The Scrambler Urban Motard is positioned between the 100 Dark Pro and Desert Sled.

Ducati has announced the launch of the Scrambler Urban Motard in India. The bike is priced at Rs. 11.49 lakh (ex-showroom).

The Scrambler Urban Motard features a dual-tone paint scheme of Star Silk White and Ducati GP’19 Red, with unique fuel tank graphics. The bike comes with a high-mounted front mudguard, a flat seat, a low handlebar and a side number plate.

Ducati Scrambler Urban Motard is based on a trellis frame and weighs 180 kg (dry weight). The bike is powered by an 803cc L-twin engine that makes 72 BHP @ 8,250 rpm and 66.2 Nm @ 5,750 rpm. The engine is mated to a 6-speed gearbox via a slipper clutch.

The bike rides on 17-inch spoked wheels with 41 mm Kayaba USD front fork suspension at the front and a monoshock at the rear. The braking hardware consists of a single 330 mm front disc and a 245 rear disc equipped with cornering ABS.

The Scrambler 800 Urban Motard is powered by an 803cc L-twin engine.

Ducati India has released a teaser of the 2022 Scrambler 800 Urban Motard, which suggests that the bike could be launched in the Indian market soon.

The Scrambler 800 Urban Motard features a dual-tone paint scheme of Star Silk White and Ducati GP 2019 Red, with unique fuel tank graphics. The bike comes with a high-mounted front mudguard, a flat seat, a low handlebar and a side number plate.

The Scrambler 800 Urban Motard is powered by an 803cc L-twin engine that makes 72 BHP and 66.2 Nm. The engine is mated to a 6-speed gearbox via a slipper clutch.

The bike rides on 41 mm Kayaba USD front fork suspension and a monoshock at the rear. The braking hardware consists of a single 330 mm front disc and a 245 rear disc equipped with cornering ABS.

The moment I took the bike out, it started raining, and I got a chance to check out the grip of the tyres.

BHPian AtheK recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

It’s been sometime that this thread has stayed quiet, because honestly there is not much to write. Mark 13 has been chugging along well, we both have been riding and munching miles for sometime now. I had sometime back procured the Vredestein ST tyres for the bike, but had not installed them. They used to keep staring at me, and I used to keep staring at them as they were in my room where I work, I couldn’t store them any other place as they were not welcome as per high command.

So I decided I will just have them fitted on the bike, I knew NS has also launched and they will probably be a better fit for the Panigale. So I casually checked with Rohan at torque block if he can exchange ST with NS, he happily obliged and agreed to swap them. I went to Madhus but was told they avoid working On Ducatis due to some recent issue with a V4 and I should check with VST.

I returned home and requested torque block guys if they can deliver tires home, which they did and I decided to get them swapped at Indimotard. I had a very good experience with them and fortunately they now also have wheel balancing machine at garage itself, so no need to run around. They were very professional and swapped the tire in a very short time and all was done. I will let the pictures do the talking.

NS tyres:

The rear removed:

The front removed:

Being balanced:

The new shoes:

The moment I took the bike out, it started raining, and I got a chance to check out the grip of the tyres. They held on to the tarmac beautifully, remember these were absolutely new tyres and had absolutely no run in. I was mighty impressed, so much so that I rode in the rain all the way till home. Rains kept the bike also very cool in city traffic.

Many say I love to get drenched in the rain, as no one can see me crying. My version is I love to get drenched in the rain, as my bike does not heat up in city.

Here is a pic while I stopped the bike to think of If I should stop or ride on. I am happy I decided to ride on:

Now I was told the old tyres have atleast 3K kms worth of tread life left, and I was in no position to take them home, as high command would kill me if I keep used tyres at home. So I decided to do something else with them, what I did, I will tell you all about that in an another thread!

Till then, stay safe and keep riding!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The Ducati Multistrada V2 competes with the BMW F 900 XR and the Triumph Tiger 900.

Ducati has launched the Multistrada V2 in India. The Adv is available in two variants: V2 and V2 S, priced at Rs. 14.65 lakh and Rs. 16.65 lakh (ex-showroom).

The Multistrada V2 features a familiar design with twin headlamps and a prominent beak. The bike comes equipped with a 5-inch digital instrument console. The S variant gets backlit switchgear, cruise control, heated grips and a hands-free system; among other features.

The Multistrada V2 weighs 199 kg, while the V2 S weighs 202 kg (dry). Parts like the mirrors, alloy wheels and brake discs have been carried over from the Multistrada V4, resulting in an overall weight saving of 2.9 kg.

