MAD MAX MONSTER WINS AT CHICAGO SHOW Cupertino, CA – Monster owners from throughout the upper Midwest braved freezing temperatures this past weekend to show their creations before a huge crowd at the Chicago round of the Ducati Monster Challenge. Chris Platzer hauled away top honors with the narrowest margin of victory in the two-year history of the Monster Challenge. Platzer, from Eagan, Minnesota, and Bill Keros, of Commerce Township, Michigan, presented bikes that were polar opposites. At show’s end, Platzer’s creation eked out a scant two-point victory of the 122 possible points available from the judges and public voters. Nearly 1,100 individuals cast their votes for a “People’s Choice” winner, and the crowd agreed with the judges when they narrowly voted Platzer’s bike best of show. Without the aid of sophisticated power tools and machining instruments, Platzer built aluminum bars, grips and fenders that gave the bike a look as if it was direct from the set of a Mad Max film. The scaled and layered front and rear fenders made some call the 1996 M900 the “Lizard Monster.” “I don’t have any sophisticated tools at all,” said Platzer, “so I mostly used hand drills and saws to make the fenders, grips, head and tail lights, bars and turn signals. It was a long trip down here and even if I hadn’t of won, I had a great time. Going to dinner with the other owners and Ducati staff Friday night was a blast!” offered the obviously elated Platzer. Keros presented a 2005 S4R that was as different as one could possibly imagine, and between the two machines the huge Chicago International Motorcycle Show crowd saw just how diverse the Ducati Monster can be. Keros created a bike that was highly refined and extremely powerful, featuring a two inch stretched frame powered by an extensively modified, nitrous enhanced motor. A massive 7.5 inch, 210mm wide rear wheel and exceptional paint scheme attracted crowds all weekend. Cycle World and Road & Track Editor at Large Peter Egan was one of the three contest judges charged with crowning a winner, and summed up his reaction to the collective bikes when he said “I’d love to just go out and hear the rattle and boom of these bikes and go on a ride with the guys.” “There are some great bikes here, and the scaled bike won out for me because of the personal touches, immense amount of time he put into it and the creativity he showed. It’s amazing that he made most of those parts himself with little more than a drill and saw. That bike makes me smile,” added Egan, who gave a slight nod to Platzer’s “Lizard” Monster over the stunning machine built by Keros. John Margiolas, creator and moderator of SportBike.Net, went the other way, giving Keros a very slight edge over Platzer. “I love the story behind The Lizard Bike,” said Margiolas, “it’s an awesome interpretation of the Monster, which is simply beautiful to begin with. But the powerful visual statement and incredible workmanship on the other bike gave it the edge. Man, these are both amazing bikes, and the rest of the entries are great as well. This is a tremendous way to show off the Ducati Monster,” added Margriolas. Taking the third spot was a 2001 S4 owned and built by Ben VanderKinter of Green Bay, Wisconsin. VanderKinter’s bike featured a one-off airbrush painting of a shark’s head and gills and also grabbed the attention of the crowd. Coupled with the one-of-a-kind paint job, his bike sported a serious riding side, with lightened flywheel, full spaghetti exhaust system and Superbike vented front fender. VanderKinter summarized his Monster by saying, “this is the first bike that I’ve owned that has a life of its own! It’s 100% fun to ride.” Platzer and his bike will join the winners of the previous six rounds of the Monster Challenge at the event finals at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama in April. The next round of The Ducati Monster Challenge will be held February 24-26 in Montreal, Quebec. The winner of the finals will receive a 2006 Ducati Monster S2R 1000 and the second place finisher will win a trip to a Moto GP race. Third place will receive a $1,000.00 Ducati Performance gift certificate.