Dog Monster Transformation

Hi All,

I’ve had a 996 Foggy Rep for some time now and always fancied a change in the form of a Monster.

I’ve always loved Monsters and decided to find a project, I found a ‘cheap’ 1995 M600, off a dealer in Cheshire, with, so say, only a broken clutch lever and choke.

They said it was running ok, OK, it’s a risk buying blind on a few photos but a challenge. Unfortunately, it arrived, it didn’t run, the tank was full of rusted water, the fuel pump full of water and fuel filter, the carbs were full of water, it looked like it had been left in the rain and it took a complete strip down of this lot just to get it running. I had definitely been sold a dog, but couldn’t face having to pay another £200 to send it back - oh if only I had listened to my inner voice.





So, picking myself up, the task of disassembly began, uh oh, I found more problems, broken clutch lever, broken gear lever, dented and rusted tank, corroded frame, no brake pads, buckled front wheel, leaking forks, torn seat, badly welded exhaust cans, broken stand, rotten grips, rusted carbs, loose alternator nut, rusted exhaust seals, corroded engine fins, broken neutral and stand switches, broken choke and cable. It went on and on.

And all this came from a dealer who told me that all it needed was a new choke cable and a bit of TLC !!!

Oh, and did I mention the rust, lots and lots and lots of it, wherever you could get rust, this bike had it… I found a great rust remover in the local hardware store, by a company called HG, fantastic stuff, you mix with water, submerge the part and it comes out looking like new...





So, as you can see it was a wreck.

I stripped down everything, then it was the task of cleaning down, repainting and then rebuilding.



I decided I wanted to do a more dark take on the original, the usual stuff, chopped tail, jacked up rear, twin headlights and then carbon wrapped.

The tank was the hardest thing to wrap, took a lot to get those curves right, still I think it turned out just as planned. The hugger and smaller parts were easier.



I learnt a lot in term of rebuilding the frame, engine, suspension, stripping the forks, redressing the tank both internally and externally, powder coating the frame and refurbishing the wheels amongst other things.

The forks were quite easy in the end, stripping them, refurbishing and new seals, oil etc.

The seat is reupholstered in suede and feels great.



The original electrics were shot to pieces as well, I had to replace quite a few connectors, some wiring and then all new rubber cable ties - previously it was held together with tape and nylon ties.



The bargain of the century was picking up a set of 696 cans on eBay for 99p !!!, I then fabricated up some new pipe connectors and they sound great ….

The finished article:





It past it’s MOT first time and has been out quite a bit since then and the kids love going on the back of it.....

It is Ducati red .. honest .. darn camera !

Since then, I’ve been bitten by the Monster bug, picked up a great 696+ with nice carbon term’s etc, I like the smaller bike, it’s great for out and about in the countryside, with the term’s and ECU it’s got enough grunt for now ..