[Vishnuk]

I have been reading these fantastic ownership reports & reviews on TBHP for quite some time as a guest, long before I joined. So here is an honest confession before you start reading this, I know & accept that I can’t match the quality of those posts, so please bear with me as this my first attempt at posting anything like this.


A brief history:
I learnt driving two wheelers on my father’s Chetak scooter and was pestering him to buy me a bike as soon as I was in college, he did finally agree to buy me one when I was in my final year of graduation. The Yamaha RX 135 which was available at that time, came with the cat con silencer & it was nowhere close to the sound of a typical RX. Whereas I was bitten by the sound of the RX & wanted it badly. As luck would have it, when I went to a local garage to give my father’s bike for service, there came a cherry red RX 135. I jumped up on hearing that he wanted to sell it and after one short ride on it, I was convinced that this was the bike I wanted. And that’s how my biking journey started. The RX was bone stock till the time I completed college & shifted to Bangalore, did my post-graduation and found a job. From the time I started earning, I started modifying it – bigger carb’s/ different jets tried a few of them, ported the engine, had exhaust chambers on, changed the gear box to a 5 speed close ratio one, put pulsar’s disc brakes on the front & so on. Was so addicted to the bike, that I was there in the garage practically every weekend at that time. Took the bike to Chennai for quite a few track days and even participated in the MRF racing championship with it. Nothing great to write home about in terms of lap times / podiums, but I was enjoying it to the fullest.


During this time at the garage, there were quite a few RD 350’s & most of the friends who I got along with at the garage had them. They were the same people, with whom I went for the track days at Chennai. Mine was the only RX at the track, rest were all RD’s, so you can imagine how much I would have been bitten by the sound & performance of the RD 350’s. I desperately wanted one & so the search started for an RD 350. Of course you couldn’t buy one new and there were not many owners who wanted to part with their RD. There were also very few RD’s which had the original cylinder, most of them had their cylinders sleeved and that bought the performance down significantly. Finally after about 3 months of searching & visiting multiple second hand dealers, managed to find a high torque model with the original cylinder and convinced the owner to sell it to me, but luck didn’t go my way and the owner changed his mind the next day. This frustrated me no end & not sure what drove me to it, but I just happened to walk into a Royal Enfield showroom when I was on a sales call. This was the first Royal Enfield brand store in Bangalore, which had opened recently then. No research / no test ride / no checking with anyone, just went back home from the showroom got my cheque book, gave them a cheque for the full amount for the Bullet Machismo 350. The bike was delivered about a week after that. Joined a bullet club in Bangalore developed a lot of good friends, did quite a few long rides with them and yes took the Machismo to the Chennai track as well .


But the yearning for the RD 350 was still there and then out of the blue after a couple of years, it just happened. A friend’s friend was willing to part with his RD and he called to ask if I was still looking at buying one. Deal was done the next day after one short ride & I was riding the RD back home. At that time, I had three of my dream bikes parked at home, couldn’t ask for anything more.



Now all that was about 10-15 years back, of course quite a few things happened between now & then. Fast forward to 2016, was not active on any of the biking groups / actively riding the bikes for the past 6 years. We had sold off the RX, the RD was just parked in a sad state & the bullet was used sparingly. Finally I don’t know what happened / how it happened during one of our discussions at home about my bikes, my better half let these words out “Okay, let’s get a good bike”. Since we were going to get a new bike, the RD was sold off to a known friend almost instantly.


Which one:
As you would have noticed by now, all my previous bikes were bought instinctively and happened just like that by chance / luck. This was the first time I was in a situation where I had to evaluate and choose what to buy within the budget I had, of about 9 lakhs.
The bikes I considered were

1) Kawasaki Versys 650:
From what I read about the bike, was impressed with the bike and it provided with a host of options for carrying luggage & it was known to be very comfortable on long rides. Read up mobike008’s ownership & delivery experience of this bike, it made a very interesting option & I was already thinking about it as a bike on which I could do comfortable long rides. Did a couple of test rides at their Bangalore - Indiranagar showroom (it’s closed now)and there was nothing negative I could find on the bike apart from the sound it makes, given that I came from the two strokes, I was a big fan of the scream from the silencers. But that wasn’t going to hold me back from buying an otherwise perfect bike. The dealership experience was a mixed one, the sales person did not know much about the bike but immediately obliged for a test ride when requested. I did a couple of them over a period of two weeks but surprisingly there was no follow up call from them, after that.

