BREAKING: Ducati’s Most EXTREME Motorcycle Lands In India

Ducati India has finally launched the DesertX, priced at Rs 17,91,000 (ex-showroom). This price tag places the most extreme Ducati to roll out of Bologna at a premium of Rs 2,41,000 over its primary rival, the Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro. But what do you get for this price tag? Here you go…

The Ducati DesertX is essentially a modern-day rendition of the Paris-Dakar rally bikes from the 1980s. From the dual-LED projector headlights to the auxiliary fuel tank and the rally-style vertically oriented TFT console, every bit of this Ducati bike wants you to venture beyond the tarmac.

Powering the Ducati DesertX is a 937cc, L-Twin, liquid-cooled mill, which is also seen in the  Multistrada V2, Hypermotard 950, Supersport 950 and the Monster. However, the engine has been tuned differently to produce 110PS at 9,250rpm and 92Nm at 6,500rpm. The six-speed gearbox features shorter first five gears for off-road useability and a longer sixth gear for highway touring.

Supporting this wild engine is a steel trellis chassis built to take a beating, suspended on a fully adjustable 46mm Kayaba fork and monoshock. Braking hardware consists of twin 320mm front discs (paired with Brembo M50 monobloc calipers) and a 265mm rear disc with a Brembo caliper. It runs on 21/18-inch wheels wrapped with Pirelli Scorpion STR tyres, offering a tall rally-style seat height of 875mm.

The DesertX also comes loaded with a suite of electronic aids, including multi-level ABS, traction control, wheelie control, engine braking control, and a bi-directional quickshifter. It gets four power modes: Full, High, Medium, and Low. It gets six riding modes: Sport, Touring, Urban, Wet, Enduro, and Rally.

Access to these electronics is carried out through a vertical five-inch TFT console, meant to aid visibility when straddling. This console is compatible with the Ducati Multimedia System to allow phone call/message alerts and turn-by-turn navigation. One can even toggle between Standard and Rally display modes, the latter displaying information in a way reminiscent of Dakar bikes.

The Ducati DesertX also gets some rally-raid inspired accessories, like an eight-litre auxiliary fuel tank from which fuel can be transferred to the 21-litre primary tank using a secondary pump. Other accessories for the DesertX include multiple crash protection kits and panniers with a combined capacity of 117 litres.

In addition to the Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro, the Ducati DesertX also rivals the BMW F 850 GS and the Honda Africa Twin. Bookings of the DesertX are now open in all Ducati dealerships in Delhi – NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, Kolkata & Chennai, while deliveries are slated to begin from January 2023.