Riding the wave of their most successful year ever, Italian manufacturer Ducati has unveiled a host of new models on the eve of the annual EICMA event in Milan. Arguably the most exciting new models are the all-new 400cc Scrambler, a Multistrada that is actually designed to go off-road, and a Diavel that finally gives in to the dark side and offers feet-forward seating.
We'll
take a more extensive look at some of these bikes later today, and in
the days to come, but here's a very brief overview of what was revealed
at Milan's Elfo Puccini Theater on Monday night.
Scrambler Sixty2
Getting
its name from the year the original Ducati Scrambler was released
(1962), the new Sixty2 is powered by a 399-cc air-cooled 90-degree
V-twin. Ducati claims it will deliver 41 hp at 8,750 rpm and 34.3 Nm at
7,750 rpm (or a little more than 25 lb. ft. in the old math).
Ducati
CEO Claudio Domenicali repeated the assertion that Scrambler is a
sub-brand of Ducati, and one that has been incredibly important for the
company. In the roughly 10 months since its initial public arrival, it
has sold just shy of 15,000 units, thereby putting a Ducati in the top
10 worldwide sellers for the first time in the company's 89-year
history. This new 400-cc addition will not only appeal to younger/newer
riders, it will also allow the company to reach previously untapped
markets around the world.
Scrambler Sixty2 |
Ducati Scrambler Sixty2
Scrambler Flat Track Pro
As
part of the Scrambler expansion, Ducati also unveiled another variant
of the 803-cc version, this one designed to cash in on the popularity of
flat-trackers. From a distance, though, it is indistinguishable from a
standard Scrambler Icon, save for additional number plate space on the
side and front.
Flat Track Pro |
Ducati Scrambler Flat Track Pro
Multistrada 1200 Enduro
Claiming
that it's the "first Ducati to be able to travel the world, really, on
any terrain," the Multistrada 1200 Enduro is a top-of-the-line machine
designed to compete in the rarefied air currently occupied by the BMW
R1200 GS Adventure and KTM 1290 Super Adventure. Sporting a 30-liter
tank (6.6 gallons), the bike is wide and dripping with electronic aids
such as cornering ABS and the ability to read texts on the bike's
dashboard (because why should car drivers be the only ones getting
distracted?).
Multistrada 1200 Enduro |
Multistrada 1200 Enduro
Multistrada Pike's Peak
Commemorating
a run up Pike's Peak this summer with erstwhile RideApart pal Jamie
Robinson at the helm, the Multistrada Pike's Peak is basically the
road-going Multistrada we all know and love with a fancy paint job,
which of course makes it go faster. OK, well, it's more than that. The
bike features a number of suspension and performance upgrades too.
Multistrada 1200 Pike's Peak |
Multistrada 1200 Pike's Peak
XDiavel S
Remember
when Ducati used to get really uptight when people would refer to the
Diavel as a cruiser? They hated that, so much so that they went out of
their way to tell people: "Don't call it a cruiser."
Now
you can call it a cruiser. The XDiavel S has feet-forward pegs. This is
the thing Ducati was teasing with those weird videos not too long ago,
and Claudio Domenicali spent a very long time working through an awkward
analogy regarding the difference between the colors red and black as a
means of explaining that embracing the cruiser genre has been something
of a challenge for a company that takes so much pride in its racing
heritage.
To
that end, Ducati have made an atypical cruiser. As one of Ducati's test
riders, Alessandro Valia, said: "It does everything that cruisers
don't. It accelerates, brakes, handles..."
XDiavel S |
XDiavel S
Panigale 959
That
racing heritage carries forward in the form of the new Panigale 959,
which sees the engine size of the "little" Panigale boosted by almost
60-cc. That boost sees the 959 delivering 157 hp at 10,500 rpm,
according to Ducati. The bike has also seen some minor design tweaks
that aren't immediately apparent to a sportbike novice. Amusingly,
Ducati still refers to this almost 1-liter bike as "midsize."
Ducati Panigale 959 |
Panigale 959
Hypermotard 939, Hypermotard 939 SP, and Hyperstrada 939
Like
so many of the bikes in the Ducati lineup, the Hypermotard/Hyperstrada
gets a new, bigger engine for 2016, which will see power increase to 113
hp and torque by 10 percent. The Hypermotard 939 SP is similar to the
Multistrada Pike's Peak bike in the sense that it too has been given a
fancy go-faster paint job. The Hyperstrada, of course, is a Hypermotard
with a screen, bags, and a few other accoutrements to facilitate
tackling light touring.
Hypermotard 939 |
Hypermotard 939
Hypermotard 939 SP |
Hypermotard 939 SP
Hyperstrada 939 |
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