World’s first titanium framed Monster

American Randy Martin has built the world’s first titanium-framed Ducati Monster S4RS and says his custom-made frame is half the weight of the original – but it does cost around £4000!

Martin said: “The bike is truly a Monster now. I call it ‘Mostro Della Strada’; Monster of the Road.”

Martin, who runs his own fabrication shop in Kansas, took on the challenge to show what his company could do. Although unwilling to say how much the new frame will cost, he sells similar frames for £4000 ($6500).

To build the unique S4RS, Martin purchased a stock Ducati Monster and set about ripping it to pieces. “I purchased this Monster S4RS that had only been ridden 600 miles in three years. The bike was brought home and completely disassembled.”

Martin then went on to fabricate a welding jig for the titanium frame, which uses larger diameter tubing than the stock one, and proceeded to custom machine the frame plugs for the larger tube.

Despite the increased size of the titanium frame, Martin maintains it improves the Monster. “The stock frame weighs 28lb (11.5kg) and the titanium frame weighs 15lb (6.25kg), that’s almost a 50% weight saving. Titanium has a little more spring to it than chrome moly too, so the diameter increase maintains the stiffness of the original frame. I wanted to give the bike a beefier look as well and this achieved that.”

The US bike builder has made other modifications to his Monster too. He said: “In order to make the bike look somewhat like a café racer and save more weight I decided to make the seat pan from carbon fibre. The seat pan and gas tank were painted Jet Black Metallic with Silver stripe and most people don’t notice, but the Ducati font on the gas tank is different than stock.

“I also added Driven clip-ons and Rizoma grips and mirrors along with CRG levers. The clutch cover is another carbon fibre piece made by StradaFab with a machined aluminium trim ring and the exhaust is a Quat-D Ex-Box and sounds great. The brakes and suspension remain stock though as the Brembos and Ohlins are some of the best offered.”

As a final touch, Martin changed the front sprocket from a 15-tooth to a 14. He says this makes the engine a little more manageable around town, presumably because he doesn’t have to slip the clutch as much.

More information at www.stradafab.com.