2017 Ducati Monster 797 Preview

Tom Roderick
by Tom Roderick

Taking the Monster back to its air-cooled roots

With a pocketful of spy shots as proof, we sleuthy MOrons proudly scooped the news a few months ago that Ducati was planning to produce a new air-cooled Monster ( 2017 Ducati Monster 800 Spy Shots). Today at EICMA, Ducati presented the production version. The 2017 Monster 797 borrows the air-cooled 803cc L-Twin from Ducati’s Scrambler models and repackages it for use in its newest naked.

With a bore and stroke of 88mm x 66mm, and using a single 50mm throttle body with two sub-butterfly injectors, Ducati claims 75 hp at 8,250 rpm and 50.9 lb.-ft. of torque at 5,750 rpm from the Monster’s engine. When we last dyno’d a Scrambler Icon model ( Scrambler Slam: Ducati Vs Triumph) with the same engine, the results were a respectably similar 69.6 hp at 8,500 rpm and 46.5 lb.-ft. at 7,000 rpm.

A visually more pleasing air-cooled Monster is unuglified by the removal of the unsightly cooling lines hampering the liquid-cooled Monsters. However, the more affordable Monster does lose the single-side swingarm.

The Monster 797 mounts twin Brembo M432, 4-piston monoblock calipers and 320mm discs to the front of the bike, and a single 245mm disc and Brembo caliper to the rear. Both ends feature Bosch ABS. Front suspension is via a 43mm inverted Kayaba fork, while rear suspension duties are handled by a Sachs shock absorber with adjustable spring preload and rebound damping.

Pirelli Diablo Rosso II dual-compound tires are mounted to 10-spoke alloy wheels in 120/70-17 and 180/55-17 front and rears sizes, respectively. The Monster 797 features a traditional tubular Ducati trellis frame, while the headlight, indicators, and LCD instrumentation are characterized by contemporary design and current technological trends.

Press materials priced the Ducati Red with red frame and black wheels Monster 797 at $9,295, and the Star White Silk with red frame and red wheels Monster 797 at $9,395. No price was given for the Dark Stealth with black frame and black wheels model (may not be coming stateside).

Tom Roderick
Tom Roderick

A former Motorcycle.com staffer who has gone on to greener pastures, Tom Roderick still can't get the motorcycle bug out of his system. And honestly, we still miss having him around. Tom is now a regular freelance writer and tester for Motorcycle.com when his schedule allows, and his experience, riding ability, writing talent, and quick wit are still a joy to have – even if we don't get to experience it as much as we used to.

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  • Schizuki Schizuki on Nov 08, 2016

    First question I have to ask with any Duc - steel fuel tank, or plastic?

    • See 1 previous
    • Schizuki Schizuki on Nov 09, 2016

      Thanks! Good info.

  • TheMarvelous1310 TheMarvelous1310 on Nov 08, 2016

    Nice! I was wondering if they would ever do anything else with that Scrambler engine. They went and did the best thing they could!

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