Ducati Desmo450 MX - First Impressions

Written version was great - thank you!  

I’m guessing Eli rode the bike and made a decision based on that. We’ll see…

Great review ML!  Appreciate it 👍

Keefer said that their goal is to have the bike setup perfectly for you out the dealer door, so that means setting it up with the correct spring rate, sag…etc. When I heard that it got me thinking, why the hell hasnt everyone been doing that this whole time? Every single day people are walking out of dealerships with the stock suspension setup wrong for their weight/skill. Sounds crazy in hindsight.

Well at least near me, Ducati dealers are a little more personal and technical than your typical dealership. Personally I don’t want any of those techs in the back touching my bike let alone trusting their “PDI” process. Now my local Ducati dealer, I’d have no problem with them setting spring rates, sag, etc. 

Honda could've been shot to the top of every shootout if they just offered a stiffer fork spring option 

I wouldn't necessarily say they are going to set it up for a riders weight/riding style. 

They are going to look at a chart with rider weight and put the springs it says on the bikes, nice touch but springs are about $300 and most guys buying a Ducati will probably be more conscious of suspension settings anyways. 

I can’t wait to see the 250 when it comes out.  

I’m kinda thinking I can swap out a 26 Ducati for the 23 Honda in the garage.  Wife may not notice, both red.  Women may not be able to count but they ain’t color blind lol!!!  Ya roll a green bike in the garage and your busted.  I learned the hard way!!!

She'll definitely notice the new bike if she's not color blind because one is red and the other is burgandy.   Hahahahahaha.  

Can't wait until someone offers a white plastic kit because the bike has great lines and it sounds like a good platform overall except for the rich low end issue and 2-3 gearing issue.  But then again they tested this bike on a freeway, so I guess we'll have to wait and see what it does in the bumps.

The main problem with most stock suspension is it isn't set for the riders weight out of the box and is usually to soft or hard. Changing the spring weight so the majority of guys can just change compression and rebound is pretty good, obviously if your a decent rider your going to get it revalved regardless of the spring they put in. If your a fast/aggressive rider I'm sure they would put a heavier spring in if you ask.

Doesn't Beta have a "Build your Beta" program like that ? 

Thanks for the clarity Keefer!

Is 45h oil change intervals a typo?

https://pulpmx.com/2025/06/03/6-or-9-things-about-the-ducati-desmo-450-mx/

TM was a partner in developing this bike, does anyone with experience on TM felt that, when testing the Ducati?

It would be cool if there was some sort of documentary about the process for building a new dirt bike from scratch.  I assume it starts out with computer-designed frame and motor.  Then do they build an actual motor to see how it runs?  Or is the computer designing so good that they can fully designing a motor in the computer?  Or, in Ducati's case, is the motor similar enough to one of their street bike motors that they start there?

Pretty sure he’s trying to say the handling/comfort doesn’t feel like a Honda but the ergonomics are Honda-like. 

Very good reviews. 

There’s pretty strong rumors that Eli has tried it. Also pretty “good” rumors that he has chosen KTM. If he has chosen KTM, I wonder if the power (“linear”) and suspension swayed him away from Ducati? Pure speculation.

😎

I rode YZ250's for quite a few years. Buy a new one, put old plastics on as soon as it got home, and save the plastics for when I sold it. The wife never knew and thought I'd kept the same bike for years.😁

At least this one wont fall under KTM's M&A dept.

I thought I was bad……..feel much better about myself!

CAD layout for the whole bike - Then simulation for various loading scenarios to view flex characteristics, safety factors, fatigue, probably then frame comes to life, would imagine strain gaged while riding in various areas to feed data back into simulation. Allowing for future changes to be made from a software standpoint rather than expensive builds. 
Engine laid out in CAD, probably a pretty substantial amount of computational modeling and simulation done, a lot of tweaks done prior to original (likely billet) prototype , followed by sand cast parts, and finally production castings. 
 

If I were Eli, I would ride them both with no preconceived notions of performance. Have talks with leadership to gain a clear understanding of the team and ability to try different settings and component brands and to get first hand business insight on KTM for the next year and Ducati's plans on development for Supercross. Each option has potential positives and negatives. I do think Eli's feel on the bike would be the most important factor as long as there are no other show stopper issues. For me as a big Eli fan, I want him on a bike he likes. I think KTM is the most likely due to bike refinement, track/bike knowledge, team experience, etc. Ducati would be a great story though!

I don't care if KTM "has the infrastructure" and just got a new buyer. The financial problems are too big to ignore. I wouldn't trust that team to be around in a year.

This!  With Bajaj officially taking control within the next 12 months, I'm worried their current racing budget could be slashed or eliminated.  I believe I read an article where they stated the current Bajaj CEO thinks racing is a bad return on investment (and that currently Bajaj does not participate in any racing).  

Maybe its a bad investment for all of the other little scooters and crap they sell, but ktm sells race bikes from top to bottom, whether for the woods or the track. Not having them at the highest level would be a horrible look. 

In regards to Ducati dealerships, mine is an established business that recently constructed a multi-multi million dollar (as in quite substantial) facility complete with a wing set-aside for displaying super cars, a high end coffee shop and even a high end steak house. Simply stating they are moving forward to provide an all-inclusive, very professional atmosphere. Yes, the applicable Ducati dealerships will be far and few between. I am fortunate to live only a few miles away....

As I was reading all the positive  initial reviews ,and the  "super high revving", "pulls forever" type of comments , I immediately thought to myself "that sounds like engine characteristics that Eli would destroy everyone with" .  But that's just me .  For me ,KTM has far too many financial issues to take that risk, a private Yamaha team may be a viable option if Star is out of the picture , but the 3 on a Ducati would be mindblowing , no ? 

I have an acquaintance who has a Desmosedici.  It actually has a very different lighter looking red in person.  If you think a 4T aftermarket exhaust is pricey, this has an $8K Akropovic exhaust with and carbon fiber tail section option.  At the time just that was about the same as a leftover CBR1000RR.

Anyway I think the MX bike's red is similar to their HyperMotard.  And that looks great.

Because people are not willing to pay for it...

I'd love to love one, but two of the characteristics of a 450 most important to me are nimble turn in and a snappy bottom.  I watched about 4 reviews and they all aligned on this bikes characteristics, and it isn't either of those. It may be a great bike, but it isn't a great bike for me. I do appreciate all the honest reviews, they all paint a similar picture. 

Man triumph being so late on the 450 is just screwing them over and over and over. Jeremy Coker is the team manager over there who eli has a great relationship with and trusts, but nobody is even mentioning eli to triumph because theyre still not ready. 

That would have probably been a better bike for eli than the ktm, it has an aluminum frame, kyb suspension, and everybody says the triumph handles wonderfully. They are a smidge down on power, but thats not as big a deal on a 450. I think it would have been the most obvious fit if they had already gotten the team together and had some gate drops compared to the steel framed, wp suspension, bankrupt ktm, or the ducati which is aluminum frame but its a pretty unique bike compared to the rest. 

Come on triumph lets get goinggg!!! Just slap a 450 engine in the 250 frame like most companies do today and lets get racing. They got all of the hard stuff out of the way and have a full chassis to start with, production line, vendors, employees, data from racing… how is just putting a diff engine in the bike taking so long? Lets go.