Scrambler 800 Icon, Full Throttle, Nightshift. 1100 Tribute Pro
Much of the current crop of stylish machinery is aimed purely and purposely at urban riders those folk that want a cool and stylish machine to ride into town and commute to work. And the greater majority of those bikes are marketed as such by the manufacturers - hip, city-dwelling machines that are ideal for battling through traffic yet will look ideal parked outside the swankiest of coffee shops.
And, while the image on this spread is clearly displaying the fact that the bikes in the Ducati Scrambler range are expected to excel in the urban environment, we don't think that any bike should be labelled as being made just for one job, or have the suggestion that there's only one place where it'll look good.
On the face of it, here are four bikes from one manufacturer's line-up that are very similar in terms of style, specification and price. The easy assumption would be that they're all very much the same bike (with some minor detail changes) that is made with just one job in mind, and that devoting a large part of one magazine to the four machines would be a little frivolous. Yet we wanted to see just how varied these four versions of Ducati's Scrambler model are, and how they coped not only in a crowded cityscape, but also out where we get the biggest of smiles with the best of biking kicks. And we got some rather surprising results...
DUCATI SCRAMBLER ICON 800
Base model brilliance
WORDS: Ross Mowbray
Ducati has hit gold with its Scrambler range. It sells a ton of bikes to the types of riders who probably wouldn't have been interested in the Italian firm's more traditional sporty output. With a couple of engine sizes to choose from, and a host of different models built around the same sorted chassis, it's pretty easy to see why they're so incredibly popular.
Denne historien er fra October 2023-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
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Denne historien er fra October 2023-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Honda CRF1100L ES Africa Twin
Without panniers he was adventuring nowhere - so at least Bertie's got something sorted now
BMW R 12 nineT
Chad gets a track day surprise when BMW's R 12 nineT turns out to be surprisingly fun on track
Test fleet: VOGE 525 DSX
After testing the Voge's abilities on a long ride, it was time to take it to the Cotswolds and see how it would manage on the rougher stuff
Portuguese Perambulations
Nearly over before it had begun, a brief workshop stint allows Spain and Portugal to be explored
Highway to Heaven
Three friends take on the challenge of riding the length of Canada, from Vancouver in the southwest to Inuvik in the north. The road is long, the conditions merciless, and wildfires are tearing through the country. To top it all off, the final leg of the journey is the ultimate test of gravel riding skills, nerves, and courage - it's the legendary Dempster Highway...
Battlaxes at the ready!
We tend to take tyres for granted, never really looking at them in any detail, or at how they work, just hoping that they keep us shiny side up at all times. Even in the wet
Ducati Riding Experience
When I rode the Ducati DesertX to France last year, I did have a bit of an explore on some easy fire roads and gentle green lanes in the wilds of the Médoc area, but was left with the feeling that, had I the experience, the DesertX would have been capable of taking me along some more extreme trails to some even more exciting places. If only there was a way of finding out just how well the Italian adventure bike could cope with some more extreme terrain...
Four pot flyer
Many said that sports bikes, and particularly bikes in the traditional Supersports class that was populated by 600cc inline fours, were dead. Maybe they spoke too soon?...
Eastern adventurer
With an increasing interest in smaller capacity adventure bikes, the market expands with a new entry
First Time Lucky?
It's ironic that the first all-new MV Agusta model to hit the marketplace right after Italy's No.1 trophy brand was acquired by Austrian giant Pierer Mobility, owner of off-road titans KTM, should be the company's first dual-purpose model of the modern era, powered by MV's all-new 931cc three-cylinder engine that's destined to form the basis of a whole series of new models in coming months and years.