2) Benelli TNT 600i:
The only reason I was looking at this bike was someone at the office complex had this bike and I absolutely loved the sound of the inline four, used to just stare at it every time the bike passed by. If someone was looking at just the feel & exhaust noise this is a bike he would find hard to skip. It is also the cheapest inline four available for sale in India at the moment. But there weren’t too many good reviews about the bike and what I found was that it’s performance / handling wasn’t as expected. So this was the first one off the list.

3) Triumph Bonneville T120:
This bike was very similar to the Bullet and quite a few of my known friends had upgraded to this from the bullet. The test ride bike had the arrow exhaust pipes on it and it was an absolute pleasure to ride. Though the bike doesn’t look like a corner craver, its handling was great & it was very confidence inspiring in the corners. The dealership experience was great, the sales person was pretty knowledgeable again no questions were asked, test ride was given and he was following up quite keenly with me.

4) Ducati Scrambler:
“Ducati” as brand name strikes a chord with most motorcyclists. They make lovely motorcycles which handle like a dream, but are expensive to buy & maintain. My friend had bought the monster, before Ducati officially entered India directly and he had quite a lot of problems with registering the bike after the dealership closed down. He finally had to sell it off, without registering it. So this was at the back of my mind when I went to the Ducati showroom. The showroom experience at UB city was fantastic, the sales person was enthusiastic and within a few minutes the initial apprehensions I had about Ducati vanished. Was floored by the simple but classic looks of the bike and when the sales person asked if we could go on a test ride, I absolutely jumped on it. He rode along with me in another Scrambler by my side & showed me the route on which I could get a real feel of the bike. He told me the spots where I could open up the throttle. It turned out to be one of the best test rides I had taken, I just loved the character of this bike. It was like a pocket rocket, pretty unassuming to look at but could just vanish from the traffic light, when you open up the throttle. I was keenly following the Scrambler thread by Voyageur and posts by Outofthebox & Ragtop, this made it all the more interesting.

Now with all test rides done it was time to decide among the three bikes - Versys, Bonnie & Scrambler. The Bonnie was the most expensive one and too me I didn’t present such a value proposition over the other two bikes to demand a premium of close to two lakhs over them. So then it was between the Versys & the Scrambler which was more of a mind vs heart battle. The Versys was the most practical option – was very comfortable to ride & would be easy to add panniers / side bags if I intended to take it touring, is known for its Japanese reliability and would be much cheaper to maintain. The Scrambler was on the other side, it had superb performance, great handling & the ‘Ducati’ brand name but it would not as comfortable / practical as the Versys for taking out on long rides & will definitely be more expensive to maintain.

The heart finally won over and I went ahead with the Scrambler.


Exceptions:
Of course there are a few other bikes that I didn’t consider given that they were within the budget & I was a fan of the Inline four’s sound, Kawasaki Z800 & Honda CBR 650. Kawasaki didn’t have test ride bikes at that time and the Z800 was getting phased out internationally with the Z900 being launched already. The Honda was something I missed out on, as there was no test ride bike at that time and the dealership experience was nothing great to write about. Harley’s were my wife’s favourite, however they don’t suit my riding style, so didn’t even visit the showroom.


