Ducati Scrambler

[PowderToastMan_imp]

So, Ducati had a little demo event this weekend at a local dealership (Motor Cafe Sunnyvale). I decided to head on over and sign up to demo something. At first I was going to go with the 800-ish Monster but then the Scrambler caught my eye and I switched my pick to that. Very interesting choice!

Here are my impressions.
The bike's build is very small and narrow. It feels and looks small with me on it compared to the CB. But, it was really pretty comfortable to sit on! The bars are up pretty high, they were in a decent place for me.
As soon as I turned the bike on, I could feel the character of the engine thumping on the handlebars. Not overbearing though, and not in a bad way, but definitely a stark contrast from the smoothness of our inline 4.
There's a bit of jerkiness on the throttle in first gear but if you shift pretty quick it's not too bad. The engine braking feels pretty hefty, too.
Now, the interesting part.. this sucker gets up to speed with very little twist of the throttle, and pretty quickly and smoothly. Does not feel like it's going as fast as what the speedo indicates! I was very surprised how confident I felt on such a small and light bike, even getting up to freeway speeds. I don't know if I would trust myself riding around on that sucker!

Hitting a bump in the pavement on the freeway I got a bit of shock to the handlebars, so maybe the front forks were not set up very well, not sure.. been over the same spot on my CB quite a lot of times and didn't notice the same thing.

Very flickable and nimble, and it felt very grippy with the particular tires they put on it.
I would have loved to take it to some of my usual twisties, but they did choose a route with some freeway and some semi-residential twisties (though not as much uphill/downhill and tight corners as my usual territory). I thought it was really great of them to give us that sort of route though. When I did the Indian demo in San Jose, it was just a few blocks within the city, so this was a real treat.

I'm not running to trade my CB in for one of these, but I definitely, definitely see the appeal, and I think it is a superb little bike, really!

[redbirds_imp]

Thanks PTM, good report. I would like to have one as a second bike just to ride the miles of dirt roads around here.

[PowderToastMan_imp]

Thanks PTM, good report. I would like to have one as a second bike just to ride the miles of dirt roads around here.

Yes, I have been kicking around a lot of ideas for things I might like to have as a second bike (if I ever get to where I have the space and money for that), and I think this one might be a winner!

Some other comments I forgot:
I don't really like the starter switch; it's small and kind of shrouded in something that my thumb doesn't fit very well into and the tactile feedback on it wasn't that good.
Also the turn signal switch was kind of small and very hard plastic, it felt very awkward. The gauge and indicator panel is kind of small and in a weird spot off to the side so I bet it could be pretty easy to lose track of having a blinker on if you're not paying extra attention. On the CB I feel like I can usually have a handle on the blinker indicators out of the corner of my eye.

[Novice_imp]

I've always liked Ducati although I've never owned one. I like the idea of the scrambler. I just find it to be let's just say not as pleasing to the eye as the CB. Thanks for the report though.

[PowderToastMan_imp]

I've always liked Ducati although I've never owned one. I like the idea of the scrambler. I just find it to be let's just say not as pleasing to the eye as the CB. Thanks for the report though.

Fully agree, the CB is just a beauty.

So I went back to see if there were any bikes open for another test session (they only let you reserve one each day), and there were some Multistradas not accounted for so I hopped on one.

It's a very tall bike, definite touring kind of thing, and has lots of fancy electronic gizmos going on. Some weird switch for the ignition, a full color LCD console, etc.

This one has a bit of a slower throttle response but definitely has a lot of giddyup available. Keeping up with the group only required very gentle throttle. Compared to the Scrambler, the vibration is not really felt on the bars at all, but you can still feel it on the seat and where you grip the tank with your legs.

Once again I really don't like the ignition switch or the turn signal switch, and this time I had issues with getting at the turn signal while pulling in the clutch. I stalled the thing three times at stop signs!

All that said I think it was a fairly smooth ride (if you forget the v-twin engine thump), pretty comfortable to sit on, and once again going a certain speed kind of didn't feel like I was actually going that fast. I think it would be really great for a long touring type of ride, but I strongly prefer the CB for my usual weekend twisties duty.

Last but not least, another pic!

[Cormanus]

Thanks PTM. Good to have some view on other bikes. The response to the Scrambler on this forum has been very positive.

[DAC]

Nice write up! The Scrambler is a nice runabout but that's about it. The Multi is a very enticing long range ride. I know someone who has done an Iron Butt on one and it was so easy for him it was like he was on a GoldWing.

[emptysea]

Thanks for sharing your impressions. I'd like a scrambler or a dual-sport of one sort or another at some point in my riding career. Time, space, money.