A new seat and paint job are more than enough reason to revisit the off-road-ready Scrambler.

By Chris Northover, cycleworld.com

The retrobike scene is as strong as ever, with pretty much every manufacturer from Triumph to Kawasaki digging up heritage stories and building classically styled bikes to match. But the best thing about the current wave of retrobikes is that the sacrifice in performance for style is becoming less and less pronounced. And while the Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled would be hard work to actually race across a desert, it does have some genuine off-road capability.

The fully adjustable Kayaba fork and preload/rebound-adjustable shock both have 7.9 inches of travel, and with more than 9 inches of ground clearance, you can tackle some decent terrain without tearing a hole in your cases. And sure, a 21-inch front wheel would be better off-road, but the spoked 19/17-inch wheel combo is a proven adventure bike setup for striking a balance between dirt and asphalt.

Equally important as ground clearance and suspension is riding position; no amount of travel will make up for ergonomics that don’t work when you’re standing up. Thankfully the Sled works well; it feels a little wide, particularly if you’ve just stepped off a dirt bike, but the bars are a good shape and well-positioned for standing operation. The only weak point here is down by your feet; the pretty aluminium footpegs look nice, but even with the rubber removed they’re slippery, especially when mud and water get involved.

But enough number crunching; take a look at that new paint scheme. Changes to the new Desert Sled don’t really go much further than a new seat and new colors, but when the colors are this good, does that matter? This is definitely one of those bikes that looks even better in the metal and keeps looking better the longer you look at it. It’s a neat-looking bike too; not just neat as in “nice,” but neat as in “Marie Kondo would be proud of the lack of clutter and plumbing around the motor.” That’s obviously helped by the oil-/air-cooled L-Twin, which does away with the radiator and associated coolant hoses. But even aside from the benefits of the old-school cooling methods, the side view of the bike is pleasantly free from dangling wires and ugly sensors. And while there’s plenty of scope for customization and tuning, there isn’t much about the standard bike that could be considered awkward or out of place.

There are now nine different Scrambler models available, two 1,100cc versions and seven 803cc bikes. There has to be a Disney remake in there somewhere. The seven dwarves have had a Nu-Wave Metal rebranding and are now called Icon, Icon Dark, Nightshift, Café Racer, Desert Sled, Full Throttle, and Sixty2. Think Snow White, as played by Shayna Texter, facing off against her wicked stepmother, played by Sammy Halbert in a wig, in a mile-oval race on reasonably priced Italian streetbikes.

The Desert Sled rumbles into life with that familiar slow cranking that sounds like the battery is going flat; don’t worry, sir, they all do that. The simple digital speedometer manages to pack in a decent amount of usable functionality, with on- and off-road riding modes called Journey and Off-Road respectively. In Off-Road mode the ABS system can be switched off to unlock “skid mode”—Ducati doesn’t actually call it that, but it definitely should. The minimalist dash is compatible with the Ducati multimedia system, allowing riders to control music with a smartphone and even use handlebar-mounted switch gear to answer calls. Better still, it can be used to reject calls with voicemail messages set to “Can’t talk; busy being awesome.”

Like each of the seven different 803cc Scramblers, the Desert Sled is an easy bike to ride. For those who like to get both feet flat on the floor at a stoplight, the tallish 33.9-ich seat can be swapped for an accessory 33-inch option, but other than that the Sled is hardly an intimidating bike. The clutch is light, the throttle is soft, and the engine resistant to stalling at low speed. For newer or less confident riders, it’s a dream, allowing the rider to get on with looking cool and racking up miles of experience and fun. That doesn’t mean no fun for more enthusiastic Sledders; it just means all the slow-speed stuff is a doddle, including wheelies, spin turns, skids, and any other parking lot antics you fancy.

