Had the opportunity to swing a leg over the scrambler today at the phx show. First impressions are that Ducati really went in a new direction with this bike. Overall look is high quality with a couple disappointing outliers (gas cap and gauges). The bike felt very light with a lower center of gravity. Size wise the motorcycle is smaller than what i am used to seeing out there, I consider this a good thing, though i would worry about long trips and/or windy conditions.
Most of my interest has been towards the enduro version, first impressions there were that the skid plate needed to be larger and suspension changed out. Engine guards would have been nice to see as well considering the price increase. Spoked wheels looked nice and the green paint is just as rugged/ugly as it looks in the photos. It will be interesting to see how comfy the seat is for long periods of time. Also looking forward to some offroad reviews, i would love to see the ducati scrambler overtake the vstrom and versys in the entry level adventure market.
Main worries for the bike are where to mount luggage and the price/interval of service. I really like the bike overall but dropping $1100 for a service every 4000-5000 miles seems ridiculous, anyone have any idea on what the service interval and expected price(hours) for service will be?
Lot of potential from this bike given its small size, could see it being turned into a stunt bike, beach cruiser, as well as (gasp) an adventure bike given there are applicable aftermarket parts.
I did notice the large size of the rear tire, my guess was this would help the scrambler ride over sand (thinking of a beach) anyone able to confirm or deny the rear tires size?