2023 Ducati Desert X | First Ride

We throw a leg over Ducati’s much-hyped DesertX ADV machine in Aspen, Colorado, and flog it in the dirt, on the road, and through the air. -- Motorcycle teaser videos, those gaudy sources of temptation, are baldfaced attempts to fire the buying public’s frenzy through breathtaking images of performance and adventure. And Ducati’s, and its DesertX promos in particular, work like a charm. Early footage of Antoine Méo blasting desert dunes and ripping a motocross track worked their seductive magic; customers went running to dealerships, deposit in hand, for a motorcycle unlike anything the Italian company has produced before. But when we get past the undeniably amazing images, the real question is whether the DesertX can live up to all the hype. And before we answer that question, we need to take a deep dive into the bike itself. A few things about the DesertX make Ducati’s offering unique. The press kit emphasizes early on that this is the first modern Ducati with 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheel sizes. That’s important because it defined the direction that designers wanted to take with the bike, namely, building an extremely off-road-capable adventure motorcycle. The riding position was optimized to make standing on the pegs comfortable without compromising the seated position. The engine may be the tried-and-true 937cc liquid-cooled Testastretta 11° twin that has powered a whole stable of models, but it’s been painstakingly tweaked for this demanding application. And...