Something I always respected about Ducati’s Scrambler lineup was the sheer amount of variations they provided us with: Cafe Racer, Desert Sled, and Full Throttle to name a few. It looks like BMW is gearing up for a napalm war with the Ducati clan by revealing their new amazing and highly customizable R nineT lie-up with four new variations from the factory for 2021.
The editions include the Urban G/S, the Scrambler, the Pure, and of course the standard for you suit-and-tie boring guys. All of the editions are still built on the R nineT platform featuring a flat-twin engine producing 109 horsepower @ 7.25k rpm and 85.9 lb-ft of torque @ 6k rpm.
The 2021 model doesn’t just bring visual changes though, due to Euro 5-compliance we lost 1 whole horsepower from the 110 of last year, but BMW said they remedied that huge loss of power (funny, right?) with new power curves due to the tune and new engine configuration which should produce far more power between 4000 and 6000 rpm.
USB charging sockets, LED headlights and indicators, shock preload adjustment, ABS Pro, Dynamic Brake Control, new instrument cluster, and a rain riding mode to use in addition to the standard mode.
Among the new bikes is a Scrambler Icon Dark the new entry level 803cc model. It will be €800 cheaper which should mean at least $A1000 off the current price of $A13,990.
Icon Dark
Icon Dark
It features a matt black frame, black engine with polished fin ends, black seat with grey trim and round black mirrors.
Claudio also presented two styling department drawings of a Motard version and a Desert X racer.
Motard Scrambler
He says their styling department was asked to create “something unprecedented but entirely possible”.
The results are these images which have been turned into concepts to be shown at EICMA motorcycle show in Milan on November 4.
The Motard will be based on the 803cc Scrambler.
“This is a bike we are working on right now,” says Claudio, so a production version can’t be far away.
Desert X Scrambler
The Desert X is based on the 1100cc Scrambler and celebrates the 1990 Paris-Dakar Rally victory by Italian rider Edi Orioli on the Ducati-powered Cagiva Elefant. That bike is in now in Ducati’s museum above their Bologna factory.
Dakar-winning Cagiva
“We want to build the future without forgetting the past,” Claudio said.
Interestingly, Desert X is the name of a contemporary art exhibition held in the Coachella Valley in Southern California.
While Ducati already has an 803cc Desert Sled which is more off-road capable, the Desert X will be the 1100cc equivalent.
Scrambler Ducati Desert Sled
Claudio says Scrambler is now the company’s biggest seller with more than 70,000 sales since launch in 2015.
The production versions of these and other new Scramblers are likely to be announced this time next year.
The Ducati Desert Sled is the first of the modern scramblers that is actually a capable all-roader.
Many riders criticise the current trend to retro scramblers as not being true to the traditions of a scrambler that is light, low and off-road capable.
When Ducati introduce the Scramblers in 2015 they became an instant hit and are now the top-selling family in the Ducati fleet.
There are now seven in the range, but there have been 13 different incarnations already.
Last year they added the Desert Sled, which is cheekily named after Steve McQueen’s Triumph desert racer. Incidentally the original desert Sled sold at a Bonham’s auction in Las Vegas in January 2016 for $US103,500.
McQueen’s Desert Sled
The Ducati Desert Sled is a little cheaper at $16,990 for the black or $17,290 for this white model (plus on-road costs).
It comes with longer-travel suspension, a skinny 19-inch font wheel with knobby tyres, non-slip footpads with removable rubber inserts, motocross-style handlebars and a high front guard which make it more off-road capable.
Road test
All Ducati Desert Sled images by Mark Taylor of Clayfield Studio
When Brisbane Motorcyclesboss James Mutton offered us a ride on a Desert Sled we were keen to take him up on the offer and see if the bike silences the critics.
After less than one year on the showroom floor, the Desert Sled cashes in on a host of important 2019 updates to the Scrambler fleet including cornering ABS, a fuel gauge, a new LED headlight and self-cancelling LED indicators.
The Desert Sled also gets some cosmetic updates such as a red frame, new seat with colour-coordinated stitching and spoked wheels with black rims.
But most importantly it now features an Off Road Riding Mode that allows the rider to switch off the ABS, plus adjustable Kayaba suspension and engine skid pan.
Like the rest of the Scramblers, it’s light and low, but the taller suspension does make the 170kg Scrambler a little higher in the saddle at 860mm.
That’s 70mm taller than the others, but it is such a narrow seat that most people will still be able to get their feet down on the ground. You can also buy an 840mm low seats option.
And the seat and tank are so slim it is a joy to ride standing up when you’re racing through the bush. Just as well as the hard seat is not very comfortable for long highway stints.
Fresh rubber and engine
Our test bike was brand new with only a handful of kilometres on the clock and the knobby Pirelli Scorpion Rally STRtyres not even broken in yet.
The 803cc L-twin from the Monster 796 and 797 is a sweet engine that pulls well from the midrange and buzzes with excitement when you give it some revs.
It produces a healthy 56kW (75hp) of power at 8250rpm and 68Nm of torque at 5750rpm.
We didn’t throttle it during its running-in stage, but it doesn’t really need to be fed redline revs to get plenty of lively response, anyway.
The gearbox still felt a bit stiff and neutral was hard to find and there was the occasional false neutral.
It’s geared a little tall for single-trail off-loading, but it’s fine for most traffic and highway applications.
Despite fresh rubber, the tyres provided plenty of confidence on the tar.