Booking & The delivery experience:
There were four variants of the Scrambler available at that time - Icon, Classic, Full Throttle & Urban Enduro. During my first showroom visit, I was told that they had the Icon & Classic variants in stock but in limited numbers & can deliver in a couple of days, after receipt of full payment. The primary difference between the Classic & Icon variants is that the Icon comes with Alloy wheels and side mounted number plate holder in the rear whereas the classic variant comes with wire spoke wheels & a rear mudguard on which the number plate is mounted. Unlike other superbike webpages (including other Ducati models) Scrambler has a dedicated webpage where you can see all the different variants, add accessories, configure your bike & see how it looks. For quick reference to make out the difference between both the variants, have enclosed a picture taken from the Scrambler website below:


The Icon is the starting variant, it was priced at INR 8.43 lakhs on road Bangalore. Rest of the three variants Classic, Full Throttle & Enduro where priced more than a lakh higher than the Icon. Given that the difference was primarily cosmetic between the Classic & Icon variants, I went ahead with the Icon variant. By the time, I decided to book it and apply for the loan & the time it took for it to be sanctioned and I was told that mine was the last Scrambler they had in stock. I saw the bike that was allotted to me, agreed on a delivery date and time post that.

VST Ducati delivers the bike at their service centre in Bangalore, I was there with my wife & kid at the agreed time slot. My red Scrambler was parked bang in the middle of the service reception.


The reception in the service centre has a foosball table & the scrambler branding covered most of the reception area, my kid had an enjoyable time at the reception. The sales person handed over the keys to me after giving me a detailed explanation of all the features of the bike / the warranty / service schedule etc and also introduced me to the service manager. That’s about it no merchandise / cake / even a key chain was given, it was just the keys. But then the bike & the talk kind of compensated for it.



Registration:
I had my own apprehensions about this, given my friend’s earlier experience with his Monster. When I did take delivery, the registration number was not yet allotted, however the I was told that the registration formalities were completed & I would get the number in a couple of days, but the RC card would take about 2 -3 months. As assured by them, I got a call within 2 days of taking delivery to come and fix the number plate. When I did go to the service station to fix the number plate, I was given the road tax receipt along with it. The RC card though, took its own sweet time to come, about 4 months.


Specifications, Warranty, Service intervals & Running in:
It’s a Ducati, so like most of their models currently available, it’s an L-Twin engine. (Ducati’s version of V- Twin). So those who expect that super bike scream, which typically comes from Inline four engine superbikes will be disappointed with the sound track of the Scrambler. It has a different type of sound track which actually improves over a period of time, the way its sounding now is much better than what it was when I took delivery. It’s a fuel injected 803 cc Air cooled engine, with a rated power output of 73hp @ 8250rpm & Torque of 67Nm @ 5750 rpm. It weighs similar to the Bullet machismo at around 180kgs. Its comes
- With ABS and Disc brakes on both wheels.
- With Pirelli Dual sport tyres -18” front & 17” rear shod on 10 spoke alloy wheels
- Under seat storage with a USB socket, there is just enough space there to keep your phone & the bike's documents.


Given that it does not have any electronic aids except for the ABS, it comes with a small circular LCD instrument panel located right above the headlight, aligned to the right side. If your bike is running normally, the panel will be displaying the Speedometer, Tachometer, Odo meter /Trip-meter & Clock. The warning lights are all housed around the panel. The bike does not have a fuel gauge or gear position indicator, both of which I sorely miss (More on this later). Since its not possible to explain this by only posting an actual photograph, I am posting it along with an image from the User manual for better understanding.


It comes with a standard two year unlimited kms warranty & one year road-side assistance program. First service is supposed to be done at 1000 kms post which service is recommended once in 12 months / 12000 km whichever comes earlier.
Ducati recommends a run in period which stretches up to 2500 kms for the Scrambler. This running in period is further broken down into two phases
1) upto 1000 kms , Revs should be between 5500 ~6000 rpm
2) from 1000kms to 2500 kms, Revs should not exceed 7000 rpm.


Ownership experience:
Buying a Ducati and then not revving it is something, which is very difficult to control. So to get off with this first phase quickly, I did some short trips on it, to Nandi Hills (about 130 kms round trip), Yelagiri (about 320 kms round trip), Lepakshi ( about 260 kms round trip) apart from riding it in town whenever possible. As on date, I have done more than 2000 kms on the Scrambler, based on it here is my personal take on the bike:

Ride & Handling:
This is one easiest Ducati’s to ride. For anyone who wants to buy Ducati as his first super bike, he will be better to choose this model over others. Some superbikes have their own character and can be enjoyed only by experienced riders, the Scrambler has no such qualms. It’s very flickable, pointing it between whatever gap you find when you are riding the city traffic is much easier, than doing it on the Bullet.