Powering the Multistrada V2 is a 937cc, liquid-cooled L-twin engine that produces 111 BHP @ 9,000 rpm and 94 Nm @ 6,750 rpm. The powertrain features new connecting rods, an 8-disc hydraulic clutch and an updated 6-speed gearbox.

The Multistrada V2 features adjustable Sachs shocks at the front, while the S version gets Ducati's Skyhook EVO semi-active suspension. Braking is handled by twin 320 mm discs at the front and a single 265 mm disc at the rear.

The Multistrada V2 comes with four riding modes - Sport, Touring, Urban and Enduro. The S variant comes with a bi-directional quick-shifter as standard. Other features include traction control, Cornering ABS, Vehicle Hold Control, cruise control, cornering lights and a 5-inch TFT instrument console.

The Ducati Multistrada V2 will take on the BMW F 900 XR and the Triumph Tiger 900

Ducati is expected to launch the Multistrada V2 in India on April 25, 2022. The new adventure tourer will replace the Multistrada 950 in Ducati's line-up.

The Multistrada V2 features a familiar design with twin headlamps and a prominent beak. Ducati has been able to shave a few kilos off thanks to a new clutch and gearbox. The bike now weighs between 221.8 kg and 224.9 kg, depending on the variant.

Powering the Multistrada V2 is a 937cc, liquid-cooled L-twin engine that produces 111 BHP @ 9,000 rpm and 96 Nm @ 7,750 rpm, and comes paired with a 6-speed gearbox. The bike comes with four riding modes - Sport, Touring, Urban and Enduro. The S variant comes with a bi-directional quickshifter as standard.

The Multistrada V2 features adjustable Sachs shocks at the front, while the S version gets Ducati's Skyhook EVO semi-active suspension. Braking is handled by twin 320 mm discs at the front and a single 265 mm disc at the rear.

The Multistrada V2 comes equipped with a 5-inch digital instrument console. The S variant gets backlit switchgear, cruise control, heated grips, a hands-free system, among other features.

Ducati, as announced earlier, will be the sole supplier of electric racing motorcycles for the FIM MotoE racing series.

Ducati has been working on its first-ever all-electric motorcycle for quite a while. Back in December 2021, the company released the first set of images of the V21L prototype MotoE racer. Now, the Italian superbike manufacturer has released a short video of its V21L prototype doing hot laps around a race track, giving us a first glimpse of how the electric motorcycle looks and sounds.

While details of the upcoming electric motorcycle are not yet known, Ducati has confirmed that the development of the electric racing motorcycle could lead to the introduction of its first consumer electric bike. However, the Ducati V21L prototype will be aiming to beat the numbers of the Energica Ego Corsa, which came with 147 BHP / 220 Nm and had a top speed of 257 km/h during races.

Ducati, as announced earlier, will be the sole supplier of electric racing motorcycles for the FIM MotoE racing series.

The special edition Panigale V2 is inspired by the championship-winning 2001 Ducati 996 R.

Ducati has launched the Panigale V2 Troy Bayliss 1st Championship 20th Anniversary edition in India. The bike is available in limited numbers and is priced at Rs. 21.30 lakh (ex-showroom).

The special edition Panigale V2 celebrates Troy Bayliss' first World SBK title. Exactly 20 years ago, the legendary Australian rider won the 2001 Superbike World Championship on a Ducati 996 R.

The anniversary edition Panigale V2 is characterized by the special livery inspired by the 996 R. It features Ducati red as the main colour with green and white as a tribute to the Italy-based bike maker. The bike also features the Bayliss' race number - 21 and the racer's autograph on the fuel tank.

This Panigale V2 is equipped with Ohlins NX30 front forks and a TTX35 rear mono-shock. The bike is 3 kg lighter thanks to the single-seat configuration and lithium-ion battery. It is powered by a 955cc twin-cylinder engine that produces 153 BHP @ 10,750 rpm and 104 Nm @ 9,000 rpm.

It's a homage to the air-cooled twin-cylinder engine that was first introduced by Ducati on the 750 GT in 1971.

Ducati has launched the Scrambler Tribute 1100 Pro in India. The bike is priced at Rs. 12.89 lakh (ex-showroom).

The Scrambler Tribute 1100 Pro was built as a homage to the air-cooled twin-cylinder engine that was first introduced by Ducati on the 750 GT in 1971. The bike is finished in Giallo Ocra livery similar to the 450 Desmo Mono and 750 Sport of 1972. It also features the 1970s Ducati logo designed by Giugiaro, circular rear-view mirrors and a brown seat.

