Photo: Paolo Tesio
Snow and motorcycles usually don’t get long too well, but bold riders who are skilled enough in mastering their bikes on extremely slippery surfaces would take more than one step on the wild side. So this is why we see people shoeing their machines with spiked tires and heading out in the white. Now, most such fellows are riding off-road bikes which are somewhat more natural in inclement environments, even though we’ve seen our fair share of sport bikes going wild in the snow.
If anything, a Ducati Monster is probably the last bike you’d expect to see speeding through the snow. However, there are some guys who are not afraid to dream of riding such a truly cool bike, so here’s Paolo Tesio’s latest creation, a Monster which is race-ready and which has gotten both a wintry livery and the right shoes for this dance.
Even so, the limited contact area between the rear tire and the riding surface is sometimes far from enough for providing dependable, reassuring grip. Paolo tries to solve the problem by loading a much bigger wheel in the rear.
A bigger tire also means a wider one, therefore more spikes and a larger contact area, all contributing to better traction in both straight line and in turns. Monster’s bars are already low to begin with and loading a bigger wheel should cause the bike to pitch a bit more forward. If you’re a tall guy and have ridden a Monster you know the weird sensation it provides, so looking at Tesio’s machine sort of gives us the creeps.
Anyway, no riding position could scare a rider more than the actual fact of riding on ice and feeling each of these spikes biting from the frozen surface. Like many of Paolo Tesio’s Ducati Monster creations, even this looks doable.
Check out the rest of our articles featuring Paolo Tesio’s bikes and you’ll be surprised to learn that many of those body kits are actually in production.
A huge rear wheel can do the job
The loss of grip for the rear wheel is definitely the biggest problem when riding in the snow or on ice, and casual tires just won’t do. Tire manufacturers have specialty tires which behave differently in very cold environments, and which can also receive steel spikes for extra grip on ice.Even so, the limited contact area between the rear tire and the riding surface is sometimes far from enough for providing dependable, reassuring grip. Paolo tries to solve the problem by loading a much bigger wheel in the rear.
A bigger tire also means a wider one, therefore more spikes and a larger contact area, all contributing to better traction in both straight line and in turns. Monster’s bars are already low to begin with and loading a bigger wheel should cause the bike to pitch a bit more forward. If you’re a tall guy and have ridden a Monster you know the weird sensation it provides, so looking at Tesio’s machine sort of gives us the creeps.
Anyway, no riding position could scare a rider more than the actual fact of riding on ice and feeling each of these spikes biting from the frozen surface. Like many of Paolo Tesio’s Ducati Monster creations, even this looks doable.
Check out the rest of our articles featuring Paolo Tesio’s bikes and you’ll be surprised to learn that many of those body kits are actually in production.
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