Ducati Scrambler Icon: The Rise of Retro
I hate to start out negatively but, to be honest, the overblown marketing surrounding the Scrambler turns me off a bit. It leaves my cynical mind wondering how good the bike can be if its appeal is tied to a range of groovy clothing, branded goggles and a matching skateboard.
But here’s the thing: the marketing isn’t aimed at me. I’ve been riding bikes my whole life and consider myself a biker through-and-through. The “lifestyle” Ducati has created around the Scrambler is, in large part, aimed at those who haven’t and don’t. In 1993 the first Ducati Monster appealed to a whole new cross-section of society attracting, among others, hitherto non-riders onto two wheels. The Scrambler is doing just that 20-odd years later.
So leaving aside my matching-man-bag-based prejudice, what’s the actual bike like? Well, here’s an insight for you: when you get a test bike from Ducati they mandate you collect it in person and get a thorough run through of its key points. This can sometimes be a lengthy briefing, with tons of settings and pages of dashboard to negotiate. It’s telling that when I collected the Scrambler this process took about two minutes. Turn it on; here’s how to re-set the trip; off you go, is pretty much all the instruction you need. There are no ABS modes, no switchable engine maps, no traction control, no anti-wheelie (thank goodness), no fork adjustment, no nuthin’. What there is though is a fantastic bike dishing out bucket loads of good old-fashioned fun.
I love the look of this bike, more so in the flesh than pictures, right down to the flamboyant routing of the throttle cable in a big arc above the bars in proper 70s style. There are plenty of really nice details such as the LED running-light in a ring around the headlight. It is broken into four sections, mimicking the look of putting a black cross of electrical tape across the light like we used to do when we thought we were being racy, the silver Ducati logo in the centre of the glass setting it off.
There are plenty of other touches too. Like the cast wheels’ spokes crossing over left and right like traditional wire wheels. There’s even a phone charger under the seat to make sure you never miss a great selfie.
With a seat height of only 790mm (there’s a 20mm lower option if you’re shorter) you really sit in this bike. The first thing you notice is the unusual shape of the handlebars, which reminded me of the Raleigh Chopper I had as a kid, but which make perfect sense the minute you ride off. Ergonomically there’s a great little triangle between feet, bum and bars even though my knees were quite bent when on the move.
The bike carries its 186kg so low to the ground it feels like it’ll almost stand up on its own, making for very confident and stable filtering even at zero speed. The bars also fit through gaps you don’t expect, their width something of an illusion created by the narrowness of the rest of the bike. The superb mirrors add almost nothing to the width. Helping make it easy to ride, the cable-operated clutch has just the right weight to it although the narrow-ish bite-point is right at the end of its travel. This isn’t an issue apart from when doing a full-lock U-turn to the right, at which point your arm and fingers are both stretched a bit far, making really fine clutch control tricky.
At the heart of the Scrambler is an 803cc air-cooled motor derived from the 796 Monster, featuring revised 11° valve overlap which ultimately gives less outright power for a given engine (56kW in this case) but more torque (68Nm) and crucially less vibration. Honestly, the flapping of my flares created more vibes than the bike and the mirrors stay crystal clear at all times.
The six-speed gearbox is light and mostly accurate and the gears tightly packed, allowing you to keep the motor smack in the middle of the generous and entertaining torque curve. What’s more, there really isn’t much point revving this thing to its 8900rpm redline, so just buzz it through the box with a big braaaap of throttle in each gear. Heaps of fun! On the freeway the engine does feel slightly busy but once again, at legal speeds in top, it lands you right in the midrange, allowing for great overtaking.
Braking at the pointy end is taken care of with a superb-looking, top-spec, 330mm disc and radial-mounted Brembo monobloc four-pot caliper setup. Although requiring a decent squeeze, it gives excellent feedback. The braking force perfectly matches the bike’s performance and the single disc shows off the front wheel nicely. The rear single-pot caliper has a slightly wooden feel but works fine and both ends can be used aggressively in the dry before triggering the ABS.
The suspension is fairly basic, the only adjustment being rear preload, but it does a decent job until you hit any big bumps or holes, which do get transferred to the rider. Fast sweepers are dealt with surprisingly well and the bike holds a rock-solid line without a hint of instability, even at triple-digit speeds. Overall it’s a great compromise between low-speed comfort and high-speed composure.
Handling-wise this bike is wicked. It’s one of the most planted and sure-footed bikes I’ve ridden in a good while and even novices will have no problems chucking it around. The hoops are 17-inch rear and 18-inch front wheel sizes and slightly unusual 180/55 and 110/80 tyre combination. They are perfectly matched and allow full use of the available grip from the dual-purpose Pirelli MT60 RS tyres (exclusive to the Scrambler). The wide tyre profiles, sticky compound and low-slung weight allow you to drag a footpeg on one side and the exhaust-guard on the other in heroic fashion. With great leverage on the bars the rate of roll is constant and predictable and, let’s face it, who doesn’t like to make a few sparks on the way to work.