The tyres even though they are dual purpose tyres offer a lot of grip on the road, even in wet conditions. I have not ridden it in on a beach, but on mud roads where you wouldn’t even think of taking any other super bike, the Scrambler can easily handle it.


This is not a bike which was designed for track usage, but it does inspire a lot of confidence in the corners. The foot pegs are positioned pretty high and I have so for not scraped them or any other part in the corners. You can’t imagine beating superbikes on the track with the Scrambler, but from my experience of riding it in the ghat roads, the Scrambler should be awesome fun on the track. (I haven’t taken this bike to the track yet & neither do I intend to, at the moment) Straight line stability on the highways is superb, but remember that this is a naked bike & there is no aerodynamic fairing or anything to divert the winds, so cross winds will shake it & you will have a lot of wind in your chest. Given this, it can be tiring to ride at high speeds on the highway, after sometime.


Performance:
The bike touches around 120Kmph with a pillion, even below 6000 rpm, given this so you can happily do high way rides even in the first 1000 kms run in period. Its super smooth even at triple digit speeds, not a hint of vibration even in the runin period. Clutch is not too heavy, gear shifts are smooth and I haven't had any false neutrals so far. For those who come from riding a Bullet / RD 350, both of the above will be a completely different experience.

The way it accelerates after 4000 rpm is damn good, its a like a two stroke engine getting into the power band or turbo getting activated in a turbo charged engine. If you are driving on mud roads you will experience rear wheel spin the moment you touch 4000 rpm, if you are still holding on to the throttle.There is just a rapid surge of power from 4000 rpm all the way till 9000 rpm. Once the first 1000 kms are done, you get the benefit going up to 7000 rpm from 6000 rpm. Given that you can’t maintain high speeds for quite long without getting tired first, this additional 1000 rpm is more than enough for riding in town or on highways. I have never felt the need for more power, except probably, when I was riding along with other Ducati’s. Given our traffic conditions, you will not be left behind if you are riding along with litre class superbikes. You can keep up with them on long rides, but can’t dream of taking them on.

There are no ride modes or other electronics which you need to bother with. Performance is solely based on how much you twist the throttle and how long you hold it like that.

Nobody buys these sort of bikes having an eye on fuel efficiency, but knowing till where you can reach on a full tank, helps in planning breaks on long trips. But I may not be of too much help here, as I don’t have the habit of measuring efficiency on my bikes, given that I had an RD 350 earlier. And I am too lazy to reset the trip meter every time I refuel, so I top it up every time I stop for a break / whenever the warning light comes on.


Comfort & Convenience:
I am not a tall rider at 5.10, I find the riding position very comfortable & can place both my feet firmly on the ground. The riding posture is upright, holding on to the wide handlebars you can stand up on the foot pegs, if and when the need arises. The wide handle bars are very similar to what you find on an RD 350, so your arms are stretched out almost fully when you are sitting upright.

This picture is just for reference to explain the posture, it was taken when I took the bike to top it up with fuel at a nearby fuel station, a day before the ride. I always ride with full riding gear (Riding Jacket, Gloves, Boots).

