1/28/23

Ducati’s DesertX recalls those romanticized days of the Paris-Dakar, multicylindered beasts, and the 1990 win of Edi Orioli on a Lucky Explorer Cagiva 900ie. Its silhouette is adventure, and its ability delivers on that promise. Now Ducati has cranked up the off-road capability with the 2024 DesertX Rally. With longer-travel suspension (9.8 inches of it), a high front fender, a carbon fiber skid plate, and plastics that are meant to take a beating rather than glossy paint, the Ducati has delivered a more dirtworthy X.

While our UK Cycle World contributor Adam Child didn’t race from France to Senegal on the DesertX Rally, he did get the chance to beat on it in the Moroccan desert for two days. There he encountered all the elements needed to fully test the dirt capabilities of the Rally: sand, rocks, high-speed dirt roads, and even a jump or 12.

In the end he had this to say. “Of course, our desert-based test leaves us in the dark about the Rally’s abilities on asphalt, but I can already and confidently state it is arguably one of the best road-legal ‘big’ adventure bikes ever ridden off-road…”

Read the full test for yourself here.

As always, there’s more than we can fit into this email. Check out cycleworld.com for additional tests, reviews, and news.

Ride on,

Justin Dawes

Executive Editor

Get Ready to Buy

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Lessons Learned, Challenges Overcome, Part 2

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