Ducati Desert X Trail Discussion: Who Is This Bike For?
Vložit
- čas přidán 13. 12. 2023
- Is the Ducati Desert X just a styling exercise? A pretty bike with a hefty price tag that will appeal only to someone who wants to decorate their living room?
Hell no.
The Desert X might just be the most dirt capable big adventure bike out there. It certainly is in India.
Watch this really long discussion between my friend Yudhvir and me on the dirt capabilities of the Desert X and whether we would consider it to buy ourselves.
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below and I will try and answer them to the best of my abilities.
Cheers - Auta a dopravní prostředky
As a Dx owner and rider living 1000 kms away from the closest service centre I had a few thoughts to share, but I realised it was turning into an essay and I decided to let it rest.
I live in the North East, I ride solo to remote places, I've been servicing the bike by myself and not once have I felt like it's going to break down or give me any real trouble. A small tool kit and a workshop guide on my phone is all I need to carry. (Let's hope Ducati India doesn't read this)
For context the Dx was 18.5L on-road for me vs 16.5 for the Tiger 9 RP.
Extremely capable, poised, confident, asks a lot from me as a rider, and an absolute looker.
Listened to the whole podcast! Keep em coming, bro. Absolutely loved it!
We are not bored. Keep the videos coming guys.😃
Excellent video! Congrats!
Thank you very much!
Fantastic video. I'm deciding on a new bike between the Desert X and the new upcoming Tiger 900 Rally Pro. Though I know the Tiger would be better for me as I won't be doing much off road and will use the bike primarily for touring I'm finding it very difficult to not put my money on the DesertX. Looking forward to your views on how the Desert X performs on the road and hopefully an answer to which is overall the better bike to ride. 👍🏽
Why are you buying either if you don't go off-road? Buy the Tiger 900 GT Pro which is a very much better bike than either of them for road touring.
sadly and unlike in the west, these cost a lot in India and spares are not readily available. So even the ones who can afford this will never really use this for its intended purpose. Whoever does, good on them.
This comment is just to let Yudhvir know that people do watch the entire video 😂
Amazing video guys enjoyed it thoroughly and completely agree with you guys on most things. Would definitely consider this over a tiger but not sure what the new GS900 would bring 😜
Ohhhh. I really like the way that new F900 has been engineered. It's my kinda bike.
There's a game called Ride 2 they have lots of retro cagivas in that game ❤
Oh, is it. I must try the game then.
I somehow like the bike without the beak! Feels different. Feels nice.
Excellent Analysis guys ❤ Just one question, Where does Himalayan 450 fall in that scale as per your ride experience?
I have a feeling the Himalayan would be closer to the GS1200, somewhere bang in the middle. But it might just be better off-road than on-road. So, towards the dirt side, but ever so slightly.
Awesome, that's interesting ❤
Buy this or wait for the F900 GS?
I think you are still missing how good this bike is on road. Watch Chris from bikeworld and Fortnine's videos on it. It is sportsbike like in handling twisties. I test rode everything before buying it. Have a full system termi on it. Left a Panigale v4 and a multi v 2 in the wake on the twisties. I live in Chandigarh so my daily rides are twisties uphill.The guys riding those are test riding this now.
Thumbnail 🔥🔥🔥
And this is what we need more of .. people who actually do off-roading talking about an offroad machine
This is definitely a gorgeous machine and I do love Ducatis in terms of design (having owned a couple). I also believe, capable or not (for a huge and heavy adv) this bike in an Indian context is destined to be mostly an exotic and rare garage queen. I don’t see many people trading up their GS’s or Tigers for this. Even when money is no object, no one’s gonna be thrashing it around like you have on a regular basis. The thought of dropping or disabling the bike (and waiting weeks/months for expensive parts and repairs) just kills its true potential for the fun one can have on an off road oriented destination. So even though it has better off road capability’s, will it actually be used that way? I think not. It’s just too exotic, too rare, too expensive.
Going the exotic route, I haven’t had more fun on a bike than the Husqvarna 701 enduro with 74hp/74Nm at 156kg kerb weight. The 701 will literally run circles around the Desert X or most bikes in the context of adventure riding in Ladakh or for that matter almost anywhere else in India. Unfortunately, the Indian market is not matured enough (esp off-road) that we’ll see truly purposeful bikes anytime soon.
The problem is the 690/701 just isn't available in India. Even I would prefer a simpler, single cylinder bike to do what I want to do with the Ducati, but just no options in India!
No worries guys, we aren't bored, rather i enjoy the chemistry and viewpoints.
Thanks buddy :)
It's challenging KTM's 890 Adventure R, & Husqvarna 901 Norden Expedition, amongst others.. You two should test those out, to get a wider perspective..😉
Unfortunately, they aren't available in our country.
I have two questions. Is the overall perfomance of the Desert x better than that of the Tiger 900 rally pro?
Should one get the Desert x regardless of the lack of Ducati service centers in India?
Overall performance better, yes. Ducati has 10 service centres in India. All big metros covered.
What was best bike in 2023 for trails you have experienced? How about triumph scrambler 900 or 1200 trail test?
My KTM EXC 200 two stroke. Nothing comes close to it on trails. I'll have to ride the Scrambler 900 and 1200 to comment on them.
Dirt bikes are best for trails bro. Probably the kawasaki 450 is the cream of the crop as the ktm 450 aren't quite as easily available. But even then I've seen one in our country 🙀
Yudhvir reminds me of Om Puri of bikes.
O... come Ahinav we are never bored...
How about Honda XL 750 next? Place that on the scale.
Yet to ride it. I saw it up close and it felt quite ordinary.
Who is this bike for ? Rich people.
Is it better than KTM 790?
Can't say. Never ridden the 790.
Why do we keep talking about dropping motorcycles 😢😅???
If only I had the money to buy this.
Same, brother. Same.
B Oui
Mind- Himalayan 450
Heart- Desert X
Reality - Family & Wallet kicking me out 😅😅😅
TBH, been following & saving for this bike since launch & now Himalayan has screwed everything 😢😢. I hate RE for bringing such a Nice product 😐.
Guys u forgot Ducati Desert sled !
Oh yeah!
Triumph tiger 1200 rally pro has a 21 front and 18 rear 😬
Does it have an 18 rear? I always thought 17.
💰For Super duper pooper Rich ?? 💰
Haha. True.
I think you might know Aryapriyo Mukherjee from your Delhi biking circle or on TeamBHP as bhpian no_fear. He and his brother are great guys to discuss Ducatis with and own maybe the best Ducati collection from the 1098 to the V4SP, including the bloody rare 1199R!
Never heard of him. Nice collection though.