Is the Scrambler the new Monster?

[ducatiz]

Ducati could make a single that is not a starter and is aspirational... they just need to be creative.

Put it another way, if they could produce a 70hp single that is sub 300lbs with the tank full and battery installed, it probably isn't going to be cheap.

That was the promise of the Mito 500 single until Cagiva screwed the pooch. Rumor was they were going to use a Husqvarna 500cc mill and yes, they already had my money if they could make that.

[sno_duc]

I don't know if it's the new monster, I do know they are going to sell, a lot.
The local (Anchorage) Ducati dealership has a Scrambler demo bike.
Took it out yesterday for 30 miles.
I want another ride after it's broke in. (only had 115 miles on the clock) About the time the motor woke up it was time to shift. (out of respect for whoever buys this bike I kept it under 4.5k)
Feels unbelievable light, I've ridden 250 enduros that felt heavier. Very planted, RR tracks- no problem, pit run from a dump truck on the road- no problem, last winters gravel- no problem. On the smallish side of comfortable for my 6'3" frame. Brakes are good. Clutch is good. Shifter was a little notchy (new bike)

Bottom line, thinking seriously about selling the 916 and getting a Scrambler. ( my cough 57 cough year old body just doesn't like hard core riding ergo's anymore)

[caperix]

A thumper would be great!

I loved the original drawings that showed the scrambler as a water cooled single.  Does any one know if Ducati has any plans of doing a scrambler challenge like they did with the monster challenge?

[duccarlos]

I loved the original drawings that showed the scrambler as a water cooled single.  Does any one know if Ducati has any plans of doing a scrambler challenge like they did with the monster challenge?

They've barely started delivering them! I doubt they're looking at anything other than getting them out the door. Also, with no availability, after market parts will be very tough to find.

[convict]

it is true the original monster was a parts pin bin. but the bin was not that deep. the orginal streetfigher. cool parts without the plastic.

what is selling right now. beards and jeans. dudes with ponytails up in a bun (what is that) cafe open face helmets and easy to ride bikes. retro is the marketing best friend.
 
IMHO the new scrambler (if you wanted a dual, get a kawi) is a cheap "me too" bike. a bottom of the parts bin and does not examplify ducati's "only the newest and best techology". ducati is now owned by VW and needs to sell sell sell which is fair enough just not interesting. it could have been soo much better but instead it is uninspired and for the masses. exactly what a shareholder would want them to make and sell to every market possible. easy $$$$$$$ in the pocket.   

is it the new monster. No way.

[jduke]

If the meaning of "new monster" is that it will sell tons bikes and make Ducati a stronger company, then I think it is the "new monster". Ducati is like any other company, they have to keep their product "fresh" and keep drawing in new customers. Ducati being a premium supplier in a business that in the USA is a hobby, needs to have an entry level bike, this bike is perfect and will draw in more new customers, and yet also sell to their existing base.
Everything I've read says Audi / VW is pretty much leaving Ducati alone and as long as they keep making money won't see a need to turn Ducati into the VW of motorcycles.

[eric]

When I was in high school my cousin -- who worked for Fila -- gave me a pair of Ducati Monster-branded shoes. I had no idea what Ducati did or what the hell a Monster was but the teenaged me wanted one. A few years later, saw it in the flesh parked in an alley in Santa Monica in college. Didn't know anything about bikes but wanted it even more. Got my license a few years after that and the first thing I did was get on craigslist and search for "Monster."

Fast forward a few more years and more than a few miles since. But if I had been born 10 years later than I actually was, I'm sure it'd be the Scrambler, not the current Monster and not anything else, that would speak to me that way.

I don't think there's anything wrong with marketing an aspirational product. Some of those aspiring people become lifelong fans.

Oh and I still have those shoes, never worn. Anybody dying for some circa-2002 Monster-branded Filas?

[lazylightnin717]

Oh and I still have those shoes, never worn. Anybody dying for some circa-2002 Monster-branded Filas?

Yes. Yes I am.

[Mhanis]

I'd like to see some pictures of the shoes.

Mark

[Duck-Stew]

When asked about a any kind of single (specifically a Supermono) he said Ducati will not make a single.

BUT, since the badging is "Scrambler by Ducati", perhaps the Scrambler brand would consider making a single cylinder bike...

[ducpainter]

BUT, since the badging is "Scrambler by Ducati", perhaps the Scrambler brand would consider making a single cylinder bike...

See...now Stu is thinking like a lawyer.

I'm scared.

[DarkMonster620]

BUT, since the badging is "Scrambler by Ducati", perhaps the Scrambler brand would consider making a single cylinder bike...

this is what I said a few weeks back . ..

there are "talks" of a smaller LTwin both liquid and air cooled . . . and maybe a mono cylinder in the area of 400cc . . .aircooled

[ducatiz]

BUT, since the badging is "Scrambler by Ducati", perhaps the Scrambler brand would consider making a single cylinder bike...

I think that's more a marketing thing than anything else. 

My sources tell me there is no single being developed.  If they did, it couldn't be a supermono type kludge (brilliant tho it was). 

Ducati has prided itself on reusing the same parts and scaling them up or down for output (or market limitations, learner bikes etc)

I would love to see another powerplant based on the old singles.  They are TINY and would contribute to a super-thin bike.

The SuperMono is around 280lbs, but that was achieved using an exotic sub frame, in race kit (no starter) and magnesium engine parts, etc ..

Make me a bike with normal components -- scale the engine down instead of just lopping off a cylinder.  The old singles could be used as a starting point of design -- they are tiny....  and make it around 325 max.. I will buy it, promise!

[eric]

I'd like to see some pictures of the shoes.

Mark

They are in a box that I left in CA along with a spare headlight cowl. Will take some pictures as soon as I get a chance to fly back for a visit 

[1.21GW]

So I am putting up with idiocy at work all day and I take a moment to step back so as to not murder anyone and end up staring at pics of bikes I have decorating my cubicle.  And then I notice something on the scrambler:



Does that rear shock position seem wrong?  I mean, at a 45* angle, aren't you losing half the travel of one mounted at near 90*?  For comparison, a pic of a 620 I pulled off the interweb: