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Comprehensive review of the Ducati Monster 620 (2002 and thereabouts)

Over recent years I have been a very lucky motorcyclist, having ridden a number of very different bikes from across many different categories and amongst this wonderful mix of crotch-rockets, I have owned three Ducati Monster 620IE/620SIE Italian masterpieces. 

How I came to love this particular model is explained in one of my previous posts so I won’t bore you with the details, but in summary, I fell in love with the beauty and pagentry of this little air-cooled naked.

I’m going to attempt to cover all aspects of this bike as best I can in the following ramblings and musings as I recollect my time with the Ducati Monster 620SIE. 

RIDING IT (because really, that’s where it’s at)

If you speak to any honest Monster owners, they will tell you that these particular bikes are a bit of a love/hate relationship. If they tell you they love riding these things, they are lying. They might like THE THOUGHT of being on top of these Italian pieces of artwork, but there is plenty to dislike (and some things to like) about the ride. 

To start with, the 620 has an excellent seating position. A slightly agressive reach to the bars is “just right” and of all the porridge I’ve sampled, this one is an excellent overall compromise. Some like to take things a little futher and put on clip-ons, but then again, they probably aren’t riding more than 50km at a time. 

Wind buffering is shit, and especially shit if you decide to get rid of that tiny fairing that you get on the S models. But of course this bike isn’t a tourer and it reminds you of that fact every time you sit on it. The seat is absolutely attrotious. It’s hard and although it doesn’t push your nuts underneath you like the newer ones (which I will write about at a later time), it scores about a 4/10 for comfort. It’s bearable in small bursts under an hour or so, but the padding is too firm for anything longer. Event to this day the foam hasn’t softened and the extra padding I have involuntarily put onto my arse over the years hasn’t improved it enough either. 

Riding it in the hills, the Monster is at home. The uniqueness of that off-throttle compression means you can sometimes go for quite a few twisty kilometres without even using the brakes. It feels nimble enough with the right tyre, but it’s only when you hop off a newer bike that the deficiencies in the dynamics becomes more evident. Still, it’s responsive, but in an early 2000s kind-of-way. Riding it back-to-back with my next gen Monster 796, the two are on completely different planets in terms of weight distribution, turning circle, rake and responsiveness. Is it bad? Well no, but it’s not the type of bike you’d turn into a track weapon. 

Riding it in the city, which is what it’s supposedly made for, the 620 actually struggles a little. That low rev putt putt putting around that you end up often doing becomes painful and you end up riding the clutch to be smooth. Once you’re used to this, it’s not a problem, but it’s definitely no Ninja 300. To add to the annoyance is the air cooled engine, which, after sitting at the lights, becomes rather hot and starts to splutter and pop, which I actually didn’t mind, but must not have been too nice for the combustion chamber. 

When I felt my arse was up to the task, I took these bikes on 500km+ rides a few times. As you’ve read above, this is not a tourer and I was ready to kick the bike over at the end of each of these rides. My arse was sore. My hands were so numb and fatigued, I actually experienced cramps following the rides, but that could have been partially down to me death gripping the bloody useless grips. There is a significant amount of vibration in the 620, especially with any pipes outside of the restrictive factory offering, but it’s a compromise we make for that wonderful sound eminating from the desmo.

Oh yes, that sound. There is not much else out there that comes close to the thunder-god Harley/sportsbike mix that you get with a Desmo, especially with the right pipes. With factory, there is a little gurrgle, but with a new set of less-restrictive pipes, your machine becomes a fire breathing dragon faster than you can say “I will pay anything, just give me those god damned cans”. 

The big boofy white elephant in the room is the power produced by the 618cc fuel injected engine. It was a very simple update from the 600 and a quite early version of injection that gave you 57 HP when the bike was new. This puts it into a no-mans land in terms of modern bikes, since it’s not quite learner power and it definitely will not set the world on fire either. So you’re stuck in an in-between place of useful but somewhat lacking ponnies. It’s good for hitting 180kph, but it does not really like being there. There is plenty of torque for take offs but it starts losing out very quickly once the first gear change occurs. The Monster was my first bike and I found it excellent to learn on, but, in Australia anyway, it doesn’t meet current LAMS requirements so no one will be learning on these bikes anymore.   

MAINTAINING IT/BUILD QUALITY

My first Monster was immaculate. My second one I didn’t do enough kms on to have to worry about maintenance. The third one, I dropped the oil, replaced the filter and troubleshooted a few items along the way. 

You’re probably aware of the reputation of older Ducatis and service intervals. This particular series was the first to employ slightly updated internals from the first series 600s, which meant the intervals were pushed out a little further, but still a pain. The desmo valve adjustment still requires the sale of a kidney. 

In terms of build quality, the frame and plastic fairings/cowls were of a very high finish. However, there continue to be some deterioration in the use of cheaper plastics in the indicators and their design on a vibratory motorcycle means they often break/disintegrate. Unless the owner is meticulous in their upkeep, there will be some rusting on chrome bits and most bolts, as well as the instrument cluster on SOME of these having the dreaded moisture entry which is annoying. The seat material can be worn quite easily with a somewhat slippery vinyl material being used that doesn’t stand up to the harsh Australian climate. On one of my bikes I also had a cracked rear hugger. 

