Ducati Scrambler 2015

[ll2]

Sales in Thailand aren't going as fast as hoped for. Was at the bike show Friday and I was told that when I order one today I will get the Thai assembled Scrambler in March.

It looks like classic/retro bike lovers decided to spend their cash on Triumph Bonneville!

Bad economic climate in Thailand does not help them either.

I agree - I'm sure the vastly reduced prices for the Bonnie etc. have something to do with that. Good on Triumph they pulled this off just in time.

Personally the Triumph bikes don't do anything for me; but I know Thais are crazy about the retro versions and people from the UK have an odd (patriotic?) affection for them too.

All in all this is great news. It means more competition, and keeping Ducati honest so they don't overcharge too much for their bikes. The new Diavel looks amazing in the flesh, very tempted. It's only marginally different from before but just... perfect.

i choose scrambler over Bonneville just bc scrambler is a more dynamic, lighter, smaller, nimbler and powerful bike but if Enfield arrives here, i go for a Bullet 500. now thinking of importing one from India but then who will service it here?

Edited February 4, 2015 by ll2

[DILLIGAD]

Enfield promote that their bikes can easily be serviced by the owners. I prefer Continental GT for the same reasons as you re: Scambler.

Edited February 4, 2015 by DILLIGAD

[ll2]

Enfield promote that their bikes can easily be serviced by the owners. I prefer Continental GT for the same reasons as you re: Scambler.

yes not so hard although do not like my hands get dirty and prefer to spend my precious time on riding my bike:)

also parts are a concern too. If you need a part to replace, you need to bring it all the way from India and god know how many days.

[eisfeld]

[OmegaRacer]

Nice review

[dave_boo]

Revzilla has an article up about 3 modified Scramblers.

http://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/ducati-scrambler-customs

[eisfeld]

Better dont lean this thing too much over to the right:

[OmegaRacer]

Wear the scratches with pride!

[Phra Ek]

Wear the scratches with pride!

..... and if you can't get your exhaust down - take a file to it!

[eisfeld]

Motorcycle USA did a small Scrambler shootout:

A little bit of snow riding, seems like the tires are not too bad in that environment either.

[eisfeld]

Seems like the forum software embeds at most two youtube videos in a post. Here the last two ones again:

[ll2]

Motorcycle USA did a small Scrambler shootout:

A little bit of snow riding, seems like the tires are not too bad in that environment either.

Sure ducati scrambler is the most dynamic and sporty of all.

man, i can feel the excitement on you. ducati scrambler is a nice bike so i am sure you cannot wait!

When are you getting your bike exactly?

[Nickymaster]

Ready to test ride starting today. You can call them to see where they have the Scramblers. The way I read it is that they should be available at basically all dealers.

https://www.facebook.com/ScramblerThailand

Edited February 21, 2015 by Nickymaster

[angiolo]

You must be SCATTY to ride a DUCATi . Ok in my youth I rode a BSA Bantam .

[MAZ3]

You must be SCATTY to ride a DUCATi . Ok in my youth I rode a BSA Bantam .

Me too,a D14 scrambler and a Scottish Greaves. Wish I had kept them. But I fancy something a bit quicker to haul my fat arse around.

[eisfeld]

Sure ducati scrambler is the most dynamic and sporty of all.

man, i can feel the excitement on you. ducati scrambler is a nice bike so i am sure you cannot wait!

When are you getting your bike exactly?

How did you figure that? Could it be because I post every youtube video of the Scrambler minutes after it is uploaded? Haha

I dont have an exact delivery date but it will probably end of March. I should be somewhere in front of the queue I hope.

[eisfeld]

So I spent a bit less than half an hour riding the Scrambler. I now understand the Ducati followers. Compared to my CBR500R which feels like a tool for a job (commuting, general street driving) this thing feels more like you are riding a bit of a wild bull. In the good sense. It got loads of torque down low which can catch you off guard if you open the throttle too fast in the wrong situation. But it's not life threatening dangerous, after 3 minutes you can control that power with ease and the great clutch helps with that aggressive start.

It pushes forward all the way to the top of the RPM range, loses steam somewhere around 8k I think. By that time it is also a bit viby (from 6k) so you dont want to stay there.

Riding the bike doesnt feel fast probably because of engine note and seating position but boy. I went down to my private closed circuit (wink wink) and found myself at 170km/h in no time with really not much of a wind blast. There was lots of room for more but unfortunately my track is not so long Top speed will be north of 200km/h - more than enough for a naked like this.

It felt really planted on the roads and turns effortlessly with precision. Really great handling! The tires are best described as a bit "squishy" like in the MotoUSA review but not bad at all, there is good grip. I went through some big construction site with very uneven surface, lots of dirt etc and riding there while standing up was a frickin blast! It steers with ease thanks to the high handlebars and the suspension did a good job keeping me on the bike and not throwing me off its back.

The bike is and feels light so you can easily push it around. Turn radius also good.

The front break is really powerfull and easy to dose. You can stop in no time. The rear takes a bit too much effort but is easy to modulate and the ABS is phenomenal compared to my Nissin one. No pulsing in the pegs, and no skidding at all but breaks still well. ABS can be turned off via menu. Great brakes really.

Heat: it does get hot on your left inner thigh when standing still. But to be fair the LCD thermometer read 39C and I gave it the beans. A pillion will also find the heat on the right foot uncomfortable because of the exhaust. Good shoes should help with that but I think it's a bit of a stupid thing because it could be easily avoided by pointing the exhaust a tad bit lower.

