Ducati Desert X | GTAMotorcycle.com

Ducati Desert X

My finger has been on the trigger on this for the past 8 months. I've picked up the phone to the dealer and put it down so many times, it's not funny.

I love the looks of this bike. There's a few things holding me back though:

I'm intimately familiar with the engine on this bike. It's the exact same 937cc twin that's on my Hypermotard.

This is not a good engine for a dirt bike. Although it's torquey, it's runs very very hot. Not good for slow speeds on the trails and will definitely overheat.

Also, 500lbs wet. I'm no Chris Birch or Pol Tarres. Personally, for me, it's too heavy to have fun on the trails.

I'm on all the Desert X forums and there have been a lot of people who have taken it off-road. This thing does not survive drops and falls very well. The design is typically Italian. All form and no function. The plastics are not in a good place and tend to get mangled when you go down.

Also, Ducati is having typical supply-chain problems with accessories for this bike. There's a rally-style rear gas tank that people have been waiting forever on. Also, first year niggles and problems as well.

*sigh* I'm probably going to get one...
 
jc100 said:
It looks a lot like the old KTM Dakar jobbies.
Click to expand...

It's actually a cribbed version of the old 90s Cagiva Elefant:

Cagiva%20Elefant%20900ie%2090.jpg


They've even come out with Lucky Explorer decals for the Desert X:

Produkte_Ducati_DesertX_Lucky_Explorer_V2-1030x675.jpg


Seems everything old is new again.
 
Lightcycle said:
It's actually a cribbed version of the old 90s Cagiva Elefant:

Cagiva%20Elefant%20900ie%2090.jpg


They've even come out with Lucky Explorer decals for the Desert X:

Produkte_Ducati_DesertX_Lucky_Explorer_V2-1030x675.jpg


Seems everything old is new again.
Click to expand...
Which is a cribbed version of a Honda Trans Alp. So yes everything old is new again.

The final take away is just buy the damn KLR and forget trying to impress your friends.
 
Very nice! I’m personally a big fan of the Ducati Scrambler (there’s a more off road version that the name escapes me).

But this is very nice.
 
mimico_polak said:
Very nice! I’m personally a big fan of the Ducati Scrambler (there’s a more off road version that the name escapes me).
Click to expand...

Desert Sled.

Which is confusingly close to Desert X. Neda rode one in Spain earlier this year and loved it... But only as a street bike.

The suspension is still too stiff for off-road.

On a related.note, the original Desert X concept was based on the Desert Sled, same power plant and chassis, just different suspension and Tupperware, but Ducati decided to rework the production Desert X from the ground up, opting for the liquid cooled 115hp engine instead of the Scrambler 70hp air-cooled engine. A better decision, IMO.
 
the looks dont jive with me personally, I feel like the white looks great on the multistrada, or the supersport but not on this bike.

Not sure I like the black weird windscreen

Though Im sure its a great performer anyway
 
I was considering this as well.. but I actually don't like how it looks as much. I wanted to see what was said about its abilities. I'm going to for sure test one of these out just for fun come spring time or when I'm in a warmer place this winter..
 
Having owned an a Darth Vader ninja, an FZ6 and a KLR I can say looks are mostly secondary.
 
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