From a press release issued by Ducati North America:

THE DUCATI MONSTER CHALLENGE PLOT THICKENS WITH NEW WINNERS FROM SEATTLE

The Daytona grand finale is gearing up to be the biggest and baddest display of Monsters in North America.

Cupertino, CA – December 29th, 2004 – Ducati is still looking for the coolest Monster in North America after concluding the Seattle round of the Ducati Monster Challenge. The Pacific Northwest Ducatisti proved that sunny Southern California isn’t the only place with awesome Monsters. The Seattle Cycle World IMS show brought out loads of unique Monsters up North, some so dramatically modified they were entered for exhibition only since they were no longer registered as Monsters.



1st place went to Sean Kelii whose bike began life as a 1999 Cromo model but suffered a dramatic crash. When the bike was resurrected, Sean rebuilt it using nearly every carbon fiber piece he could find in the Ducati Performance catalog. And all that carbon really makes a difference. Sean says, “The coolest thing about my monster is the weight, its only 338 pounds!” But its not just flashy carbon bits that make Sean’s bike unique. He’s got performance too, including 998 Superbike forks, an Ohlins rear shock, and Brembo full floating rotors with 2-piece billet Brembo calipers.

A.J. Ralston is from Portland, Oregon where he works as a Ducati technician at MotoCorsa by day. His 2000 Monster 900 won both 2nd place overall and “The People’s Choice” award voted by show attendees. His bike had a very nice, clean paint job and was more of a “rider’s bike.” Some of his creative modifications include a custom mounted Ducati Performance dash, antique acid etched triple clamps, anodized fork tubes and caps, powder coated swingarm, and wrapped Ducati Performance exhaust system. A.J. said it simply and honestly, proclaiming his favorite thing he’s done to his monster is ride it. Even after working all day on other people’s Ducati’s he still enjoys taking the time to find new ways to customize his own bike.

3rd place was Rick De Pena from Seattle and his 1999 Monster 900 Cromo. Rick’s bike was tastefully modified giving it a clean, sleek look. A beautiful high-mount Termignoni oval aluminum exhaust system highlighted the rear of the bike. He also added carbon fiber bits and painted many pieces flat black to contrast the chrome fuel tank. But again, Rick is a rider and said his favorite thing about his bike was riding it from San Diego to Seattle (1600 miles) in 25 hours. Even Iron Butt Record Holder, Gary Eagan, thinks that’s a respectable ride.