Innovations: Erlkonig Ducati Scrambler

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Innovations: Erlkonig Ducati Scrambler
BMH-Images, Bernhard M. Hoehne

News: the paparazzo

Mr. Piëch’s bike

+++ New Scrambler is Ferdinand Piëch’s dream motorcycle +++ Basic Ducati for beginners +++ Air-cooled 796 engine +++ Presentation probably at EICMA 2014 +++ New monsters with water-cooled 821 engine practically finished +++ Presentation in summer +++

NYou wouldn’t have thought that high-tech freak Ferdinand Piëch would think in this direction. After all, he launched the 16-cylinder Bugatti Veyron with 1000 hp and is a first-rate dynamic driver. But there is obviously also the other, more relaxed side of the busy VW supervisory board chairman. The one-liter car was his idea – and probably also the Volks-Ducati for the tight budget.

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Innovations: Erlkonig Ducati Scrambler

News: the paparazzo
Mr. Piëch’s bike

Scrambler was expecting a pure retro bike in the style of the old single-cylinder scrambler, is disappointed. The new one is different.

Basic Ducati for beginners

A mix of styles, and not just because of the provisional and guaranteed provisional combination of a 19-inch spoked wheel at the front and a 17-inch cast aluminum wheel at the rear. This swing arm also catches the eye: curved banana-shaped like a super sports car, even if you forget the dotted camouflage look, it has nothing to do with classic lines. And the central silencer between the engine and the rear wheel, which makes it necessary in the first place, is more reminiscent of an athlete than that of a scrambler feeling. So much for one side. On the other hand, on closer inspection, even the historical scrambler did not have a lot that is expected of a scrambler today. The raised exhaust, for example. Instead, the delicate tube ran parallel to the rocker arm, which was also perfectly straight. However, it had an air-cooled engine, and luckily the new Scrambler has that too. More specifically: it is the 796-
Cubic centimeter V2, which also fires the monsters and develops 87 hp at 8250 rpm. Plus 78 Newton meters of rotation
moment – you can live with that.

Damn good, at least as a beginner in the Ducati world. The new Scrambler must be understood as such an offer, and that is likely to have an impact on pricing. The smallest monster costs around 8800 euros – so the price of the Scrambler should be noticeably lower. Perhaps Ducati has glanced at Harley one time or another and is based on their pricing. 8,000 euros would not be too much of a hurdle for beginners, especially since it is reported that a lot of effort was put into tuning a 48 hp variant in Bologna. “Easy Going” – this concept should not only appeal to newbies, but also old hands who are looking for the pure and unadulterated in the face of increasingly technoid motorcycles. And of course according to the individual. That is why Ducati, like BMW with the R nineT, will offer numerous customizing options ex works. Cast or spoke wheels, road or studded tires – a lot will be possible. It is also not unlikely that an 1100 version with the large, air-cooled V2 will be added later.

Small Monster 821 is very similar to the large 1200

This would still honor in the Scrambler what is slowly dying out in the Monster, because with the new Monster 821 the next water-cooled variant is in the starting blocks. Perhaps also to replace the old Monster, the air-cooled Monster 796, although the 821 with 110 HP naturally plays in a different performance league. On the first spy photos, the new one already seems so advanced that persistent rumors persist in Italy that it will not be presented at the autumn trade fairs, but at the World Ducati Week in July. That would be in line with the company’s policy, because in recent years Ducati has brought new models not only in spring at the start of the season, but also in the course of the year: as happened with the Streetfighter 848 (2011), the Multistrada 1200 (2012) and the Panigale 899 (2013).

It is also in line with the company’s policy to soon follow a new, large model with a second, technically stripped-down version with less displacement, which is why the small, water-cooled Monster does not really come as a surprise, but can be seen as a supplement to the new Monster 1200. The new one is powered by the water-cooled V-Zwei with 821 cm³ and 110 hp, which already fuels the Hyperstrada and the Hypermotard and has already earned a considerable reputation for its impeccable manners. Smooth-running, blessed with robust acceleration and good revving, it comes very close to the ideal country road engine, so that the mighty 1200 engine with its brute acceleration is actually pure luxury
is. The appearance of the small 821 is also very similar to the large 1200 monster, from the frame to the tank and seat to the double exhaust on the right. Instead of the typical one-arm swing arm, it has a technically less complex and above all cheaper two-arm swing arm, as is the case with the large and small Panigale.

Whether it will maintain the comparatively long wheelbase of the 1200s cannot be seen from the pictures. The Monster 821 almost certainly does without the expensive TFT display of the 1200s and replaces it with a cheaper LCD version. The chassis and brakes should also be a bit simpler. On board, however, is probably the Ducati electronics package with ABS, traction control and various engine mappings.

The price? Good question. In order to clearly differentiate itself from the Monster 1200 (13490 euros in the simplest variant), it should not be over 11000 euros. For that you would get a monster that actually represents something monster atypical. A good compromise, namely.

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