Ducati DesertX

The highly anticipated Ducati DesertX off-road motorcycle has been launched in India. It is priced at Rs. 17.91 Lakh (ex-showroom). The Ducati DesertX has been a hotly anticipated model, in a market where there are genuine takers for off-road adventure motorcycle, which will be on sale alongside the Ducati Multistrada V2. It is an off-road focussed adventure motorcycle and the design is inspired by the old Cagiva Elefant motorcycle of the ‘90s, which had a storied Dakar legacy as well. The DesertX looks the part of an adventure motorcycle, with the twin round LED headlights, tall windscreen and a lean, mean look.

The Desert X is powered by a 937 cc, Testastretta 11-degree L-twin engine which develops 108 bhp at 9,250 rpm and 92 Nm of peak torque at 6,500 rpm. The motor is paired with a 6-speed gearbox with a wide ratio set-up with shorter first and second gears that aid in crawling over rough terrain, while a taller sixth gear offers better touring ability.

The Desert X is a more off-road focussed ADV than the Multistrada V2, with which it shares its 937 cc L-twin engine. Suspension duties are handled by Kayaba with 46 mm forks at the front with 230 mm of travel. The rear gets a monoshock with 220 mm of travel.

The seat height on the bike is a whopping 875 mm with 250 mm of ground clearance that does make it a tall order. Braking performance comes from Brembo with four-piston M50 calipers with dual discs at the front that uses an axial master cylinder. The motorcycle runs on a 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheel combination, with tubeless Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tyres, mounted on wire spoke wheels.

The Ducati Desert X gets six riding modes, including Enduro and Rally modes. There's also cornering ABS that can be completely turned off in the two off-road specific riding modes.

The main new features are specific settings for the Enduro Riding Mode and the introduction of the new Rally Riding Mode, in addition to Sport, Touring, Urban and Wet. Plus, there are four power modes – Full, High, Medium and Low. All controls can be accessed using the 5-inch TFT screen while the electronic aids on the motorcycle include the IMU-assisted traction control, wheelie control, engine brake control, cruise control and a bi-directional quickshifter. Ducati claims a kerb weight of 223 kg on the DesertX.

It goes head to head against the Triumph Tiger 900 Rally.