Comfort & Convenience is one area where most of my concerns with the Scrambler are:
- It’s a great bike to ride in town as long as the traffic is moving. I wouldn’t advise riding this bike in peak hour – that is bumper to bumper traffic. It’s an air-cooled engine and can’t get pretty hot under the seat. When I did take it out during one of those times, I couldn’t sit on the seat & had to stand up every time, the traffic stopped so that I get some respite.
- When you take it on an open stretch, the heat disappears pretty quickly. But you don’t get too many such stretches in the city and when you do take it out on the highways, heat isn’t a problem but comfort is. The seat is pretty rigid and unless you are one of those who have an iron butt, you can’t sit on it for more than 100kms at a stretch. Ducati sells comfort seats for the Scrambler as an accessory, they come with 25mm additional foam but it costs around INR 20k. I took the relatively cheaper option, of buying cycling shorts which come with Gel inserts, which cost around 3k.
- The rear view mirrors are pretty useless, even after adjusting them at the service station. If you are riding with your jacket on, you will have to change your position and look at the mirror to see what’s happening behind. However there are mirror extenders available in the market third party vendors like SW-Motech which I believe solve this problem, am looking at fixing one soon.
- The instrument panel, does not have a gear position indicator, quite a few times I have tried to upshift when I was already in the sixth gear. In my opinion, it would have been much more practical to have the gearshift indicator / Fuel Indicator, in the place where the clock is currently positioned in the instrument panel.
- There are not many options to mount luggage in the Scrambler, if you are riding with a pillion. Ducati offers soft saddle side bags as an accessory, but to use it you will first need to install the brackets for side bags. These brackets can look ungainly, if you are not carrying the bags and they both (bag + bracket) cost around INR 30k. There are other options available from third party vendors like Kriega, in which the mounts look very elegant, even after you remove the saddle bags.
- As explained earlier, there is no fuel gauge on the bike. There is a low fuel warning light which comes on and when it does, the trip meter automatically changes to the fuel trip meter. The fuel trip meter starts showing the distance, the vehicle has covered from the time the low fuel warning light came on. However this can be pretty irritating, as you have no way of knowing how much fuel is left in the bike till the warning light comes on. Unless you are one of those, who religiously resets the trip meter every time the bike is refuelled and does the mileage calculation in his head.

With all the above being said, I have no regrets about buying the Scrambler and would happily live with it, as the riding experience kind of compensates for all its shortcomings.


Maintenance & First Service:
Given that it’s a naked bike, every nook & corner is exposed so it’s much more difficult to clean up than a faired motorcycle. Riding it on wet roads can be very messy, as the back wheel doesn’t have too much of covering. So be prepared to spend some quality time in cleaning it up, if you intend to take it out during the monsoon season. Fenders extenders & mudguards are again available from third party vendors, which kind of reduce the mud splash, but they kind of spoil the look of the bike.


The Engine oil along with the oil filter were changed at the first service which was done on completion of 1000kms. Went there at the agreed time slot and it was returned the same day at the suggested time. Was pretty satisfied with the service delivery as the bike was returned without any niggles, fully cleaned & polished. However service cost can look pretty expensive, for someone who is buying his first Superbike. Labour is charged on an hourly rate, at INR 2000 per hour.



Accessories & Mod’s:

As on date, apart from Sw- Motech crash bars haven’t fitted any accessory on it.

The crash bar kind of merges with the bike and doesn't really stand out as an eyesore.

And did a small modification to put the front number plate, since the Scrambler does not have any provision to mount one.


Looking forward to fitting an Akraprovic Slip on exhaust, as soon as I save up for it. Though it doesn’t give a significant boost in terms of performance, the difference it makes to the sound of the Scrambler is superb.

Happy riding!!

[Cyborg]

Congratulations Vishnu and all the best with your "Red Devil".

Nice to read about your background and completely agree with your observations about the RX and RD 350 (we jokingly called it Yamdoot) as it would become that for the inexperienced.

How would you define the ride quality on your bike?

Ride safe.

Cheers

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Motorcycle Section. Thanks for sharing!

[outofthebox]

Great job with the ownership report. Well done.

Originally Posted by Vishnuk

The rear view mirrors are pretty useless, even after adjusting them at the service station.

Undocumented feature (even many SC folks don't know this) - on the rear plastic housing of the rear view mirror, there is a plastic hatch in the centre - pry it open and you will have access to the horizontal adjustment metal plate. Loosen the nut and adjust away.

[Vishnuk]

Originally Posted by outofthebox

Great job with the ownership report. Well done.

Undocumented feature (even many SC folks don't know this) - on the rear plastic housing of the rear view mirror, there is a plastic hatch in the centre - pry it open and you will have access to the horizontal adjustment metal plate. Loosen the nut and adjust away.

A big thanks to Rehaan & GTO for pointing me in the right direction, the first draft report was way different, than what has been posted now.

