Ducati’s most popular family, the Scramblers, has unveiled the Desert Sled and Cafe Racer versions at EICMA in Milan to bring its numbers to nine.
Desert Sled is the famous name actor and racing Legend Steve McQueen used for his Triumph desert racer. That famous Desert Sled was sold at a Bonham auction in Las Vegas in January 2016 to an Australian for $US103,500.
This Desert Sled is expected to cost a lot less; more like $16,000 when it arrives in Australia sometime next year.
Shod with Pirelli Scorpion Rally knobby tyres, it’s probably the bike the Scrambler should have been right from the start to put to rest the complaints by people that it isn’t a real scrambler.
It probably still isn’t, although it has longer-travel suspension at 200mm, a bash plate, reinforced frame, aluminium swingarm, upside-down Kayaba adjustingle fork, mesh headlight cover, high front guard, metal off-road pegs and 19-inch spoked gold-finished wheels.
https://youtu.be/9cLdtI9Ry-I
One of the things some people will miss, though, is the low seat of 792mm. It’s been raised substantially to 820mm making this much less accessible to a wide range of riders.
It’s powered by the 55kW, 68Nm 803cc L-twin engine, but Ducati says it has been recalibrate for better low-rev power.
It comes in white or Ducati Red with a black frame and gold wheels.
The Cafe Racer retains the low seat and is also powered by the L-twin engine from the old Monster 800.
But it gets the full Ace Cafe treatment of clip-on bars, race plate, bar-end mirrors, headlight cowl, bobbed tail and rear seat cowl.
It even takes the “cafe” in its name to extremes with a Black Coffee colour scheme.
Up front is a 17-inch wheel, instead of the 18-inch wheels of the previous Scramblers and there gold coloured and shod with Pirelli Diablo Rosso II rubber.
https://youtu.be/ls4tUJxx9mI
It comes with a low-slung Termignoni twin exhaust, fully adjustable Kayaba upside-down forks, and big 330mm brakes.
