countries where horsepower limits (for cheap insurance) is the game and the bike has to be tuned up for the UK market. To confuse things further the mill is actually a sleeved down 750cc unit.

The major difference to the M900, apart from the obvious lack of grunt, is a much superior wet clutch that removes most of the bigger bike's low speed grumbling - for posing in town the M600's easily the better choice. The gearchange is superior, too, with just five ratios that are more than a sufficient match to the engine's wide spread of torque. The throttle seems to have a direct connection to the back wheel.

Not only does the Ducati weigh less than 400lbs, it also carries a lot of that mass low. What a nice combination of qualities it had - loads of torque, more than adequate power (though without the excesses of the 900), a narrow chassis and excellent weight distribution that gave an easy going and secure feel at the same time. In short, loads of fun!

If anything, it was better than the 900 which could both be a little cantankerous at low revs and a little too wild at the top of the range, just a little bit too easy to completely overdo it. The 600 was a real easy bike to leap on to for the first time, roar up the street with a silly grin after just a few minutes of getting used to the controls. Luckily, this ain't the end of the fun, as the M600 has plenty of hidden character to unfold as time goes by.

My immediate problem on the 700 mile machine was dealing with the singular front disc. The bigger bike has twin discs and so much power it needs a bit of care and attention to avoid locking up the front wheel. The problem with the M600 was that the disc was completely unpredictable - sometimes howling the tyre other times the lever would come back to the bars.

The handbook reckoned there was a worldwide guarantee, so off I went to the local Ducati dealer (about 75 miles away). The same old story, you didn't buy the bike from us therefore we'll have to charge you. I'd bought the bike privately in London - I think the owner was into some HP scam as he seemed happy with £3750! I kept calm with the dealer, who eventually, if reluctantly, revealed that a fluid change should sort it out.

Disc brakes are brilliant devices but hydraulic fluid is nasty stuff. It seemed to take an age to fill up the system, then the fluid spat out of the cylinder over the switch cluster. I'd sort of flipped the can backwards which spilt another load over the tank and my hand. I rushed into the house for the nearest tap.

After cleaning off all the fluid, I bled the system and then took her for a spin. It always put me in a good mood when the vee-twin motor spat into life and I curled myself around that big tank; just sitting on the bike with the rumbling exhausts was a sensual experience.

Out on the road, the front disc was much improved, living up to its four piston design, though god knows why the fluid had gone off on such a new bike. The meaty upside-down forks, that still have the lugs for a second caliper, were well able to absorb any twisting forces from the single disc. They lack any kind of adjustment but came nicely taut and well controlled. The only thing to upset the forks was accelerating hard out of bumpy bends, when the bars would shake a little in my hands. The altercations disappeared quickly, when the bumps finished or the bike went back to the vertical, so it was probably poor geometry rather than any weakness in the chassis.

The frame's a quite minimal but well braced tubular affair that uses the engine block as a stressed member to the extent that the swinging arm is mounted on the back of the gearbox. This removes an excess of bracketry and is immensely strong. The rear shock could've done with a bit more damping, even turned up high it felt close to letting loose when the bike was really thrashed.

About three days after the brake fluid was replaced, large areas of tank paint started falling off. I couldn't really blame Ducati for my cack-handedness, the general finish was good, way ahead of their old attempts. I ended up having the tank completely resprayed.

That wasn't the end of the brake fluid debacle because it also ate away the switch contacts in the right-hand cluster. I bought a used cluster off a Japanese bike not because it was in any way superior but because the Ducati stuff was not readily available. Most of the M600's electrics including the battery are hidden under the petrol tank, with the airfilter sitting in front, hopefully protecting them from the elements. The only electrical hassle I had was making sure the battery's acid level remained constant as it would burn off quite a bit of water on a long hard thrash. I was caught out once, with insufficient power to turn the motor over, had to get some peds to give us a push!

The induction system appeared a bit restrictive, feeding into two 38mm Mikuni carbs. Engine response was good despite their unlikely positions but after 115mph the engine began to gasp for breath and fuel was poor, 40 to 55mpg depending on the level of abuse. The bike might top out at 120mph but it was a damned uncomfortable business with massive shoulder and neck strain.

90mph was the most I could cruise at for any length of time, the seat limiting cruising to about an hour, before some severe bum and thigh pains set in. The huge tank only holds four gallons because of all the junk underneath it, giving a range of 150 to 200 miles, which was about twice that of the comfort level. The reach to the bars was more reasonable than the butch looks would suggest and it was quite comfortable for posing around town. The Duke was quite a useful commuter, its sure-footed feel making it a breeze in bad weather.

Keeping the M immaculate was jolly hard work, a combination of minimal mudguards and an excess of nooks and crannies where the grit inevitably found its way. A can of Gunk and jet-wash were the best combination. The alloy was good quality with no tarnishing and six months worth of riding hadn't turned up any weaknesses except for where the brake fluid had fallen.

With 3500 miles on the clock all I've done to the engine is change the oil. The cams are driven by well proven belts and the valvegear is Ducati's usual and unique Desmo set-up that stays in adjustment for a long time but is a hell of a job to reshim. There's a little bit of churning at low revs, suggesting that the carbs are about due for a balancing session. I'm not convinced that it's a particularly simple engine (modern valve springs surely make the Desmo set-up obsolete) but it is a tough one. Hopefully, the new clutch will eradicate the problems with the dry job fitted to bigger Dukes.

The baby monster is bargain priced even when new, let alone secondhand. It has none of nastiness or irritants of the older Ducatis, which are best described as character building rather than character filled! I'm pleased as punch with my M600 and am only put in my place on very fast roads by the more extreme race replicas, whose riders invariably lose their licence...

Mark Chambers