- After conquering the 2024 Italian motocross championship, Ducati is poised to take on the rest of the world with its Desmo450 MX production model.
- Representing the marque’s maiden motocross bike, it promises to amplify the riding skills of punters – professional or amateur – with an aggressive 449.6cc single-cylinder four-stroke engine.
- The Ducati Desmo450 MX lands in Australia around September 2025 with a starting price of $16,300.
Ducati – purveyor of sculpted red rockets, synonymous with blistering tarmac and espresso-fuelled glamour – has decided to roll up its sleeves and get a bit muddy.
Meet the Desmo450 MX: a purpose-built motocross machine that represents the Italian marque’s first proper stab at a motocross bike, period.
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“Over the past 18 months, many people have asked me why Ducati decided to enter the world of professional off-road racing,” said Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding.
“The answer is simple: Ducati is a healthy company that generates resources, therefore has the opportunity to grow by opening up to a new segment of enthusiasts.”
“This has allowed us to present the Desmo450 MX today: an easy, high-performance bike, for amateurs and professionals alike, which we will constantly develop through sporting activity at the highest levels.”
Ducati’s Deso450 MX isn’t some lifestyle-adjacent scrambler, built to be showboated outside an inner city café. It’s the real deal – a remarkably lightweight, full-whack motocrosser designed with the singular purpose to compete; specifically in collaboration with nine-time FIM world champion Antonio Cairoli and national titleholder Alessandro Lupino.
Under the plastic – which looks as if it was styled by someone with a vendetta against subtlety – lives a 449.6cc single-cylinder four-stroke, based around Ducati’s all-new Desmo450 engine platform. It’s liquid-cooled and features a double overhead camshaft with desmodromic valve actuation.
Cranking the throttle unleashes 63.5 horsepower at 9,400 RPM and 53.5Nm of torque at 7,500 RPM, but you’ll eventually hit the limiter at a red-hot category benchmark of 11,900 RPM. As per Ride Apart, if these numbers are correct, the Desmo450 MX is essentially generating 15-20% more horsepower and torque than the rest of the bikes in the 450 class.
All this comes strapped to a frame that’s lighter than a tax accountant’s sense of humour (curb weight: 104.8kg), with an aluminium swingarm and suspension from KYB tuned for serious air time; as well as the ever-precise Desmo450 MX Ducati Traction Control (a first in electronics for the segment).
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As for the styling, let’s just say it’s unmistakably Ducati – all angular aggression and enough red to make a fire engine blush. There’s even a bit of Panigale DNA in the front fender and radiator shrouds, which is a bit like putting a Savile Row suit on a rugby player. And it bloody works.
The Ducati Desmo450 MX enters production mid-April and arrives in Australia around September 2025 with a recommended retail price starting at $16,300; while our Kiwi neighbours will have to fork out $17,793 for the same privilege.
