There are many amazing, readily available secondhand bikes to choose from when finding a donor for a custom build, but if I was to predict which bike would be the next big thing in the custom scene, my pick would be the Ducati Monster. It’s been 20 years since Ducati released the Monster and as a result there’s plenty of them around and you can pick up some great looking examples for bargain prices. There also happen to be some clever builders out there who are producing some pretty amazing custom kits for the Monster making the task of customising one even more appealing. Canadian Nelson Gonclaves saw the MS4R kit by Paolo Tesio and was lucky enough to get hold of one for his own custom Monster project.
The MS4R kit includes bodywork for the tail section, fork shrouds and headlight shroud which Nelson has finished using his own paint scheme, applied by local painter Dublu. Other aesthetic mods include a selection of Speedymoto bolt on parts such as the clutch cover, triple clamps, water pump and crash protectors while Rizoma provided new levers, master cylinder reservoirs, grips and oil filler cap.
The stock bars were removed to fit Ducabike clip-ons with CRG bar end mirrors finished in black. An NCR titanium sprocket cover/hub and DP carbon fiber accessories also add to the extensive list making the Monster even more unrecognisable next to a stock S4RS.
Performance mods include a full brake upgrade using Brembo RSC master cylinders on Braketech AXIS iron rotors with Ferodo sintered pads. The wheels are Carrozeria forged aluminum helping to shed a few extra kilos from the bike and the Ohlins suspension has been modified for better performance.
An Ohlins steering damper helps to keep the front end in check with the extra power that Matthews generating out of his S4RS’s 999 motor (134bhp simply isn’t enough for some people!). A DP Performance kit, Akrapovic muffler and Dynojet PC3r with custom tune by Sport Cycle make up the list of power mods that make this Monster one hell of a beast.
The gold and black paint scheme looks as good on this modern Ducati as it did on the mid seventies 900SS, which Matthew Vieweger from Bergwerk photography has captured beautifully in these shots. To see what Paolo’s original MS4R looked like you can check out the full feature here.
