The Boscolo Monster Collection

This month, we introduce a collection of Ducati Monsters from Riccardo Boscolo in Southern California! We’ll be auctioning off seven Monsters in the next several weeks, starting with a Tricolore S4RS.

Riccardo is clearly passionate about his Monsters, and we wanted to share his tale about them. In his words:

I bought my first Monster in January of 2000, a 750 Dark. I still remember riding the bike around Los Angeles and being complimented by random strangers looking at the bike. Indeed, Monsters are so unique: they are barebone essential, yet so elegant in their simplicity, the essence of a motorcycle. I bought my Monster, as I refer to my 750 Dark (but not the other ones) after getting my first real job in the United States. Oh and was that money well spent… I still have it today, 23 years later, and she is still my favorite, my unwavering companion. 

I grew up watching my older friends riding their Monster in the 90s, often with a girl in the backseat, always dreaming that one day I could own and ride one as well. In 2018, fresh off a divorce, I decided I needed a new hobby. I always dreamed of getting another Monster, maybe an S2R 1000, maybe a liquid cooled S4, why not maybe even an S4RS, a true monster of a bike. And that’s how it started…

The black S2R 1000 was my “first” new one, and soon it became my daily driver. Probably the most fun Monster to drive around town: the engine is so responsive, yet never overwhelming, the perfect bike to drive in traffic.

I was more than happy with my new daily driver and with my old trusted companion. But then I saw an ad on the Pro Italia classified, a low-mileage 2007 red and white S4RS. To be honest, all my bikes are beautiful, but if you see a red-and-white S4RS in the flesh, it is something else: no matter what, she will always be the garage queen. I made an offer and took it home a few days later. At this point there was no turning back…

I wasn’t specifically looking for a 2001 900S i.e., but when I saw a red one on the classifieds, it was in such good shape that I had to go see it. I made an offer again, but this time it took months. The previous owner mentioned that it was his dad’s favorite and wouldn’t let it go. A few months later he called me back and we made a deal. When I rode it back home, the battery was dead and it would not idle, but we made it. 

Then came the coveted ones. First a 2002 S4 Fogarty. I had seen it at Pro Italia, when I picked up the S4RS and made a joke about taking it back home as well. I did, just a few weeks later. 

Finding a low-mileage Tricolore in good shape turned out to be more challenging than I expected. A few went for sale around the country, but they were either tail-chopped, or clearly not well maintained. Late in 2018 the opportunity came: a first owner Tricolore with just 2,000 miles came up for sale near Santa Barbara. The bike was also completely decked out: carbon fiber everywhere, full racing exhaust and ECU, basically perfection. I drove to Carpinteria a few days later and made an offer the seller could not turn down. On January 1st 2019, I took the train first thing in the morning and rode back to LA with my Tricolore. What a way to start the year!

With now 6 bikes in the collection, I knew exactly what was going to be the last one. I always wanted to own and ride that bike, the one I saw in Italy growing up, the one the “cool” kids were riding. I had to have a first-year carbureted M900 (well, technically second year, Ducati did not sell the Monster in the US until 1994). Finding one in good shape proved to be even more challenging than finding a Tricolore. After all, we are talking about a 26-year old bike. I went to see many of them, even traveled out of state to check them out. They were almost always in terrible shape. But then a promising one came along, a super low-mileage black(ish) 1994 M900, sold in Pennsylvania. I had a good feeling about it and bought it without ever inspecting it in person.

And then there were 7 and I really thought I would stop here. I pretty much owned almost all the versions of the original design Monsters, the bike created by Miguel Angel Galluzzi that “saved” Ducati. But I had one last itch to scratch… The S4 Foggy isn’t just a rare Monster, it is also a 916 engine powered Monster. It’s hard to explain what is special about this engine, but I don’t think I have ever enjoyed riding a bike more than the S4. It pulls like crazy from low RPMs and it never stops all the way to 9,000 RPM, it is truly a miracle engine. I didn’t want to put too many miles on the Foggy and, god forbid, park it in the parking lot at work.

So in September of 2020 I bought my #8, a Senna-gray 2002 Monster S4. She is, by far, the most fun to drive of the whole pack, and the looks aren’t too shabby either.

Buying the bikes in this collection was barely the beginning of this adventure. Each and everyone of them was meticulously restored, painstakingly maintained and rode just enough to keep it in perfect shape. The 1994 M900, in particular, required extensive restoration, including re-painting of the frame and the tank and refurbishing of the carburetors. For all the work, but especially help and advice, I will always be grateful to my friend Orlando Belotti, who not only spent endless hours getting these bikes in the perfect shape they are today, but also taught me all I know about taking care of them. I will always cherish the memories of us taking the bikes apart and working on them at his house in Eagle Rock.

As I write these notes, it breaks my heart to think about the fact that I am about to part with these amazing bikes, they played such an important role in my life! If you made it here, thanks for reading these notes and feel free to reach out if you have any questions!