Ready to take on THE WORLD

Ducati keep going from strength to strength, and have upped the adventure bike ante once again with the DesertX Rally, a high-spec and genuinely race-capable development of the excellent DesertX

- Adam 'Chad' Child

Ducati's DesertX Rally

The Rally is truly a DesertX on steroids, a road-legal ready-to-race bike with beefed-up, long-travel KYB suspension and little in terms of componentry and intent to separate it from the machine that won the twin-cylinder class of the recent Iron Road Prologue at the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo in Austria. Its styling cues shift somewhat from desert raider to enduro - note the high-mount front mudguard - while paintless 'mass-coloured' plastics and a forged carbon bashplate signal a tougher, more durable machine expected to take a few hits.

Like the base DesertX, the Rally is powered by the eminently versatile 937cc Testastretta 11° L-twin, which produces 110hp at 9250rpm and 68lb-ft at 6500rpm. Ducatis DQS quick shifter is standard and service intervals are every two years or every 15,000km, with valve clearance checks at 30,000km. On the electronics front, there are six riding modes perming from four power modes; three levels of engine braking; eight traction control settings; three levels of cornering ABS; and switchable wheelie control. So, plenty to play with.

I'd not ridden a DesertX for six months but, on our two-day test in the wilds of Morocco, the new Rally felt instantly familiar, with easy-to-understand switch-gear and those numerous modes and rider aids at my fingertips. In the congested streets of Marrakesh, I selected Urban mode, then opted for Sports mode on the asphalt road out of town and, when we hit the dusty trails, Enduro followed by the full power Rally mode as the pace got hotter. All done, thank you very much, in a moment and on the move, eyes still on the view ahead.