Possible 659cc Single Coming From Ducati

[advrider]

Our friends over at Motorcycle.com have been Sherlock Holmes-ing their way through documents submitted by Ducati to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and they think they have found a smoking gun indicating to a new Ducati 659cc single coming to market. This information comes part way through Ducati’s series of online world premieres for their 2023 models, with four of the seven episodes still remaining, titled “This is Racing”, “Push Forward”, “Dare to be Bold”, and “Next Gen Freedom”. Will this possible new single be released in one of the final four episodes?

Via an unnamed source carrying a package in a plain brown wrapper, Motorcycle.com investigators intercepted VIN documentation submitted to the NHTSA on September 22 that indicated a “659cm3 (1 cylinder, 4 valves, liquid cooled, secondary air)” model, an engine configuration that Ducati currently does not produce. The rest of the engines in the submission match previous, existing, or known upcoming models from the Italian brand, with the sole exception of this mystery liquid-cooled single.

The Bologna manufacturer, best known for their Desmodromic V-twins, previously employed air-cooled singles in their original Scrambler lineup of the 60s and 70s, but more recently produced a liquid-cooled single for the Pierre Terblanche-designed, Claudio Domenicali- and Massimo Bordi-engineered Supermono race bike in the 1990s (shown in the feature photo for this article). With Ducati’s current Scramblers being both V-twin and air-cooled, it seems unlikely that the new 659 would be a new Scrambler model. With no current race series for a 659cc single, a new version of the Supermono, or a similar race bike, is also a bit far-fetched.

Going back to the remaining Ducati premiere episodes, “This is Racing” is most likely going to be the launch of a new Panigale V4 R, and, according to Motorcycle.com, Ducati has hinted that “Next Gen Freedom” will be for the Scramblers. That leaves “Pushing Forward” and “Dare to be Bold”, one of which may be reserved for a Diavel V4, leaving one for the potential 659cc single.

Borile B450 Scrambler. Credit: Borile

So what will ultimately be? When news of this mystery Ducati single broke, some around the ADVrider offices (an expansive complex located on the top floor of a skyscraper) immediately thought of the “original” modern Ducati Scrambler, otherwise known as the Borile B450 Scrambler, a bike some swear is the inspiration for the current Ducati Scrambler line.

Propelled by an air-cooled single made up of one cylinder and head from a Desmo 1100 v-twin Ducati motor mounted to a Borile bottom end, this bike premiered at the 2011 Milan motorcycle show, years before the modern Ducati Scrambler line was released.

According to Borile, the B450 project was originally supported by Ducati, with the possibility that Ducati would sell the Borile through the Ducati dealer network. That was until Audi bought Ducati, after which Borile couldn’t buy a meeting with Ducati brass, and the lawyers were brought out to do their thing. The courts ended up siding with Ducati, leaving Borile with some extra court fees, an undisclosed amount of penalties, and presumably some bikes they can no longer sell.

So, what if the new 659cc liquid-cooled single is going in a modernized-but-retro version of the original Ducati Scrambler of the 60s and 70, re-envisioned by Borile, then re-re-envisioned by Ducati? We may know in a few weeks, so stay tuned.

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