Paper Fight: 2019 Ducati Desert Sled Vs Triumph Street Scrambler

Recently, Ducati launched its new 2019 Scrambler range in India, and the Desert Sled is the top-of-the-range bike within that group. However, there is another bike in this segment that can take on Ducati’s new updated Scrambler, the Triumph Street Scrambler. Let’s have a look at how these bikes go head-to-head against each other:

Dimensions

Since both the bikes are Scramblers, their designs and dimensions should be similar. But this is not the case as Ducati’s Desert Sled is 940 mm wide, which is 105 mm wider than the Triumph Street Scrambler. While the Desert Sled also gets a longer wheelbase of 1505 mm, which is 60 mm more than Triumph’s 1,445 mm. Which means the Desert Sled is a lot bigger than the Street Scrambler in every way. However, being small doesn’t mean that the Triumph is light in weight, the Street Scrambler has a dry weight of 203 kg, which is 10 kg more than the Desert Sled’s dry weight of 193 kg.

	Width	Wheelbase	Height	Seat Height	Dry Weight	Fuel Tank Capacity
Ducati Desert Sled	940 mm	1505 mm	1213 mm	860 mm	193 kg	13.5 litres
Triumph Street Scrambler	835 mm	1445 mm	1180 mm	790 mm	203 kg	12 litres

Design and Chassis

With those tall forks, high-perched fender and high ground clearance, the Ducati Desert Sled looks ready to go Wild. On the other hand, the Triumph Street Scrambler gets a heavy-duty design which makes it appear like a Bonneville for the rough. The Ducati Scrambler gets a tubular steel trellis frame and the Triumph gets a tubular steel cradle. The Ducati Scrambler gets a more modern USD fork in the front and a monoshock at the rear, however, the Triumph Street Scrambler gets the basic non-adjustable front fork with a twin spring-coil rear suspension set. Here is a list of some other chassis differences:

	Frame	Front Suspension	Rear Suspension	Front Disc	Rear Disc
Ducati Desert Sled	Tubular Steel Trellis Frame	USD	Rear Monoshock	330 mm	245 mm
Triumph Street Scrambler	Tubular Steel Cradle	Telescopic Fork	Twin Spring-Coil	310 mm	255 mm

Engine and Transmission

The Ducati gets an 803 cc, air-cooled, L-Twin engine which produces 73 PS at 8,250 rpm and 67 Nm of torque at 5,750 rpm, and is mated to a 6-speed gearbox with a hydraulic slipper clutch. The Triumph gets a 900cc, liquid-cooled, parallel-twin engine which produces 64.1 HP at 7,500 rpm and 80 Nm of torque at 3,200 rpm, and is paired with a 5-speed gearbox with ride-by-wire.

	Displacement (CC)	Power	Torque	Gearbox
Ducati Desert Sled	803	73 HP @ 8,250 rpm	67 Nm @ 5,750 rpm	6-speed
Triumph Street Scrambler	900	64.1 HP @ 7,500 rpm	80 Nm @ 3,200 rpm	5-speed

Features

In terms of features, the Desert Sled gets interchangeable aluminium side panels, LED headlight with DRL, LED rear light and LED turn indicators, LCD instrument console with gear and fuel indicators, under-seat storage compartment with a USB socket and cornering-ABS. While the Street Scrambler gets a new semi-analogue instrument console, an adventure-oriented seat finish. The Street Scrambler is also equipped with grippy front pegs, an all-terrain bash plate, rubber knee pads, dual-purpose tyres and a contemporary paint scheme.

	LED headlights	ABS	USB Power Socket	Bash Plate
Ducati Desert Sled	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Triumph Street Scrambler	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

Also Read: Is the Alto 800 Finally as Good as the Kwid or the Redi-Go?

Price

The Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled is priced at Rs 9,93,000 (ex-showroom, India), while the Triumph Street Scrambler is priced lower at Rs 8,55,000 (ex-showroom, India). Overall, for the extra money, the Ducati offers unique styling, more kit, and is the one which looks more ready to take on trails.

	Price (ex-showroom, India)
Ducati Desert Sled	INR 9,93,000
Triumph Street Scrambler	INR 8,55,000