I thought the scooter gang might get a kick out of this...

Ducati has Plans for a Scooter? Soloscooter claims a Ducati Scootster V-twin 850 is coming...

artists rendition attached...

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"Zounds! Zorched by Zarches, Spaceman Spiff's crippled craft crashes on planet Plootarg!"

For Sale: Ninja 600 with parts bike, needs minor work, $30, no title... (GEE THAT DOESNT RING ANY WARNING BELLS DOES IT?)

850 cc's is getting too big for a scooter, but Ducati is ahead of the game and they see the future of motorcycles. The CVT system has made improvements over the years and is the most efficient and simple transfer of engine power to the wheels, plus the CVT brings down the cost of manufacturing.
I see with-in the next 5-10 years almost all street legal motorcycles will have an automatic CVT system.
but,, right now the main purpose of a scooter is efficently, good gas mileage, storage space, easy to ride, good balance, but 850 cc's is more like a crotch rocket.
People don't buy a scooter for speed and perfomance.
I shouldn't talk, I own a Yamaha Tmax, its not slow, its not fast either, to me, its just right, its as fast as any family car, I bought it as a long distance commuter vehicle with storage space as I need, it offers a comfotable ride with excellent wind and rain protection, to me its a mini Gold Wing. It has no problems of going 5 to 10 mph over any speed limits, but it doesn't have the top speed as a sport bike.
The Ducati 850 doesn't impress me, why would I spend $12K for it when I can get a Tmax, Burgman, or Silver Wing for half the price, that all can go abover the legal speed limits?
In the past I have owned many bikes from 1600cc cruisers to 200cc dual sport bikes and I believe any motorcycle between 500 to 750cc is big enough and has enough engine power for anybody.
I think Ducati made a mistake, they went too big, they should have made a 600 cc scooter instead of a 850cc
also I don't like the rough and high engine noise sound the Ducati motorcycles make, I like the smooth-quiet sound of the Japanese engines, the more quiet it is the better, and in my opnion the Japanese engine designers, and engineers are the best in the world.

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2009 Yamaha TMAX
2008 Suzuki King Quad 750AXI
2011 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 DC Trd Sport, 6 sp manual

That's really starting to blur the line between scooters and motorcycles. To me (just my opinion), scooters traditionally had step-through frames, engines mounted on the swingarm, and smaller wheels. The Tmax already was a gray zone bike, this thing takes it a step further.

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2005 Triumph Bonneville
2005 Suzuki V-Strom 1000
2003 Triumph Trophy 1200
2009 BMW F650GS (wife's)
1990 HD Sportster XL883 (for sale; wanna buy a Sportster??)

Ducati has never made a scooter so this would be interesting if they do. I think they won't myself as they haven't yet but who knows. I haven't heard anything myself from Ducati, so it could be a hype story like the Ducati Cruiser was a few years ago.

Interesting design if they go with it, it looks a little like the DN-01 as well. 800cc for a scooter would put it into the MEGA-Scooter range, which would be (I think) the biggest cc scooter available today (the Suzuki Burgman 650 is currently the largest).

Thanks for sharing the photo and please keep us up to date on anything else you see or hear.

Mike

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Ducati and Piaggio are pissed off cause the best selling and most popular scooter in Italy is the Yamaha Tmax

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2009 Yamaha TMAX
2008 Suzuki King Quad 750AXI
2011 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 DC Trd Sport, 6 sp manual

Ducati has officially dismissed the prospect of Ducati building a scooter or a retro scrambler bike in an exclusive interview with Motor Cycle News...

_________________
"Zounds! Zorched by Zarches, Spaceman Spiff's crippled craft crashes on planet Plootarg!"

For Sale: Ninja 600 with parts bike, needs minor work, $30, no title... (GEE THAT DOESNT RING ANY WARNING BELLS DOES IT?)