2023 ADV GUIDE P25
that is a gigantic advantage.
It's just confidence inspiring
to rip on.
The traditional "top-
mounted" fuel tank strad-
dling nearly a liter of Ducati
L-twin power somehow hides
its weight effectively when
the tip-over gremlins appear.
And the power is great. Easy
to go slow with, easy to slide
around like a teenager with,
easy to rip down the pave-
ment with. Ducati's L-twin
delivers more buzz than the
parallel Austrian engine does
at all rpm, but the power
delivery to the rear tire is
buttery smooth—a compli-
ment to the dynamically
stable chassis.
It's hard to beat a KTM
in off-road performance, and
the Ducati is coming damn
close. Suspension perfor-
mance isn't as over-built for
the biggest obstacles, but
for as rowdy as you likely
want to get, it's very good.
KTM holds the advantage in
extreme cases here.
So, if we're keeping
score. The Ducati is more
stable, has easy-to-love
power, handles nearly as
well and arguably looks a
whole lot better than the
undisputed king of midsize
ADV land. Pretty freakin'
great start. The one place
Ducati has faultered is in the
electronics. The navigation
and visibility of its dash-
board and all the systems
it controls is weak. Like,
tragically non-intuitive and
complicated to get to the
settings you want to change.
Also, the narrow vertical
dash screen is too phone-like
and not immersive or easy
to read as KTM's fantastic
display. It's hard to tell
what mode you're in on the
Ducati. KTM makes the in-
formation you want to know
obvious, and its settings are
remarkably easy to change
in comparison.
The other chink in the
armor of Ducati is the
price tag. It's going to be
expensive. Ducati's are and
probably should be because
they're Italian and freakin'
cool. It's a brand that
demands a premium price.
If you're not into brands
and just want performance,
cost will be a negative for
the Duc.'
I'm honestly hung-up
on a winner here. Ducati
hasn't run the gauntlet of
growing pains KTM has
here. And KTM had a few
with this model. So, the du-
rability and dependability
question—combined with
the electronics confusion
and cost premium—makes
me resist giving a head-to-
head victory to Ducati. But
the fact that I'm consider-
ing it is a gigantic compli-
ment to the DesertX and
a surprise to me. I think it
might be my favorite ADV
bike right now.
It only comes down to
the unknown keeping Ducati
from beating KTM here
in the long run. But from
what I do know, I'm really
impressed with the DesertX.
Jesse Ziegler
Medium-level backcountry riding is the Ducati's
homeland, the relaxed chassis dimensions suiting
a wider range of riders compared to the shorter,
smaller but more agile KTM.