Sound: make no mistake, this thing is loud. Watching the videos on youtube will give you a very wrong impression. In the flesh it sounds mean and awesome. Not obnoxiuous like those young Thai guy scooters or a Harley but loud enough to get attention. The note is similar to the 796 Monster (same engine after all) but a tad bit quieter.

I couldn't stop blipping the throttle every now and then just because it was so fun (yes even in an area with noone else around, just for my own enjoyment).

The bikes comfort is a bit lacking. I could not find a completely comfortable seating position. There is a mold in the front where I guess you are supposed to be in but I am 186cm and feel a bit cramped in that spot. Moving my ass a bit further behind results in me sitting on the edge between that mold and the pillion area. Also I can't say for sure but I would bet the seat wont be comfortable for touring but it's really good enough for around town which is what it's intended for. Less comfy than my CBR500R apart from lean angle. The pillion has also just enough space but nothing to grab on there behind - good hugging required

The suspension also could be better, on less than ideal roads you feel too much of the surface through the seat and bars.

On the flip side the seat is much better than the other ones from Ducati that I sat on like Hypermotard and the high handlebards give good leverage and comfort.

Fun factor: very high! I wheelied it in first without clutch. This thing just makes you smile all the way from ignition to halt.

I got mixed feelings about the dash. While it shows you most necessary stuff like RPM, speed, odometer for two trips, it is at the same time lacking a fuel gauge - I can't understand such an omission. On the other hand it has a outside-temperature indicator. It's readable enough even in sunligt but could be better. Anything from Honda is much more useable. But I am willing to make this sacrifice

The buttons on the bars are well layed out, no complaints there.

I can only recommend anyone to give this thing a spin. Even if you are not interested in buying, it's a good experience.

[OmegaRacer]

Thanks for the great report eisfeld!

Will try to test one ASAP.

[ll2]

cool man! sounds like a fun bike as expected. exhaust can be modified same as seat and ergonomy of the bike so no worries.

of course dont expect usefulness of a Honda from a Ducati!

where did you ride it?

[eisfeld]

It was in Phuket. And I can only say that the sales guy there was really friendly and even though I told him I already bought it in BKK he still welcomed me to test ride and gave me and my GF some water while we waited for the guy before me to test ride. I would have expected him to be a bit put off because he wont get a sale from me but I guess they are either not so egoistic or are smart enough to know they'll get some money from me through accessories and service. There were a couple other Thais there and it seemed like the staff has a very friendly relationship with customers. All smiling and making jokes.

Note that they dont seem to have the bike in the showroom but have one for test rides. Might be the same at other dealers.

[BKKBike09]

Had a short test ride on the Yellow Icon model at Ducati Thonglor yesterday. I went with a mate who wants to graduate from a Vespa to a Scrambler ...

I can see how the styling really appeals to some folk and I quite like it myself. Fifteen minutes round the Thonglor area hardly qualifies as a proper assessment but my impressions were that it's a pleasant enough bike to ride; stock suspension was a little soft but better than the stock on my FZ09, and it cornered and tracked quite well. Acceleration is respectable but not aggressive. Brakes seemed competent and gear change pretty smooth.

I didn't like the seat and I also didn't care that much for the bars, but that's easy enough to fix. The 'dash', such as it is, is very poor. I have to admit I don't like digital displays that much but I found the Scrambler one very hard to read quickly. Shame that on a retro bike like this they didn't at least fit an analogue tacho. There's no gear position indicator (although perhaps I just didn't see it) either.

All in all I came away with a bit of a ho hum feeling.

[farangmick]

Been thinking about this bike for a long time, and many interesting posts on TV about it. Yes I would love a speed triple, if I was twenty years younger, my legs were not buggered from injury and DVT and I was still living in Yorkshire, with brilliant biking roads less than 30 minutes from my house. Here there is always the nagging feeling that half way round the next bend is a new pothole or subsidence. So it will probably be the Scrambler for me, and accept that my knee sliding days are over.

[eisfeld]

Here some modded ones:

[OmegaRacer]

Nice.

I will go to test ride one next week, but probably wait to buy one second hand when one of you guys get to old to ride a bike. He he

[eisfeld]

Can't wait to read your impressions! Please check (I forgot during my test ride) if it got a "range" indicator or some other way to see how much fuel is left or how much one consumed during the current trip on the odometer.

Btw to fuel more speculation about future models (or maybe dropped features), here a picture that shows that there are icons for phone connectivity on the dash!

[Hili]

anybody who want to test drive can do that at mega bang na from today until 8th of march, just on the parking lot though.

Feels strange to ride but handles easy, nice torque. Not my cup of tea....

[guzzi850m2]

You can also test ride from the Pattaya Ducati branch according to their Facebook site.

I might go a test ride one just for the hell off it, also not my kind of bike, would prefer a Hyperstada any day.

[OmegaRacer]

anybody who want to test drive can do that at mega bang na from today until 8th of march, just on the parking lot though.

Feels strange to ride but handles easy, nice torque. Not my cup of tea....

Good info.

Is it a small fenced off speck of land or can you ride around the whole car park?

If it's just a small section I rather go Thonglor.

Eisfeld, from what I read there's no fuel gauge. I think you'll just have to use the old method of checking the odometer.

[eisfeld]

Yea no fuel gauge but I have read of a range meter or trip fuel consumption meter. My CBR500R has the latter for example. So you reset the trip at the gaselone station and will see how much you used so far in liter. I never actually tried to see if it is halfway correct because I use the fuel gauge but on the Scrambler it might be good to have.

[guzzi850m2]

Does it has a low fuel warning light?

The Hyperstrada has and also no level indicator.