DUCATI’S DESERTX IS A WELCOME THROWBACK to the early 1990s and the golden era of the infamous Paris-Dakar Rally (now the Dakar Rally), an event dominated by gargantuan twin-cylinder dune busters. These bikes were big, brutal, fast—and looked cool—and while Ducati never won the Dakar, their engines did in 1990 and 1994 with Cagiva. The new DesertX is clearly inspired by those old-school Dakar icons.
Ducati first unveiled the DesertX concept as an air-cooled 1,100, complete with side-mounted Scrambler-style shock, at EICMA back in 2019 and it looked awesome. The production bike today looks similarly dramatic and, thankfully, Ducati have stayed with the concept bike’s twin headlights. The powerplant is now the 937-cc liquid-cooled 110-hp Testastretta V-twin and the rear shock has moved to a more conventional position, but, otherwise, it is equally evocative and true to the original vision.
This motorcycle also signifies a huge step for Ducati, who are stepping into a new class. It is the first production bike to come from Bologna with a 21-inch-18-inch front-rear wheel combination since the 1960s and so it required an all-new chassis, suspension, electronics… Almost every part is unique to the DesertX.
The X has been designed to work both on and off road, while being intrinsically easy to use, so it has much to prove. We flew to Sardinia,