Thank you for sharing this input on Mirror adjustment, will try it out soon.
How is the modification which you did for heat reduction holding up?

[anshumandun]

Congrats on the Ducati! The photo of you leaning on the RE is very impressive. Considering that the Scrambler has much better handling than the RE, you are going to have a lot of fun on this bike

Originally Posted by Vishnuk

Harley’s were my wife’s favourite, however they don’t suit my riding style, so didn’t even visit the showroom.

You didn't even visit your wife's favourite brand showroom?? Man, you are a daredevil!

[Vishnuk]

Originally Posted by anshumandun

Congrats on the Ducati! The photo of you leaning on the RE is very impressive. Considering that the Scrambler has much better handling than the RE, you are going to have a lot of fun on this bike

Thank you.
But, I am no daredevil man. It wasn't easy to skip it, but then I can't write about that
It was just that, I was coming back after being in biking hibernation for about 5 years, so I wanted to get something which suits my riding style.

[amit_shimla]

Great bike and amazing review. I am an old school motorcycle enthusiast who started from Yezdi and later migrated to RE. In any of the pics posted here I do not see any leg guard installed. Since I have not seen this bike in flesh, just wanted to ask how is the protection provided for the rider or is it the design which acts as protection.

[NIP]

Congrats Vishnu !! You have an awesome bike...this is one on my list!! Take it to the Himalayas Wish you many miles of fun and safe biking !!

[outofthebox]

Originally Posted by Vishnuk

Thank you for sharing this input on Mirror adjustment, will try it out soon.
How is the modification which you did for heat reduction holding up?

You are most welcome buddy.

Heat reduction mod did its job in the initial days. Now my thigh skin has probably developed an additional layer so I don't feel it as much. (All the hair growth on right thigh is gone too btw).

Secondly my riding habits have also adapted - I try to avoid traffic situations like the plague now.

[Vishnuk]

Originally Posted by amit_shimla

In any of the pics posted here I do not see any leg guard installed. Since I have not seen this bike in flesh, just wanted to ask how is the protection provided for the rider or is it the design which acts as protection.

By leg guard you mean't crash bars right? I have posted a picture of the bike with SW Motech crash bars. In most of the super bikes, you only get the option of frame sliders, can't even fix crash bars on them. Frankly speaking they (crash bars / frame sliders) are meant for protecting the bike when you drop it, they don't offer much in terms of rider protection.
Rider protection is about what you wear, when you take the bike out. Riding gear is 'the protection' a rider has in any super bike.

Originally Posted by Endless....

Congrats Vishnu aka Thambi ;-)

Thank you.
So you know me. Sorry, can't figure out from your username / profile

Originally Posted by outofthebox

Secondly my riding habits have also adapted - I try to avoid traffic situations like the plague now.

I have been doing the same, no riding during peak hour traffic. Its definitely not worth the risk

[amit_shimla]

Up here in north India crash bars are known as leg guards. By the way thank you very much for the information you provided.

[outofthebox]

Originally Posted by amit_shimla

Up here in north India crash bars are known as leg guards.

No sir, up here in North India too crash bars are known as crash bars. They are intended to protect a sports bike's frame in case of a crash.

In the performance biking world the concept of leg guards on motorcycle frame doesn't exist.

[Endless....]

Originally Posted by Vishnuk

So you know me. Sorry, can't figure out from your username / profile

Yeah da you know me, cannot PM you.
Trishul (dentist) here

[Vishnuk]

Originally Posted by Endless....

Yeah da you know me, cannot PM you.
Trishul (dentist) here

Yeah, how can I forget you man. Didn't expect to catch up with you here. Sorry, couldn't make out from the user name and I can't PM as well. Will catch up off-line.

Originally Posted by NIP

Congrats Vishnu !! You have an awesome bike...this is one on my list!! Take it to the Himalayas Wish you many miles of fun and safe biking !!

Thank you.
I have read Overdrive's Comparo of Scrambler vs Bonneville in Ladakh, so there is no doubt in my mind on whether this bike can handle the Himalayas or not.
But for me taking the Scrambler to the Himalayas is currently a fantasy