Ducati Scrambler Nightshift

For the Scrambler Nightshift, Ducati has taken the platform of Scrambler Icon as a base and has made it look more rugged and extroverted. The Ducati Scrambler Nightshift has got an essence of toughness in its design, which makes it look very different from the rest of the Scrambler models.

At the front, the Ducati Scrambler Nightshift has got a rounded halogen headlamp with an LED daytime lamp running around its circumference and tiny rounded LED indicators flanking it. This is the same headlamp unit that you can find in all the other Scrambler models and is the chief identity of being a Ducati Scrambler. What gives it a different look, though, is the blacked-out housing for the headlamp and a short and chopped front fender above the front tyre.

The side profile of the Ducati Scrambler Nightshift is where the major differences begin to appear. The motorcycle retains the same classy-looking rounded fuel tank, but it gets a different set of graphics and a cool-looking matte finish to it. The bike comes with rugged-looking spoke wheels, which along with the engine and frame of the motorcycle, have been given a blacked-out treatment. The Ducati Scrambler Nightshift comes with dual exhaust pipes stacked one over the other on the right side, which looks short and slim and goes well with the design of the motorcycle. There are also nice-looking flat-track-inspired side cowls, which are adorned with minimalist Scrambler Ducati logos.

Towards the rear, the Ducati Scrambler Nightshift has got a minimalist appeal of a custom-made motorcycle, with a chopped-style tailpiece accommodating a tiny LED tail lamp and small rounded LED turn indicators on either side. There is a rear tyre hugger, on which the license plate is mounted. The Ducati Scrambler Nightshift comes with a café-racer style flat seat, the padding of which gives it good cushioning and comfort for two adults.

The rider’s cockpit of the Ducati Scrambler Nightshift looks very much flat-track bike inspired, with a flat handlebar ending up with bar-end mounted rounded rearview mirrors. The rounded and offset-placed fully digital instrument console shows data for the speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, odometer, trip meters, gear indicator, and clock.

The flat handlebar, lean stance, and mildly rear-set footpegs give the Ducati Scrambler Nightshift a committed riding position, which makes it a very enjoyable motorcycle to ride. The Ducati Scrambler Nightshift shares its tubular steel trellis frame with the other Scrambler models but gets upside-down 41mm Kayaba telescopic forks at the front and mono-shock with pre-load adjustable from Kayaba at the rear. The bike gets a set of spoked wheels (18-inch front and 17-inch rear), which come with off-road spec Pirelli MT 60 RS tyres over them. A 330mm disc with a radially-mounted 4-piston caliper at the front and a 245mm disc with a single-piston floating caliper at the rear serves as the standard brakes on the motorcycle.

The Ducati Scrambler Nightshift is powered by a four-stroke, air-cooled, L-twin, Desmodromic, 803cc engine, which is the same engine that powers the Scrambler Icon, the most popular Scrambler model from Ducati. Coupled with a 6-speed gearbox, the engine is good enough to produce 73 bhp of maximum power output and 66.2 Nm of maximum torque output.

The Ducati Scrambler Nightshift is equipped with a dual-channel cornering ABS, which happens to be the only safety feature available in the motorcycle.

With all the rugged-looking design bits of a café racer and a traditional scrambler, the Ducati Scrambler Nightshift has a lot of visual drama going for it. The lean design and well-sorted chassis make it an agile motorcycle on the move, and with the perky L-twin engine, it just feels much more enjoyable machine with the right amount of power too.