Powering the Scrambler Tribute 1100 Pro is Ducati's 1,079cc, air-cooled L-twin engine that produces 85 BHP @ 7,500 rpm and 90 Nm @ 4,750 rpm. It comes with three riding modes - Active, Journey and City.

The Scrambler Tribute 1100 Pro comes with 18-inch black spoked wheels at the front and 17-inch at the rear, wrapped in Pirelli MT60 RS tyres. The bike also gets traction control and cornering ABS.

The superbike got multiple updates, including an air filter & spark plug replacement as well as a tyre change.

BHPian Entsurgeon recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

There's something supernatural about my bike and the alignment of stars. She's been out of action pretty soon after the last service. Like I mentioned I changed her spark plugs 7 months ago, within 10 15 km, she got lumpy a few hundred metres from home as I began to ride. Limping home, I tried to make out what could be wrong. Since she was serviced recently, my doubt rested on things that may have got disturbed during servicing her. She was vibey, asthmatic and was putting out probably 20 25 bhp.

After a little brainstorming, throttle body cleaning and injector cleaning, the fault finally was found out to be in a failed spark plug. It was so frustrating to not be certain of the diagnosis and have negative thoughts about what is wrong, the news of failed spark plug change came as a big relief. At one point I was contemplating if I'll need to open the engine and cure a compression leak. You see, I didn't really expect the newly changed plugs to go kaput within a few weeks and 15 km of working fine and as such didn't consider this possibility. After changing them a few weeks and barely 15 km back, a blown plug was the last thing on my mind to check. Not the one to ride this bike when it's less than perfect, the bike was just being cranked, idled until it reached a fan spinning 103 degrees every week or so. This went on for nearly 6 months until I could get a pair of ngk MAR9A-J plugs.

As she stands proud on the guard

Also thanks to stars being aligned in my favour, I was helped by an experienced SBK mechanic who came recommended by fellow Ducati owners in Indore. The guy set his shop a year ago and used to work in Mumbai on SBKs for decades. After the injector and throttle body cleaning and replacing the air filter, we got onto changing spark plugs.

The tray is full of her organs as she undergoes surgery

The rear spark plug and air filter can be changed without taking the whole of the tank off. You can simply rotate it up hinged anteriorly.

Covering your trails

As you open the throttle body at your home and send the injectors for cleaning, you make sure no rats or squirrel leave their marks there while you're gone.

The additional ports of rapid bike Evo.

While we were brainstorming for faults, we first unhooked the whole rapid bike Evo loom to check if the problem was because of a faulty Evo. It wasn't. Evo replugged.

The outgoing air filter and plugs.

They are the elusive mar9aj

Tale of a pissed off design engineer

This bike has 2 cylinders having 1 plug each. Called vertical and horizontal cylinder as per their orientation, the head of vertical is under the front seat. You remove to open the seat, remove ( or just rotate it up after unhooking) the tank and change the rear spark plug. Recessed deep inside, the plug has a 14mm screw and only the thinner plug spanner can access it. Our normal tool for a 16mm plug wouldn't go inside the plug borehole on the headcover. However, the job is easy and I've done it myself before.

The horizontal or the front cylinder lies anterior to the vertical and is positioned just behind the radiator. To say it is much tougher to change this plug would be a huge understatement. Panigale has 2 radiators. An upper and a lower one. There's a horizontal plastic sheet running across separating both. This part has a small cover that, when opened lies right over the plug lead. Ordinarily, one would just pull out the lead, unscrew the plug using the plug spanner provided in the toolkit and do the reverse after replacing the new plug. Should be a 5-minute job. Intelligent. Right?

I don't know what pissed off the person who designed this part of Panigale and why he decided to take out his frustration and/or vengefulness on us owners. Since the plug is buried deep into the head cover, the lead is around 4.5 inches long similar to many modern cars. While you can inspect the lead from the window, touch it, kiss it. You cant pull out a 4.5-inch long tubule from the window. There's absolutely no space for the lead cable to move. It's a snug fit between the headcover and radiator.

But there's a very easy solution for this though. Take off all the fairings. Unscrew a few nuts from the radiator shroud tail from under the body near the radiator fan. Unhook a few hoses ( draining the entire radiator fluid- blessings in disguise for those who were impatient to fill her up with engine ice) to help easy rotation of radiators within the shroud towards front wheel pivot up. This gives you all the space you need to change the plug. Initially, there used to be youtube videos of people taking off whole radiators and front wheels to change the plug. Then came a smart guy who told about the rotation technique. And finally, now, we can do it by just lifting the upper radiator a bit after unscrewing.

