After riding the motorcycle for a few miles I quickly realized there were a few things that needed to be changed on this bike to make it my own. The immediate changes were definitely the mirrors: I was having problems seeing traffic behind me on the freeway. The choice was simple in this department as I needed something that went on the ends of the handle bars. The only other functional change that I saw in the immediate future was the windscreen. The stock fairing was really pushing the naked sport bike feel and offers little to no protection at freeway speeds. One last change was more of an aesthetic one. The first that I actually knew I was removing from the bike was the rear tail fender. It is absolutely horrible.
Puig windscreen for Ducati 796
After browsing the Ducati Monster Forum for some ideas for bike modifications I came across a post that referenced the Puig racing windscreen brand, and poked around Monster Parts to see what they had available. I settled on a smoked windscreen that doesn’t require any additional mounting brackets (it attaches to the frame). This gives me the flexibility to swap it out for the stock fairing if necessary. One thing that I noticed with this windscreen is that because the head light does not have any type of screen the light shines (and reflects) which is especially noticeable at night. Other than that, I am pleased with the amount of air that gets pushed out of the way on the freeway when at speed, an absolute improvement over the stock fairing.
CRG Arrow mirrors
After taking my first ride up the Garden State Parkway to Red Bank to see the Zinkk crew I noticed that these mirrors were not going to cut it. Even when the riding position lowered (bent down on the tank) it was difficult to see past my shoulders, and while perusing Monster Parts I found the CRG arrow bar end mirrors which looked pretty slick on the stock photography. After installation they proved to be completely adjustable for splitting, if necessary.
Evotec Tail Chop for Ducati 796
The stock rear fender (tail) is disgustingly long and looks completely out of place on this type of motorcycle. Because this actual modification is performed by damn near every Monster owner there are several step-by-step instructions for the installation of the tail chop kit, and I decided on what looked to be the best engineered the Evotec tail chop kit for the Monster series. Unfortunately the instructions are rather sparse, but thanks to the forum there were photo and video instructions to get this piece in smoothly as it requires remounting of the seat lock, turn indicators and rear light.
I think this is going to be all the changes that I have in mind for now. There is one more that I am considering, mainly because I already housed the right turn indicator with my leg, but an integrated tail light must at least look nice and fit on the Evotec kit. I’m going to research this a little more. Later down the road: tank bag, GPS mount, and video camera mount. For now, its time to ride!