‘It’s all about the noise!’
This Scrambler doesn’t just look cool, it sounds cool too – and that’s what defines it
Let’s be honest, we all think scramblers are cool, right? Whether you conform to the beard-growing, Barbour jacket and turned-up jeans style or not, the return of the scrambler has been a good thing for motorcycling.
Ducati’s Scrambler 1100 ramps that level of cool up a gear but it’s nothing to do with its style, and everything to do with how it sounds. Naturally, a 1079cc booming L-twin Ducati is going to sound good, but the Scrambler sounds exceptional. Some of us have to try quite hard to look cool and I pretty much always fail regardless of what bike I’m riding, but you always draw admiring stares on the 1100. The quality of the soundtrack is beautiful, but it is loud, too. I actually feel sorry for my neighbours in the morning when I fire it up on the driveway between our two houses at 6:30am. Even on tick over it isn’t exactly quiet.
Heads turn
Ride the Scrambler through any village or town, and heads turn to look before long before you pass by. Whether it’s in admiration or a snooty resident wanting you to bugger off and stop ruining their quiet village ambiance is less clear, but there’s usually a smile on their faces.
It feels purposeful, masculine and muscular – the sound of the booming twin ricocheting off walls and houses; so you can’t help but smile, too. At 86bhp, the 1100 isn’t exactly powerful for its engine size, but it sure sounds it, and the way it delivers its power in a raucous wave of torque and drive rarely leaves you feeling like you need more.
And it’s gloriously addictive on the overrun. It pops and gurgles like every Ducati should, making a closed throttle feel almost as much fun as an open one.
More aggressive than the 800
The superb sound is one of the biggest differentiating factors between Ducati’s 1100 and 800cc Scrambler. It’s far louder and much more aggressive, making it seem much more like a ‘proper’ bike as opposed to a toy.