I was able to get some good lean angles straight away with no flop feeling in the cornering despite the 19-inch high-profile front tyre.
Grip was also good and the bike steers precisely, although the front end does get a bit flighty over corrugations and it tracks a little in longitudinal road cracks.
Like most Ducatis with standard suspension it is over-sprung and under-damped, but a heavier rider than my 75kg might find the ride better.
Rough stuff
Once you hit the rough stuff, the stiffer springs make more sense and it rides out the bumps well.
The off-road setting lets you turn off the cornering ABS, but I found the ABS actually works really well on a loose-gravel road, so I left it on.
Switching it off is a bit of a chore and you have to be stopped to do it.
When you switch off the engine and switch back on again, it defaults to ABS on.
The wide 170mm rear tyre is one of the only drawbacks for dirt roads. It has resasonable go and stop grip, but it makes the bike very taily in corners.
The fuel gauge is a welcome addition to the single digital instrument pod, but it’s a messy and difficult to read display.
Also, the low fuel light comes on as soon as the gauge drops under half way. That’s annoying as you probably have more than 100km of range left in the 13.5-litre tank.
I also found the mirrors too high and wide and line up with the mirrors on SUVs andantes when lane filtering.
They also have a strange shape with a cutout that diminishes the rear view just where you need it.
Conclusion
The Desert Sled definitely silences the critics of modern scramblers.
It’s quite capable in the bush and feels light and low enough for even notices to manhandle down a gnarly track.
We suspect a Desert Sled version of the Scrambler 1100 may also be waiting in the wings to take on the very capable off-roading Triumph Scrambler 1200.
Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled
Engine
803cc, V-twin, 4-stroke, air-cooled
Prices
$16,990 (Black), $17,290 (White) plus on-road costs
Suspension
Front: Kayaba 46mm fully-adjustable upside down front forks
Rear: Side-mounted rear shock adjustable for pre-load, compression and rebound damping
Power
56kW @ 8250rpm
Brakes
Front: Single 330mm disc, Brembo four-piston caliper
As with café racers, scrambler-style motorcycles are in the midst of a mainstream revival, custom builders across the globe often turn to this aesthetic in their projects, and manufacturers are seeing enough mass-market appeal to dedicate resources to creating off-the-shelf versions. For fans of the look and function of a scrambler, these are good times indeed. We’ve chosen five of the best versions available today that prove the point.
Starting things off is the 2019 BMW R nineT Scrambler. Even though it looks a little too polished to take in the dirt, BMW was smart about the roadster’s conversion. This bike is much more capable off road than it appears. A few years back, Ari Henning put one to the test and found its 1,170cc boxer twin capable, it’s weight well balanced, and the 19-inch front and 17-inch wheel combination a good fit for an off-road ride. Now, as with all of the bikes in this list, if you’re looking to do serious adventure riding, get an adventure bike. But if you want a great roadbike with the ability to explore a fire road on a whim, complete with nods to the scrambler style like high exhaust, fork gaiters, and a stripped-down look, then the R nineT Scrambler is a great choice.
The 2019 Indian FTR 1200 S isn’t a scrambler in the strict sense; it’s clearly a tracker based on a competition machine. But it warrants inclusion on this list for two reasons. First, it’s an able-bodied roadbike with off-road chops. This motorcycle will blast down a dirt road as well as it leans into the corner on an oval. Plus it’s got solid, fully adjustable suspension, a 19-inch front and 18-inch rear wheel configuration, and is pared down to the essentials. Second, it’s ripe for customization. Indian Motorcycle already offers curated kits to turn the motorcycle into a more sporty, more rugged, more touring-friendly mount. That means you can easily transform this already off-road-capable streetbike into a motorcycle more in keeping with the scrambler aesthetic. The scramblers from the ’60s generally started life as roadbikes and were altered to better handle the demands of the dirt, so customization was a necessary facet of the type. The FTR 1200 S honors that tradition.
There is hardly any rival to the new Triumph Scrambler XE. It’s the epitome of the scrambler look from a brand that made this type of bike famous in the mid-20th century. This is the more off-road-focused version, there’s also an XC that is geared toward the road a bit more, so will have no trouble at all getting on it in the dirt. It’s packing a 1,200cc parallel twin with huge amounts of torque, long-travel Öhlins suspension, a 21-inch front and 17-inch rear wheel configuration, and electronic aids that can be switched off to really get spinning off-road. This bike impressed during our first ride review earlier this year and is really the standard-bearer of the segment currently. It’s so good off-road and on that it could hold its own against some adventure bikes.
The 2019 Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled is the closest rival to the Triumph in this list in terms of off-road capability. Ducati delivered a version of its versatile Scrambler line with long-travel suspension, a stout trellis frame, good power delivery on the low end, 19-inch front and 17-inch rear wheels, and all the aesthetic touches one would want on a truly on-/off-road-worthy motorcycle. It’s not as completely authentic in terms of the scrambler elements as the Triumph, a single shock out back and a somewhat low exhaust setup being the main offenders in this regard, but it’s still a really sharp machine.
Husqvarna came at the café segment with a fresh perspective with the Vitpilen bikes, and does the same with the scrambler segment with its Svartpilen 401. We chose the 401 over the 701 version because it’s the more rugged of the two, better equipped off the showroom floor for some fun off road. It’s more of an urban scrambler than a true competitor to the Ducati or Triumph, but it wins points in our book for the bold design that Husqvarna has achieved.
