Ducati desert sled

[Simon_100]

I sat on one at a Ducati dealer's this week.
Like Scutty I'd struggle to justify one.
May be I'd describe it as modern take on 1970/80's big trail bike?
If I had a villa in Spain I'd have one in my garage to wheelie along the front on and to blast down gravel trails.

Well I do have a 'villa' - well sort of - in Spain but I'm looking for the original, the Ducati/Mototrans 'Road' model from the 'seventies' and the 'original' of the Scrambler from those days which are like hen's teeth in the UK

Regs

Simon

[Simon_100]

I sat on one at a Ducati dealer's this week.
Like Scutty I'd struggle to justify one.
May be I'd describe it as modern take on 1970/80's big trail bike?
If I had a villa in Spain I'd have one in my garage to wheelie along the front on and to blast down gravel trails.

Well I do have a 'villa' - well sort of - in Spain but I'm looking for the original, the Ducati/Mototrans 'Road' model from the 'seventies' and the 'original' of the Scrambler from those days which are like hen's teeth in the UK

Regs

Simon

Well I saw one 'in the flesh' in downtown Tarragona yesterday and it's really tiny - can't imagine a tall guy you riding one Steve! - but I still rate the original 'seventies version.



Which was made here in Barcelona and marketed in Spain as the 'Road'



A nice one here goes for about €3,000 - now where's my check book ...

Regs

Simon

[daveuprite]

The Desert Sled looks real pretty. Think they've got the styling right. Could be a useful bike to hoof around on in the countryside, and have a go at some easy trails too. But why on earth is it 207kgs fuelled up? Yet again far too heavy. It should be quite possible for Ducati to build this down to a 170kg wet weight maximum. Like a 701 Husqvarna with an extra cylinder.

Interesting difference in opinion from the journos too. MCN reckons it is a capable off-roader! Most others have it down as a soft gravel trail bike more at home on the road.

[SteveW]

I'm of the opinion that any bike up to around 200kg (obviously the lighter the better) can be ridden over pretty rough terrain.
The limiting factor would be the speed at which they can safely tackle the rough stuff.
Anyone who's ventured outside Western Europe will have seen the locals happily taking what we'd consider inappropriate bikes up gnarly tracks.
I think sometimes we are influenced by the promo videos of "Adventure" bikes being ridden like enduro bikes by professional riders, so we feel like we need to ride them like we're in a race all the time......or is that just me?

[v8mark]

hi All, just brought one of these , it a absolute hoot , pulls 115 mph sits quite happy on mways no buffeting around helmet but genral wind noise , my tiger 800 xcx is heavy but its all up top , the ducati ,s weight is all lower so it feels alot lighter to handle , it needs a better bash plate if you do any serious of roading , hand gaurds and heated grips on the way and this would make it a serious contender for a lengthy trip , luggage options still thin but enough out there for me going to interlaken in july and both will do it but fun factor its the sled tyres are very sticky not had a issue yet ,, if your thinking of one take out a demo i did and on return walked straight in and brought one

[britt1064]

Not the most practical bike but I've been drooling over them myself. I'd love to test ride one!

[Simon_100]

I'm looking forward to meeting this guy on the TET this summer:

"This summer I will finally live my dream and drive the TET all the way down from Amsterdam, Belgium, France to my Spanish house near Figueres. Then through the Pyrenees to Portugal and down to Tarifa. Jump to Morocco for 15 days (if anyone has tracks for Morocco please let me know) and go back to my Spanish house riding your new route on the Mediterranean side of Spain. I have 3 months for this adventure. The plan is to drive 15 days and rest 5... than drive again 15 days etc...

I will try to do all this on my 800 CC Ducati Desert Sled, which I bought just because it reminded me of my first bike, the Yamaha 500XT... I'm 50+, not very experienced but I'm a fast learner, not in a hurry and very eager to try it so... let's have some fun in life!"

Read more here ...

I think I'll just have to join him for a day or two ...

Simon

[v8mark]

if people do it on honda c90,s then any bike will do , now where's my Goldwing

[daveuprite]

I was taking a good look at one in Motomove Limoges a few weeks back. It's nice. Attractive styling (reminds me a bit of the original XT500) and a useful combination of naked street bike and dirt capable riding. Clearly not a serious off-roader but could be a useable (if far too heavy - as usual) gentle greenlaner/trail bike. It would depend a lot on what kind of trails you had in your local area. I wouldn't want to do anything very 'up and downy' on it, and proper rocky stuff looks out of the question. Definitely a cool bike, and a vast amount better than most of these awful home-made CX500-based bobbertrackercaféhipstermobiles which personally I wouldn't waste petrol setting light to.

Problem is it's the same price as a Triumph Street Triple, which will blast it into the weeds in every respect apart from the dirt-bit. You need to love that styling and image a lot.

[Simon_100]

if people do it on honda c90,s then any bike will do , now where's my Goldwing

Actually guy form Iron Butt asked me a few months ago whether he could ride the Bardena Blanca desert on his Goldwing - you can and he did!

Problem is it's the same price as a Triumph Street Triple, which will blast it into the weeds in every respect apart from the dirt-bit. You need to love that styling and image a lot.

Ah, but you're forgetting that it's a Ducati Dave!

Regs

Simon