![ducati cafe racer ducati cafe racer](http://www.bikebound.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Ducati-Scrambler-Sixty2-Cafe-Racer-1.jpg)
While parked on the side of Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills, tourists in passing open-air tour buses gawked at me like I was a movie star. The last time a passerby pulled out a camera to take a photo of me on the freeway I was on a $100k Confederate Wraith B120, and it happened to me again on the Hollywood Freeway on the Café Racer. Be prepared for attention anywhere you go on the 2017 Ducati Scrambler Café Racer. 2017 Ducati Scrambler Café Racer Review 10. Still, it won’t be easy to have more fun sprinting from café to café in search of the perfect tiramisu. The Café Racer is great fun, though not quite as revelatory as the Desert Sled. The Desert Sled was the most surprising performer, far exceeding expectations. The original Icon is an impressive motorcycle that performs far better than one would anticipate. The Café Racer is another winning Ducati Scrambler variant. It’s not a deal breaker for experienced riders, but some of the novices who will be attracted to the Café Racer will find it disconcerting. The bar-end mirrors look great, but have a limited view. Again, it’s not extreme, but the Café Racer’s seating position is nowhere near as welcoming as the upright, wide-handlebar Scrambler Icon or Desert Sled. Leaning over so you look cool only works for so long without a blast of air helping to hold you up, not to mention the pounding urban roads deal to you. Around town, the ergos are fine for a while, but eventually your wrists will demand a caffè break. The Ducati Café Racer is not nearly as uncomfortable as the BMW R nineT Racer, but it is true to its name-it’s for fast runs between closely spaced cafés. The seat is slippery and pushes you to the front, and the clip-ons have precious little rise-fortunately the reach forward to the grips isn’t too far. Unlike the Scrambler Icon, which you can ride all day long without much in the way of fatigue, the 2017 Ducati Scrambler Café Racer is not quite so comfortable. With the café styling, you also get some café discomfort. 2017 Ducati Scrambler Café Racer Review 7.
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ABS is standard, so I would have liked to see Ducati go more aggressive in the back. It’s good that Ducati put a lot of stopping power in the front disc because the rear brake is anemic in comparison. Given the relatively modest power output and light weight, it turns out one 320mm disc with the radial actuation of the master cylinder and a radially mounted high-end Brembo caliper is enough. The Café Racer may have only one front disc, but it is equipped with the right Brembo hardware. I won’t insult your intelligence by telling you to not try this at home. However, if you’re used to a fully faired superbike and a racing helmet, the feel of the wind at 100+ on a naked bike while wearing an open face AGV and Serengeti sunglasses is quite a different, and liberating, experience. Unlike the café racers of the 1950s, the Ducati Café Racer has no problem showing triple digits on the LCD speedometer (which has a useless tachometer and a too-thin font). It is an easy-to-use motor with a smooth, yet insistent, delivery that works just fine for friendly inter-café competition. The air-/oil-cooled motor with two-valve heads puts out the same claimed 75 horses at 8250 rpm and 50 ft/lbs of torque 500 rpm earlier. With the Termignoni silencers, you might expect some sort of power boost, but it’s not there. The 2017 Ducati Scrambler Café Racer engine is the same sweet powerplant found in the standard Scrambler.
![ducati cafe racer ducati cafe racer](http://www.bikebound.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Ducati-900SS-Cafe-Racer-3.jpg)
2017 Ducati Scrambler Café Racer Review 4. Interestingly, early press info describes a “fully adjustable upside down fork” for the Café Racer, but the fork on the bike I rode had no adjustments that I could find. Certainly, the suspension does jostle you around on rougher roads, so aim for the smooth line when possible. While, the damping and springing is fairly firm, the ride never gets harsh. Although the Kayaba suspension has no damping adjustments, it’s just fine from Japan, via Bologna. All the numbers and the ergonomics point toward a tricky bike to ride, yet the Café Racer’s handling is predictable and precise. It is as stable as you like in corners with easy turn-in, and the Scrambler Café Racer doesn’t have any of the headshake we’ve felt on small-displacement air-cooled Ducati Monsters of the past. Without any doubt, it is an agile motorcycle, though one that doesn’t offer unexpected surprises. Despite the steep rake, the Ducati Café Racer is not a nervous handler.