This means from an 8-hour job, the front plug change, from reducing to a 4-hour rotation job, has now reduced further to just a 2-hour job under a skilled ( and expensive) mechanic. As a bonus, after doing this tight space, all the other tight nooks and crannies under the fairing which seemed to be tricky to reach for cleaning etc no more seem tighter. You feel like there's a whole basketball court worth of space between for example your hubs and the swing arm or lower triple clamp and tank mounts.

To whomsoever designed this part, Hats off to you sir. Your revenge stands complete yet unfinished.

Tireless riders on their Magnifique Italians

Partly thanks to omicron and covid, even tires were sourced with difficulty. Well, I didn't want any tires. It had to be Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa 2. Stock were Diablo Rosso corsas. The rear size is an oddity at 180/60 17. Usually, the size is 180/55. This tire is taller and helps quick flickability and quick direction change on tracks. This is why 899 has its own fan following among riders. However, the only company that provides this size is Pirelli. One can substitute it with190/55 though bartering a little less flickability.

Anyway. Once all the hiccups were sorted, a new air filter and plugs were installed. I took her out to a tire shop.

The tiring tale

Not too bald at the centre, these tires came stock in 2015 bike and had manufacturing dates somewhere around July - August 2014. Almost 7 years. Here. The next image shows you what happens to an old tire.

The cranky tire

Can you spot a few cracks? Check the big one on the floor of the groove.

The stock Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsas ( rosso=race corsa=track) are good for occasional track days and better suited for wet riding than supercross which has hardly 20% as many grooves as Rosso Corsa. The confusion begins when Pirelli sells tires christened Rosso, Rosso2, Rosso III, Diablo and Diablo2. Anywhere I asked for Diablo Rosso Corsa 2, the boots that come stock nowadays on monsters and Panigale V2, I was answered to be in stock but on asking for pics I d find them to be one of these other tires. The grippiness rankings of Pirellis stand somewhen like Supercorsas>Rosso Corsa II> Rosso corsa>rosso 3,2,1 > diablos> remaining types. They also have somewhat the same rankings price-wise.

However, I avoid Supercorsas for 2 reasons:

• They are riskier in wet.
• The kind of temperature they need to get to for best performance is practically impossible on roads.For me triple compound DRC II for now.

And in 180/60 ( against the common 180/55) they are unicorns.

Luckily one of a fellow track-junkie owners of a Panigale V2 took out brand new DBR2 and installed supercirsas on the showroom floor itself and put up a for sale message on Ducatisti group. The guy offered me an additional discount if I agreed to do the upcoming tack day at BIC

He preferred to sell locally and my sisters from Mumbai are as wise about tires (checking sidewall bubbles, punctures etc) as I am about household chores. Against all the wisdom and cautiousness advised in an online deal, I took the leap of faith thinking the guy is on our WhatsApp group. Many people would know him personally and lastly, I didn't have a choice. The tires got delivered to the wrong part of the town ( Mumbaikars would know this) the same day and were shipped by my sis too. That it was a lazy, traffic-less Sunday helped. I had my PDRC 2 in my hands the next day.

Fresh off a Freshly delivered V2, they were as new as new can get.

As cheap as a poor superbiker would dream of.

How I met your Rubber

I can say I went to a tire changing shop and got old ones out and new ones fitted. Read on to know how easy it is for superbikes.

I have a puncture shop right in front of my house. (Okay okay. It's 27 metres and 80.04 cms from the gate). Good to inflate my tires for a city ride. Not good for anything else. I asked around and had to go to my friend and fellow rider Ninja 1000 owner) who recently started a dealership of Pirelli. This one is around 10 km from my home. He understands superbikes and knows about tires.

To change a tire, one needs to take the whole wheel off. On a Superbike, this is taken care of by people having tools to open axle nuts and the ability to reinstall Fork/swingarm sliders. The Tire shop was right next to an SBK (not Ducati) showroom and was our default choice to get them off for changing tires. They fell short of a tool and recommended another showroom that had that oversized tool. Again, leaving the showroom right next door, we had to head to the one a mile away. A mile and half if you include the visit to the next U-turn point and back.

Without the Goodyears blessings.

My friend was adamant not to mount wheels on their equipment without removing brake discs.

The machine is the same one used for car tires. The hydraulic pressing arms may get stuck to the disk and bend them.

Forgive me but what happened next warrants a very elaborate post and a few bold lines.

The boot change was the story from last week. Wednesday to be precise. As I mentioned, I opted for an additional discount for the tires and now I had a commitment to keep.