On the road, the Sled is great fun in a relaxed kind of way. The 73 hp engine is never going to set your world on fire in a straight line, but it has plenty of go for cruising and enjoying twisty roads. Thrashing it up and down the gears, skidding into turns, and firing out into the straights is fun in its own way, but other bikes are better for this style of riding, not least Ducati’s own Hypermotard. The chassis follows the chilled-out theme: It doesn’t dart into an apex like a sportbike, but neither does it require 100 yards of persuasion to make a turn, like a big raked-out cruiser. Wide handlebars let you throw it around, flicking easily between turns, and the chassis follows obediently without shaking its head or resisting. Sitting down, the bars feel high, like you’re sitting behind them; this makes swinging the bike from turn to turn even easier. The large single front brake is, you guessed it, effective without being intimidating; if you want to ride it flat out like a supermoto, you might want a touch more bite and power, but the rest of the time it follows the Scrambler’s theme: simple and effective.

Heading off-road really brings the Desert Sled to life. The easy low-speed handling and predictable throttle response translate into endless miles of powerslides and skid turns. A little more power would make off-roading even more fun, but the fact that you have to provoke it makes it perfect for all riders, not just the crazy ones. On flowing gravel trails the Sled is a great fun bike to play around on, with enough travel to soak up the occasional pothole as you carve through the countryside.

If you start turning up the speed and hitting larger obstacles, you get a sharp reminder from the rear shock that this is not a rally bike. Too much off-road speed doesn’t work on the Sled; try to hang with, say, the new KTM 890 Adventure R through the rough stuff and you’ll come unstuck from terra firma. But you’ll look cool doing it. The fact that I kept falling into the trap of riding it too quickly off-road speaks volumes about how well the Desert Sled does on the dirt; it’s too easy to forget that this is a streetbike first and off-road bike second. On more technical trails, the light clutch, decent clearance, and soft power delivery let you get the Desert Sled to places that no hipster-spec scrambler has any right to be.

Before riding the Desert Sled, my mind was split. It’s a stunning bike, ticking lots of the right boxes from the styling of dirt bikes I grew up wanting. The gold wheels from my Dad’s old XT350, the big fat, flat seat from ’70s Husky motocrossers; Ducati has been almost shameless in taking cues from the bikes of our youth. Still, the 44-pound weight gain over a Scrambler Icon and the 73 hp motor had me questioning whether I would find myself wanting more performance. But after a few tanks of gas, the Sled had really endeared itself to me.

It is not a bike for big adrenaline kicks and riding flat out. It’s a bike for having fun, for skidding along a gravel track just because you can, for riding up a mountain in the snow just for a laugh. When the update to the Scrambler range was announced, I was gutted that Ducati hadn’t yet released an 1,100cc version of the Desert Sled. I still think that bike would be awesome. But this 803cc version, with its new seat and fancy paint, makes perfect sense. At $11,995 it makes a great alternative to the swathes of big-screen, beak-sporting adventure bikes. It will tackle the same terrain and look good while doing so. Just make sure you befriend them so they’ll lend you a gallon of fuel to get back home.

2021 Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled Specifications

MSRP:	$11,995
Engine:	803cc air-cooled L-Twin; 2 valves/cyl.
Bore x Stroke:	88.0 x 66.0mm
Transmission/Final Drive:	6-speed/chain
Claimed Horsepower:	73.0 hp @ 8,250 rpm
Claimed Torque:	49.0 lb.-ft. @ 5,750 rpm
Fuel System:	Electronic fuel injection w/ 50mm throttle body
Clutch:	Slipper and self-servo wet multiplate; hydraulically actuated
Frame:	Tubular steel trellis frame
Front Suspension:	46mm USD fork, preload, compression, and rebound adjustable, 7.9 in. travel
Rear Suspension:	KYB shock, preload and rebound adjustable, 7.9 in. travel
Front Brake:	Radial 4-piston caliper, 330mm disc w/ Bosch Cornering ABS
Rear Brake:	1-piston floating caliper, 245mm disc w/ Bosch Cornering ABS
Wheels, Front/Rear:	Spoked aluminium; 19 x 3.0 in. / 17 x 4.5 in.
Tires, Front/Rear:	Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR; 120/70R-19 / 170/60R-17
Rake/Trail:	24.0°/4.4 in.
Wheelbase:	59.3 in.
Ground Clearance:	N/A
Seat Height:	33.9 in.
Fuel Capacity:	3.6 gal.
Claimed Wet Weight:	461 lb.
Availability:	Now
Contact:	scramblerducati.com