The Oasis

- Ruman Devmane

All hell broke loose that morning. A thunderstorm of this ferocity had never hit Mumbai before and the coup I had pulled off with getting my hands on the Desert Sled before any of my colleagues seemed set to be a, well, washout. I was banking heavily on this funky new Ducati for redemption. It was do or drown, to put it exactly.

To be honest, I was also compensating for having missed out on the international riding experience Ducati had so meticulously arranged a few months ago. I can’t recollect what had transpired then but I do remember the size of the lump in my throat on reading the exciting reviews my fellow motorcycle scribes had posted online. There just couldn’t be anything bad about an even better Scrambler, right? I was assured, but that did nothing to dampen my curiosity.

Cut to D-day. The Desert Sled arrived looking like a million bucks and it lifted up our drenched spirits in an instant. What a gorgeous motorcycle this is, don’t you think? Yes, the Scrambler cues are very much there for you to spot but this a substantially taller bike and carries a far more aggressive and purposeful stance than the cheeky original number. To spell out the numbers, the Desert Sled is 73 mm taller than the regular Scrambler Icon with its seat height having gone up, too, from 790 mm to 860 mm. It also has visibly more substantial ground clearance although Ducati has kept that figure a secret. For now, let’s just say it’s enough.