Upgrades Galore

Ducati's Scrambler Icon receives a raft of upgrades for 2023

- Adam Child 'Chad'

BACK IN 2015, THE ORIGINAL 803-CC Scrambler Icon arrived with an abnormally large bag of marketing hype. Its press riding launch in California seemed to feature as many skateboards as Ducati motorcycles, more internet influencers than motorcycle journalists. The targeting of young urbanites was relentless and while many, me included, recoiled at the Scrambler's forced hipster image, the fact remained that this fresh, charismatic, and relatively affordable Italian V-twin was enormous fun to ride. Like many, I could not help but fall for the thing.

Sales success followed. At times the Scrambler, in its various guises, has been Ducati's top-selling model and quickly became a discrete brand within a brand. There have been several tweaks and, in 2019, a significant update, but now, for 2023, some 70 per cent of the Icon (and its 803-cc Full Throttle and Nightshift stablemates) is new, with completely new electronics and significant improvements in key areas of the charismatic air-cooled twin.

At first sight, it might appear the "Next-Gen" Icon has not changed much, for Ducati have understandably stayed with their, erm, iconic shape and striking urban-retro styling. Mechanically, the 803-cc Desmo V-twin produces the same 73 hp as before, but the exhaust routing is new and, more significantly, it is now controlled by ride-by-wire throttle in order to comply with Euro-5.

The new throttle opens the door to switchable riding modes (two of them: Road and Sport) for the first time, plus leansensitive traction control and an optional up-and-down quickshifter. The air-cooled engine also comes in 2.5 kilograms lighter due to a new clutch.