Scrambler Ducati

SCRAMBLER DUCATI

WORLD’S COOLEST BIKES

Cool is inspired and inspiring. It’s an idea and an ideal. Cool can come from what a bike is or what it does, but at the core, Cool is about purity of expression, of material objects being infused with human energy, creativity, and insight to make them more than the sum of their parts.

A GREAT IMAGE, BUT THANKFULLY THE BIKE COMES FIRST

PETER JONES

The Scrambler Ducati is why we like motorcycles. It looks, feels, and sounds like a motorcycle should, and its visceral, biker virtues sing out when it’s in motion. Ride it hard, ride it soft, or ride it like you stole it just for the feeling of stealing, and it’s criminally just right, in any of its four flavors.

According to Ducati, this machine is far more than a new bike: It’s a new

brand. So it’s not a Ducati Scrambler, it’s a Scrambler Ducati. Okay, well... never mind.

Scrambler’s heritage harks back to the early 1960s. Berliner Motor Corporation, Ducati’s USA importers at the time—until the relationship became contentious—conceived the original (Ducati) Scrambler for the USA market. From that request, Ducati’s Renzo Neri designed the Scrambler, which was produced, in various engine

configurations, from 1962 until 1975, yet were always powered by singles, some using valve springs instead of desmodromic operation. To broaden the appeal of today’s version, the bike is powered by an air-/oil-cooled, desmo, two-valve, 803CC V-twin, fed by EFI through a 50mm throttle body. Although the powerplant is derived from the one used in the Monster 796CC, the cams are modified for a broader powerband, with 75 claimed peak horsepower at 8,250

rpm and 50.2 pound-feet of torque at 5,750 rpm. For Ducati, it’s a little twin.

Don’t in any way discount the Scrambler as just a rebooted Monster. Other than being small, naked, and sharing an engine platform, it’s a completely different machine in concept and execution. The rake angle is 24 degrees, which is pretty normal, but it has 4.4 inches of trail, which is on the long side. This is accomplished by minimal offset of the fork legs from the steering head, resulting in light yet ultrastable steering. During our first ride, the machine never once shook its bars no matter how hard or fast it was lifted and leaned from corner to corner.

Rayaba suspension features 41mm non-adjustable inverted fork legs and a monoshock with adjustable preload. It’s soft at both ends. This works well for the little bike, letting it move around

without causing less experienced riders to drive undue forces into the contact patches, adding to its predictable stability on pavement or dirt.

Adding to its ease of riding is the light-touch, cable-actuated wet clutch. A barrier to sales on some older Monsters was a heavy clutch, particularly in the “dry” era. The same light pull goes for the front single disc four-piston Brembo brake, which is entertainingly radial mounted, providing half of today’s latest braking technology. In defense of that, it likely contributes to a more consistent feel. ABS is standard.

Gone is Ducati’s patented plywood seat. The Scrambler’s seat is freakin’ tops for your bottom. It’s wide, stuffy, comfy, and nicely placed to facilitate pushing up against the fuel tank, if that’s your riding style in the tight or dirty stuff.

In historical harking of Scrambler

aesthetic and function, the front wheel is 18 inches, while the rear is 17. The Pirelli MT 60 RS tires are sized 110/80ZR-18 front, 180/55ZR-17 rear and were created specifically for the Scrambler, featuring an aggressively cut tread pattern. Although they provide far more bite for off-road riding than your basic street tire, their pavement grip is astounding.

The Scrambler’s mix of heritage and technology includes a conventionallooking round, glass-faced headlight, illuminated with a ring of LEDs around the center bulb. The tailand brake light are LED. A classic, single, round, fully digital gauge displays the speed on top and rpm on the bottom, making for a peculiar downward sweep of engine speed from right to left.

Differences among the four Scrambler versions are basically aesthetic. The Icon we rode is the base model and is

Scrambler Ducati Icon

Base price:

$8495

Dry weight:

375 Ib.

Wheelbase:

56.9 in.

Seat height:

31.1 in.

Fuel capacity:

3.6 gal.

FRANKLY, IT’S REFRESHING TO RIDE A NEW BIKE THAT’S AS BASIC IN ITS SOUL AS IT LOOKS FROM 20 FEET AWAY. OTHER THAN ABS AND EFI, THE SCRAMBLER IS AS OLD SCHOOL AS IT’S CLAIMED TO BE.

available in yellow ($8595) or red for $100 less, with a plastic front fender and steel handlebar. Urban Enduro has a high, triple-clamp-mounted fender, headlight grille, cross-brace on the bars, and comes in green, for hiding in municipal parks. Its exquisite seat is brown and horizontally ribbed. Full Throttle is sort of a street tracker and comes in black with yellow faux number plates, Termignoni exhaust, and tapered aluminum handlebar. The Classic is the only one of the four with a true rear fender and no swingarm-mounted floating fender. Fenders at each end are aluminum, and its brown seat has diamond quilting. Each machine has its own unique Scrambler Ducati logo: new branding times four.

Frankly, it’s refreshing to ride a new bike that’s as basic in its soul as it looks from 20 feet away. Other than ABS and EFI, the Scrambler is as old school as it’s somewhat claimed to be, with actual cables used for clutching and opening the throttle bodies.

As mentioned, its ease of handling and operating is exemplary, fulfilling desires for broad demographics of ages, sex, styles, rider heights, and experience, or lack of it. For some, the Scrambler can be an admirable only bike, while for those with machines of stupid amounts of

horsepower or other dedicated abilities, the Scrambler can easily be the favorite all-around second bike, no matter how many others one has. Anyway, it easily does well more than too mph.

Although the Scrambler excels at providing ease of riding and is a great bike for the nervous or less than competent, pigeonholing it as only that would be criminal. When ridden where only high rpm has value and the road is steeped in mountain terrain, the Scrambler’s full competence comes to life. Slide up on the seat, put your shoulders down, and grab some real biking happiness. The Scrambler is surefooted, easy steering, planted, and posh. It’s happy when it’s spurred hard.

One concern: Because the Scrambler has a smallish engine, the rpm must be maintained toward the higher half of the range or the bike goes chaghak-chaghak. That said, its EFI is smartly smooth in all transitions. Also, like other Ducatis, it doesn’t appreciate rolling to a stop with multiple downshifts in one clutch pull; respect each shift individually or be prepared to be unsure in which gear it rests.

Inspiring in image alone might have been enough, but dynamically the new Scrambler Ducati is in fact everything it promised to be.