DesertX Adventure Bike Headlines Ducati's 2022 New Model Premieres

Ducati announced a slate of 2022 new model announcements that will run every two weeks starting Sept. 30 and running through to Dec. 9. Each Ducati World Première event will be presented online on Ducati.com, YouTube and on other official social networks.

While Ducati hasn’t explicitly said what will be revealed in each episode, it did make it clear that the sixth and final episode will feature the DesertX, a brand new off-road focused adventure bike.

Ducati first presented the DesertX as a concept model at EICMA in 2019 (pictured above), with the Scrambler 800 as its base. The concept offered rally raid styling inspired by the Ducati-powered Cagiva Elegant Paris-Dakar racebikes of the ’90s.

The first images of the production model offer a similar aesthetic, but Ducati says the DesertX will have an all-new chassis including a 21-inch front wheel and will be powered by the liquid-cooled 937cc Testastretta engine.

As for the other premieres, Ducati offers only these episode titles as clues:

We already know what the last episode is about, but we’ll have to make a few deductions about the others. Last year, Ducati similarly divided its 2021 model announcements with each episode covering one or two of its different model families. We can thus assume a similar pattern this year.

The most obvious title clue is Episode 4: “A new Fighter in town”. This obviously refers to the Ducati Streetfighter family, and the most likely guess for a new model is a Streetfighter V2 based around the Panigale V2. Adding a smaller model to join the Streetfighter V4 but using the 955cc Superquadro V-Twin engine is an obvious but welcome move.

Speaking of the Panigales, Ducati’s sportbikes will likely be the focal point of Episode 5. Ducati updated the Panigale V4, V4 S and V4 SP last year to meet Euro 5 requirements, so we don’t expect more than minor changes or color updates for them. The Panigale V4 R is another matter, as the World Superbike homologation model is still only certified under Euro 4. An update to bring it inline with the latest emissions standards makes the superbike a likely candidate for Episode 4.

Similarly, the Panigale V2 is a candidate for an update. The V2 was introduced in 2020, and still relatively new, but it’s expected that the World Supersport class will be expanded to include the V-Twin equipped Panigale for 2022. Episode 5 notably takes place on the day the 2021 EICMA show opens to the public, so perhaps that is the when details of the new World Supersport class will be announced. A model refresh, or perhaps an up-spec racing model would be a good way for Ducati to launch its World Supersport racing effort. “Panigale V2 R” is a likely name for the new race bike, but the capitalized “S” in the Episode 5 title may indicate that “Speed” will be part of the name.

For Episode 3, there’s a good bet that “Rule all mountains” is a reference to Pikes Peak. Motorcycles aren’t allowed to compete in the competition any more, but Ducati appears set on continuing to use the name, but this time on a new Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak model. Ducati already certified the Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 2021, but we haven’t heard anything official yet. Our guess is that the Pikes Peak edition was delayed, likely a victim of the industry’s ongoing supplying chain issues, but is now ready for the 2022 model year.

The clues for Episodes 1 and 2 are a little less obvious, but through a process of elimination, we can assume it’s not for Multistradas, Panigales or Streetfighters. That leaves Ducati’s Monster, Scrambler, Supersport, Diavel, xDiavel and Hypermotard families. Episode 1’s title, “Your everyday wonder”, suggests a practical daily commuter model, and the Monster family probably best fits the bill.

Ducati introduced an all-new Monster last year, going away from its traditional steel trellis frame in place of a Panigale V4-derived aluminum frame design attached to its liquid-cooled 937cc Testastretta 11° engine. Ducati still offers the Monster 1200, but the Monster 797 is no longer listed on Ducati’s website. Ducati did, however, certify a 2022 Monster 797 with the U.S. EPA and the California Air Resources Board, indicating the model may not be going away just yet.

That leaves us with Episode 2: “Mark your roots”. This episode is most likely going to be about the Scrambler family, as it’s the closest thing Ducati currently has to a heritage model. Ducati introduces a new or updated Scrambler every year, so a new 2022 Scrambler that pays homage to a piece of Ducati’s history would be a reasonable guess.

Hypotheses aside, there is one interesting aspect of Ducati’s six-episode series of online announcements: the last two episodes take place after the Nov. 23 and 24 press days at EICMA. While several manufacturers have confirmed their attendance at this year’s show, Ducati is conspicuously not among them. Holding its last two announcements after the press days may suggest Ducati will have a much smaller presence, if any, at the Milan show.

Motorcycle.com will be covering each Ducati launch event so check back here on Sept. 30 for the first new 2022 Ducati announcement.

Begin Press Release:

Borgo Panigale (Bologna, Italy), 23 September 2021 – The first appointment with the Ducati World Première 2022 web series will be held on Thursday 30 September at 4.00 pm (CEST): an episodic journey through which the Bologna-based motorcycle company will show the new models of the 2022 Ducati range to fans from all over the world. All episodes will be visible on the Ducati.com website, on the YouTube channel and on Ducati’s social networks.
The season will culminate on December 9, 2021, when Ducati will unveil the long-awaited new bike: the DesertX.

The DesertX is Ducati’s new Adventure bike, designed to offer great off-road capabilities thanks to an all-new chassis designed around a 21″ front wheel, and it will harness the performance and reliability of the liquid-cooled 937 cc Testastretta engine.

Whether it is exploring the hills behind your home, braving the desert or discovering new mountain trails, the new Ducati DesertX is the bike that will allow riders to make their most adventurous travel dreams come true.

Below is the calendar of all the episodes of the Ducati World Première 2022 web series:

September 30, 2021: Ducati World Première – Episode 1 | Your everyday wonder
October 14, 2021: Ducati World Première – Episode 2 | Mark your roots
October 28, 2021: Ducati World Première – Episode 3 | Rule all mountains
November 11, 2021: Ducati World Première – Episode 4 | A new Fighter in town
November 25, 2021: Ducati World Première – Episode 5 | The evolution of Speed
December 9, 2021: Ducati World Première – Episode 6 | Dream Wilder – DesertX

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