Monster Mania moved to Long Beach this past weekend, as a squadron of highly modified machines descended upon this Southern California coastal town to duke it out in the latest round of the Ducati Monster Challenge. The competition was fierce and a select panel of judges from Cycle World, Robb Report Motorcycling, and Von Dutch tallied their votes for the best Monster. At the closing bell, 18-year-old Daniela Dunne’s 1997 Monster 750 was left standing as the “Baddest Monster” in Southern California. Her victory in Long Beach earned her the right to compete in the finals of the Ducati Monster Challenge against eight other regional winners of the competition. While the young Santa Barbara resident had some assistance on the project from her father and brother, she did the vast majority of the work on the bike herself. The winning Monster was bought as a near basket case for $800, and over a two month reconstruction period a single-sided swingarm from a 916, front end from a 998 Superbike, a trick air shock from Marco Lucchinelli’s ’88 Ducati factory race bike and a unique under seat exhaust pieced together from a Multistrada’s system highlighted the modifications. A custom “26” theme paint job and matching powder coated frame rounded out the package. “It was a really fun project and I felt it would be a competitive bike in Long Beach,” Daniela said. “I put about 50 hours myself into it with a little help from my dad and brother. I do all the PDI work at the Pro Italia shop in Santa Barbara, and I learned a lot more about bikes building this bike,” added Dunne. Troy Woodard, a Vista, CA resident, returned for his second Monster Challenge and took home a $250 Ducati Performance gift certificate for his second place finish, bringing his ’99 Monster 900 Ben Bostrom Replica to compete in the 11 bike show. The distinctive red, white and blue Bostrom bodywork sat atop a set of full Ohlins Superbike forks and shock, lightened flywheel and radial mount Brembo binders. “My favorite thing about the bike, other than the Bostrom paint scheme and custom carbon & Kevlar fairing is the FCR 41mm carbs. The bike looks beautiful, but when you give it a twist you’re looking at the sky! I have a few more things in mind to add to the machine,” stated Woodard. Third place, and a $100 Ducati Performance gift certificate, went to Robert Brown from Aliso Viejo, and his very clean ’05 Monster S2R was a crowd favorite. Brown had painted the wheels tangerine to match the S2R’s black and tangerine stock paint scheme and set the package off with a tastefully applied set of dual “angel eye” headlights up front and a “bobbed” tail section. “I was just trying to enhance the base design around the Ducati Coventry,” Brown commented. “It looks like it came from a special operations group within Ducati,” he added. Most of the bikes shown in the Long Beach Challenge were daily riders, and many, such as Gabriel Richard’s ’96 M 900 had logged lots of miles. Gabriel rode his bike to the show from Santa Barbara, complete with soft saddlebags, and showed the crowd the Monster’s place as a hard riding, daily commuter. Chris Kelly’s ’05 S2R was set up almost exclusively as a track day machine, showing yet another side of the versatile bike. The fourth round of the Ducati Monster Challenge will be staged December 16-18 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose. From there, The Challenge moves to Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago, Atlanta and Montreal. For more details, please visit www.ducatiusa.com. Founded in 1926, Ducati builds racing-inspired motorcycles characterized by unique engine features, innovative design, advanced engineering and overall technical excellence. Ducati has won eleven of the last thirteen World Superbike Championship titles and more individual victories than the competition put together. The Company produces motorcycles in five market segments which vary in their technical and design features and intended customers: Superbike, Supersport; Monster, Sport Touring and Multistrada. The Company’s motorcycles are sold in more than 40 countries worldwide, with a primary focus in the Western European and North American markets. For more information about the Company, please visit our web site at www.ducatiusa.com.