Will this be the new Ducati Scrambler?

You might recall that last July we wrote about the forthcoming much rumoured Ducati Scrambler after MCN published a 'how it might look' pic, and on asking Ducati about the bike's existence or planned existence, we were told 'Are you joking, it's just a Photoshop job?' Well, the pic in MCN might have been, but seems the actual model's development is well under way, according to Moto.It, who have published more blurry, pixelated shots on their website.

Understandably, it doesn't look like much presently, does it? Like one of those sort of 50/125cc moto motard type things they make for teenagers to look cool on. Moto.it reckon the motor is a 696 or 796cc unit from the entry level Monster. Impossible to comment on any styling at present, though hope it's not going to have that awful headlamp, and will favour spoked wheels over cast.

The biggest shame for us is that it's not going to be a single cylinder motor. Maybe you just won't get enough power from an air cooled 600/750cc single cylinder engine or get around Euro pollution restrictions, and to consider water-cooling would be a travesty. It's understandable that Ducati don't want to invest millions in setting up tooling etc. to do this, but with a V twin motor in reality it'll be a Ducati Scrambler inspired by name only. It'll have to look like something special to really distinguish it from the myriad of Ducati Monster models you can buy nowadays.

We've a got Alan Cathcart's full feature and road test on Umberto Borile's Scrambler coming up in Issue 6, so read that, then consider where Ducati should go with the Scrambler.

Scrambling for the best seats

I remember when I lived in Pisa in 1992, there was an old Ducati Scrambler that had been abandoned in an alley near a café I used to frequent (I have a photo of it somewhere), and I always admired its purposeful looks. Nowadays, like anything older with Ducati written on the tank, they are expensive and sought after.

But it looks like the Ducati Scrambler is coming back in name at least, though sadly not as a single cylinder - now that WOULD be fantastic. MCN this week published a photo that purports to be a likeness of a new Ducati Scrambler model based around a Monster-type frame and motor - and despite us asking Ducati if they had any other pictures and us being told that 'are we joking, it's just a Photoshop job?!' - you can expect to see the new Ducati Scrambler at this year's Milan EICMA show. Of course Guzzi already stole a march on Ducati with their Scrambler prototype a couple of years back, and Triumph have been producing them for a while now.

Mr Borile of Borile Motorcycles has been producing a modern Scrambler tribute for a while now (see pic above), and we feature our friend Alan Cathacart's test of it in the next Issue 6, coming soon...