These bikes are getting somewhat aged now. As such, there are a number of gremlins. The main one I came across is sub-par wiring which lead to other problems. Unfortunately, to get that sexy design to work, a lot of the wiring had to go near the cylinders and after years and years of functioning in that hot environment, I think the wires finally just pack it in. I have made a comprehensive video here about how I ended up troubleshooting a somewhat complex issue (finding a workaround). They do cook rec/regs as a result of this poor wiring, but apart from these little niggly issues, they are quite easy to maintain. Note that aftermarket OEM parts are starting to be hard to come by and tend to be on the expensive side. The Chinese have made little effort to re-create identical/close to identical replacements, and unfortunately you won’t find indicators that are a straight fit for the 620. For this reason, the obligatory tail-chop (which involves actually hacking into the frame) is almost a must-do.

DROOLING OVER THE DESIGN

Where this bike shines, even today, is the aesthetic design. That tank. The exposed trellis. The retro round headlight. The way it sounds.....OMG. An annoyance though is the shitty zip-tie job on the frame which is just kind of bizzare. I can see the design meeting now, “So, team, we just spent countless hours on the design of this motorcycle. HANG ON A SECOND! WE FORGOT THE ELECTRICS!!! FUCK! Never mind, just zip tie it to the frame.” Seriously Ducati....WTF??? But yes, she is typically Italian with plenty of thought to make this bike look a bit like a charging bull with that humped tank, as well as keeping it retro with the simple round headlight. Well done Ducati. 

So iconic is this design that may have copied it. In fact, if you squint your eyes a little, the Honda VTR250 is basically a smaller version of this design. The Hyosung GT650, Cagiva Raptor, older Suzuki SV650, the Gladius, MV Augusta Brutale and some of the Honda CB series bikes all owe their design cues to the Monster.

IN CONCLUSION

In all my years of riding bikes I have only ever seen a handful of 620IE in the wilderness. I don’t think they sold too many here in Australia but I would assume that a large number of these are down in Melbourne and Sydney where they’re home to collectors. The world, and Ducati, and I, have definitely moved past these bikes but I dare say there are still a few hundred proud owners out there, grumbling about the valve clearance costs, but passionately loving their little Monsters none-the-less. 

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Bike Reliance

Last night, my 2002 Monster 620 sat through a significant downpour. It was very wild, wet and windy. When it eventually came time to ride home, she wouldn’t start and I was beginning to have thoughts again of the work I would have to do to get this thing home and fixed again. Luckily, I didn’t need it to get home, and it started no problems the next day, but it did raise the question of motorcycle reliability, especially of older bikes. I own two bikes at the moment, an older and a younger Ducati Monster. They sleep together nicely in my garage, both begging me to ride them as much as possible. The newer one is pretty fail safe. It starts, rides and returns me home no problems. The other is a tempramental girl, aged, experienced, but with quite a few niggles. The other day the indicator fell off. A mirror vibrated loose. It didn’t start after the downpour. 

So how important is it that your bike safely gets you from A to hyperspace and back to A? I would say very. There is little room to be stuck away from home, sometimes hundreds of kms away, problem solving ways to clean up the mess that is the bike failing. It has happened to me once or twice and luckily, I figured it out, but a pleasant experience it is not. 

Does it make for interesting stories? Hell YES! Like the time my mate’s bike stopped, we tried rolling it down from the mountain we were on and in the end, a smaller bike with a good battery saved the day. A story to repeat and chuckle over. Excitement and troubleshooting at its best.  

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A fun wet weekend on my beast. Need to do something about that riding position, my nuts can’t take much more of this. #motorcycle #motorbike #monster796 #ducati #ducatimonster #queensland #nsw #qldnswborder #wetroadssuck #tailbag #fakeacros #mynuts #ducatistas #weekendride #weekendrideqld

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Touring Monster 796

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#motorcycle #motorbike #yamaha #mt #pelicanpark #redcliffepeninsula

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Motosport

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Getting through the week like

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Ducati Monster 796

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Rossi

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Marquez

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Looks great. #speedtriple #triumph #motorbike #motorcycle #helmetintheway #pelicanpark

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Took the plunge and coloured in the “Ducati” on the engine cover. Needs a few more coats, but I think it came up alright. #ducati #monster796 #motorbike #motorcycle #diy #homehandyman (at Burpengary, Queensland)

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OMG...so drooool worthy, I’d flood the engine. 

Ducati Panigale 

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A quick word or two on the MotoGP 2017 Season

2017. This year my love of motorcycle racing has been reignited. Simoncelli’s death a few years back turned me off the sport, turned me off riding actually, but I gave it another go this year. Why? Because:

1. F1 became just a little bit more batshit boring. 

2. I own a Ducati again and so does Dovi. 

3. Marquez reminds me of the ride-hard-or-go-home style of Simoncelli and, let’s face it, probably the most committed sportsperson to his art there is.

4. Moto3 has also been a great way to waste time before the MotoGP. 

So yes, I am a fan again. Honda vs Ducati vs (to some extent) Yamaha. 

Dovi matured. Rossi aged. Lorenzo got a bit scared. Hello Zarco. Great finish Pedrosa. Untouchable Marquez, who fought the whole season against himself and won. 

Can’t wait for 2018.  

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Facebook Cover; Italiano inspired.