#desertx

The success is highlighted throughout Ducati’s top markets: Italy +7 percent, United States and Germany +21 percent

It was a hard choice between winner and runner-up in the Adventure category which means we’re the real winners. There are so many great options not only in the middleweight category, but also the genre as a whole. The Ducati and Aprilia are two of the latest entrants into the segment and the Tuareg managed to eke out the win for precisely the reason we’ve seen it twice now in our MOBO selection – its exceptional value proposition.

2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660 Review – First Ride

The 660cc Parallel Twin-powered Tuareg proved its versatility during our long ride off-road and on from Sturgis to Los Angeles during our August Showdown. It was Evans’ and my preferred steed for the long stints on the street and gave up little if anything when the trail got bumpy. Further showing its versatility was the fact that Evans and I had the same observations despite our different levels of off-road proficiency. Being able to adjust the electronics to suit the ride really helps the tailor the Tuareg for a large swath of riders. The fact that it’s smaller in stature and displacement also helps those new to riding or the ADV scene to feel less intimidated while allowing them to enjoy their first foray into the unknown.

For Aprilia to knock it out of the park with the first really well-rounded adventure machine certainly deserves praise, and like we mentioned before, the Italian marque has managed to do so while providing a great value relative to any motorcycle segment – not just for an ADV bike. And it’s for those reasons that we’re giving the Aprilia Tuareg our Best Adventure Motorcycle of the Year award.

When the DesertX prototype hit the scene at EICMA in 2019, it was portrayed as a Dakar-inspired Scrambler variant – that was the initial idea anyway. As you’re likely already aware, the production DesertX is anything but. Powered by the proven 937cc Testastretta 11° Desmo engine, the 2023 Ducati Desert X has been designed from the ground up as a purpose-built adventure machine.

Join other DesertX fans on the Ducati DesertX Forum!

With all due respect to its Multistrada models, Ducati‘s current adventure bike offerings are better suited for paved streets with the occasional sojourn on fire roads. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. After all, we did just pick the Multistrada V4 S as our MOBO winner for the best sport-tourig motorcycle of 2021. If you were looking for a more off-road performance from Ducati, you now have a better option in the new 2022 Ducati DesertX. With long-travel suspension, a 21-inch front wheel and a large fuel tank (plus an optional second tank), the 2022 DesertX is Ducati’s new entry to the highly competitive middleweight adventure bike segment.

Ducati originally presented the DesertX as a concept model at EICMA in 2019, with the air-cooled Scrambler providing the platform. The production model keeps the concept’s rally-inspired styling, but with Ducati’s liquid-cooled 937cc Testastretta 11° Desmodromic engine as its powerplant.

Visually, the DesertX is styled after enduro motorcycles from the ’80s. The Cagiva Elefant is an obvious inspiration with the white color scheme, dark lower section to the windscreen and twin circular LED lights, but Ducati doesn’t mention the bike by name, perhaps because of a similarly-inspired upcoming new model from another Italian manufacturer with stronger claims to the Cagiva brand.

Ducati announced a slate of 2022 new model announcements that will run every two weeks starting Sept. 30 and running through to Dec. 9. Each Ducati World Première event will be presented online on Ducati.com, YouTube and on other official social networks.

While Ducati hasn’t explicitly said what will be revealed in each episode, it did make it clear that the sixth and final episode will feature the DesertX, a brand new off-road focused adventure bike.

Ducati usually makes a big splash at EICMA, Italy being its home market, of course, but in recent years, Ducati has been moving its product reveals farther and farther ahead of the show, with this year’s launch taking place two weeks ahead of the Milan show.

As such, we’ve already had plenty of time to digest Ducati’s new 2020 models, such as the Streetfighter V4, Panigales and various model variants. Still, Ducati can’t show up in Milan without showing something new, displaying two concepts that take its Scrambler brand in a couple of new directions.