I took her to the tire shop on Wednesday. The plan was to get new tires installed in a few hours and put the Panigale on a trailer the very next day. A few things happened that afternoon.

1. I wrapped up my day early afternoon to reach the tire shop around 2 pm for what seemed to be a 2-hour job tops.
2. The showroom next door lacked one large spanner ( of course they did. It was a Ducati-Tax we had to pay).
3. Talking to and taking her to the next place a mile away at our own pace meant 2 hours were already spoken for and we have only mounted the bike on the works table with a scissor lift.
4. The rear disc, mounted by 6 stars headed nuts had 1 nuts head slip and we had to open it up using a hex, a lot of wd40, even more, cuss words and an hour extra.
5. As we were ready with new tires mounted on alloy rims, we had our friend from the previous showroom visit us.
6. He brought with him 2 news:

• My tire dealer friend's mobile wasn't reachable for the past half hour ( despite being in-network) and
• The previous workshop where we took out the wheels and where the bike stood awaiting them closed an hour ago and opens the next day at 11 am. ETD 12 pm next day.

An hour later, I and a few of my fellow bikers were going crazy as we just got the news that a trailer on which I was supposed to load my bike and ship her, was due 6 am next day and that's when I should be ready with my bike on my city bypass to load her. Now, this trailer had 7 8 other superbikes loaded on her to be taken to the track and there was no way we wouldn't let them delay by 6 - 7 hours.

Stars aligned again and the next day, the trailer showed up not long before I got ready with her. You won't find many owners spending a grand on fitting 2 tires, spending twice that much to those who took off and reinstalled the wheel and still feel happy about it.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I also updated my riding gear in the process, with a new single-piece tracksuit.

BHPian AtheK recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The thread has been quiet for some time, as I was concentrating on riding rather than adding any new parts to the bike.

This changed once my brother arrived from Switzerland last month, and with him came all the parts that I had ordered earlier and was waiting patiently. Mark 13 got decked up with those parts over the course of last month, and below are the parts that have got added.

For ease, I will refer to the parts that I wanted to get from my first ownership posts.

1. Front Fork Protector.
2. Back protector.
3. Radiator Protectors.
4. Side Stand extender.
5. Third Party Clutch and Brake levers, this is to act as spare as OEM are very expensive.
6. Bar End mirrors
7. Seat Cowl (This is installed)
8. Ducati Comfort Seat
9. Some Stickers
10. Frame Plug Caps

Without getting into specific things and boring you, will just post pics of the installed parts

1. Front Fork Protectors.

2. Back Protector.

3. Radiator Protectors - This still needs to be installed and will be done in a couple of days.

4. Side Stand Extender

5. Third Party Clutch and Brake levers, this is to act as spare as OEM are very expensive.

This is procured, but not installed, and hopefully are not needed ever.

6. Bar-end Mirrors

This was installed earlier and photos were posted in the above thread.

7. Seat Cowl

This was installed earlier and photos shared above, but I decided to spice up things a bit and the cowl was replaced with a carbon-fibre cowl, a separate post to follow.

8. Ducati Comfort seat.

This was Installed and you can see the difference in the seat height and also the extra padding, this has definitely made life much easier and heat on the bums is considerably reduced.

Comfort Seat

Comfort Seat Comparison with Stock Seat

Comfort Seat Installed

9. Some Stickers.

This was mainly used to replace the ageing sticker on the mudguard, and one more was used on the rear hugger.

Sticker replaced

10. Frame plug caps

A total of 4 of these are Installed.

Ordered but in Transit

1. Frame Sliders
2. Clear Clutch Cover, in action below.

Both of the above are procured, will be installed shortly, pictures to follow.

Under Consideration

1. Underbody Exhaust.
2. Track Suit.

The tracksuit was procured, now let's see when I get to go to the track, I am still not sure if I want to track the bike, but rather learn initially with rented bikes, and then gradually take mine once I am comfortable. Got new pair of Gloves and new Boots too. I will paint the white part to red shortly I guess to sync up everything.

In addition, have procured Vredestein tires, but current tires have some life left, so these will go on the bike after some time. Stocked them seeing the non-availability of tires, will be downgrading from current 200/50 rear to 190/55. Stock is 180/60.

In addition to the above have installed some Carbon Fiber parts, will make a separate post for the same shortly.

Leaving you with a couple of photos from the last ride of the previous year and the first ride of the new year.

Last Ride of the year, breaking in the Leather Jacket and notice a beautiful FireBlade in the background.

One while out on the first ride of the new year, hopefully, we get to ride much more this year.

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