Scrambler 1100. THE ORDER OF THINGS

This bigger model follows the 803cc Scramblers and 399cc Scrambler Sixty2 to expand the range across three capacity classes, echoing the Scrambler 250, 350 and 450 singles of the early Seventies.

Yet while the Scrambler 1100 Special that I’m riding along a picturesque coast road near Lisbon looks as though it’s clearly related to its 803 and 399cc siblings, and its name and relaxed character confirm the link, there’s enough of a familiar feel about the air-cooled V-twin to suggest that its lineage stretches a lot further back than to 2015, when the new-generation Scrambler was launched.

This bike’s 1079cc capacity and SOHC, two-valves-per-cylinder V-twin in a tubular steel trellis frame are characteristics that Ducati has used for many years with the Monster 1100 and 1100 EVO. They also formed the basis of the Hypermotard 1100 models, before both families were revamped with a new range of liquid-cooled models some years ago.

So while in one sense the 1100 Special is a mid-sized Scrambler that has grown up and filled out a bit, at