Two years after Ducati teased us with the DesertX, a Dakar-inspired concept adventure bike, the Italian manufacturer has confirmed that it is now in production and will appear in showrooms in 2022, with a full reveal set to take place on 9 December.
While we’ll have to wait until then for full details and specs, the team from Borgo Panigale has provided a few tidbits of information, alongside some stunning images of the DesertX being ridden in anger, and they’ve got us seriously excited here at ABR HQ.
So, what’s there to know?
What can we expect from the Ducati DesertX?
First up is news on the engine.
Back in 2019, the DesertX concept was fitted with with the same 1,079cc, 86bhp engine found in Ducati’s Scrambler line up. That’s gone for 2022, and in its place, riders will find the same 937cc water-cooled Testastretta engine that features in the Multistrada 950.
In the Multistrada, that produces around 113bhp and 96Nm of torque, so we’re expecting the new DesertX to pack some serious punch out on the trails.
And, judging by the photos and the 21-inch front tyre, that’s where Ducati hopes the DesertX will excel. We imagine that 21-inch front hoop will be coupled with an 18-inch rear, and both are spoked and clad in knobbly rubber to handle life in the rough stuff.
The concept bike from 2019
While the photos Ducati has released show the bike partially shrouded in a cloud of dust, the round LED headlights, stubby off-road friendly screen, and slim fairing all remain from the concept model that was revealed back in 2019 (which you can see pictured above). That model also sported dual fuel tanks (with a rumoured capacity of a massive 30l), and we’re hoping that they’ll remain for continent-busting range between fill-ups.
With these confirmed stats in mind, it looks like the closest rival to the DesertX (on paper at least) will be Honda’s CRF1100L Africa Twin, or even Triumph’s Tiger 900 Rally Pro.
How it’ll match up in the real world remains to be seen, but we’ll keep you up-to-date as and when we hear more.
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