Fuelling was excellent and pretty much faultless from the single 50mm throttle-body EFI system. Interestingly, the second throttle body was ditched to make more room for the 13.5L tank. Rumours of snatchy delivery at low speeds were completely unfounded and in stop-start traffic I never had any issues whatsoever.
The only thing I don’t like about the Scrambler is the seat. On the freeway I was fidgeting around like I had ants in my pants after about half an hour, trying to find a comfortable spot. As well as being hard and narrow, the ridge that defines the pillion seat is just too far forward. It restricts the necessary wiggle room required to ease an aching backside. It’s a shame as the ergonomics and lack of vibration make it comfortable enough to see off the few hundred kays you get before the fuel light comes on.
I didn’t take the Scrambler far off-road but before you do, turn the ABS off or you’ll be in a world of trouble getting the thing stopped on a loose surface. Second, beware of attacking really rough surfaces at speed. Not only is the front suspension pushed beyond its limit, but I was also concerned about smacking the low-slung oil filter and muffler on anything large that got between the wheels. On the plus side the bars allow you to easily stand up on the pegs and the tyres seem to offer pretty good grip, at least in the dry. I’m not sure how many owners would have serious aspirations to take something this pretty on a proper dirt holiday, but if you wanted to you could. For the money and spec it holds its head up fine, but don’t trade in your adventure bike just yet.
At the rate these things are selling both here and overseas there is a huge amount of people out there who want a simple, easy-to-ride, fun and safe bike. It also has looks that couldn’t be more bang-on for the current retro vibe and at a great price point. Despite my misgivings about the marketing surrounding this bike, I couldn’t help but feel bloody cool every time I got on the thing. Judging by the amount of comments and looks it got, the design team have totally nailed it. Ducati has brilliantly placed this bike so as to appeal to a huge market: L-platers and scooter riders moving up, commuters, born-again bikers, women, current riders looking for something a bit different or a second bike, and crucially, non-riders who might not have even considered buying a bike before.
This may well be the most accessible and least-intimidating 800cc motorcycle of recent times, which also happens to be the best-selling bike in Italy right now. They are also shifting by the crate-load over here. If Ducati offered a version with uprated suspension and a chunk more power, they might even scoop me up.
SUIT YOU SIR
You can create your own unique look and style by choosing from the bulging accessories catalogue. Among other items there are pipes, hard and soft luggage and tank bags, four seats, badges and infill panels for the sides of the tank, an assortment of covers, frame plugs and headlight trims as well as heated grips and an alarm. Oh, and don't forget the essential Scrambler logo'd canvas bike cover. As well as giving your bike a makeover you can re-vamp your wardrobe while you're at it. The apparel range has leather and fabric jackets, matching Bell helmets and snazzy helmet bags, some cool looking retro glove designs, shoes, T-shirts and hoodies and a whole bunch of other stuff. There's even a Zippo-type cigarette lighter … and if smoking fags ain't retro, I don't know what is.
THE COMPETITION
Triumph Scrambler $14,390+orc
Initially, the Bonneville-based Triumph Scrambler is in this fight with 15-year-old specs. It weighs a massive 45 kilos more than the Ducati, puts out 59hp from its 865cc motor and with a seat height of 825mm carries itself high. However, it does have some genuine kudos and if you ever wanted to feel like Steve McQueen this'll do it. The radical revamp of Triumph’s retro bikes for 2016 puts a whole new spin on it, though.
Moto Guzzi V7 $13,490ra
The V7 range is very similar in concept to the Ducati, coming as it does in three basic models with a host of add-ons. In addition there are four complete accessory packs to choose from, one of which is also called the Scrambler. In this guise you get high-level pipes, off-road tyres, uprated shocks, serrated footpegs and various other off-roady bits. The seat height is the same as the Ducati at 790mm but the bike has a 12 kilo weight disadvantage and less power and torque so it needs to be worked harder. Handling is also not quite as good but it's much more comfortable over distance and has close to a 400km range.
Kawasaki W800 SE $12,499+orc
If retro is your bag the Kawasaki certainly looks the part and there are numerous examples of it having been modded to look like a proper 70s scrambler. Take a look at the great work done by German parts manufacturer LSL for example (www.lsl.eu). Sure it's mechanically inferior to the Ducati, certainly in the braking department, weighs 30kg more and only makes 48hp, but looks more authentically retro than the Scrambler. If Kawasaki don't do a proper factory version of something like the LSL bike very soon I'll eat my beanie.
FOUR INTO ONE DOES GO
There are four models in the Scrambler family all based around essentially the same bike. Pay your money and take your choice.
