I realized today that I completely forgot to mention that while we were at the CycleWorld International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, we got to check out Mark Savory’s MotoCreations Chopped Monster in person. It was part of the Ducati Monster Challenge - for whatever reason religated to the back of the arena. I’m still a bit unclear as to whether or not the bike was competiting or merely there to showcase what someone can do to a Monster. Of course Mark’s creation is not really a Monster. As I recall it has parts from several different Ducati models and his newest creation according to his website has a 996 motor in it…

Anyway, back to the bike… I don’t have the cash nor am I sure the bike suits my kind of riding, but it’s really quite cool to see in person. You’ve got to hand it to Mark and his crew, when you are up close, near the bike, it seems like some sort of very weird derivative of a bike you know and it’s vaguely familure but not at all what you’re expecting. It’s really easy to see why it’s getting so much attention. I was a bit surprised at how small it seemed - but then the entire Monster line seems smaller to me than I realized. Perhaps I’ve just gotten used to the size of the superbikes, but there’s not a lot of bike on these guys… Perhaps the most impressive part of Mark’s Chopped Monster was the raked out front forks, custom frame and really unique looking handlebars. Just very cool…