Ducati Just Debuted a Supermoto With Desmo450 SM. We're All Going To Jail

This thing is just begging to be slid sideways into a corner!

Photo by: Ducati

By: Justin W Coffey

Jul 8, at 7:02am ET

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Ducati pulled the covers off a new supermoto during World Ducati Week; however, all the details, specs, and pricing won’t be available until September. But that doesn’t stop us from being stoked about Ducati offering a turnkey SM race bike straight from the Borgo-Panigale factory.

Now, to be clear, this isn’t the first supermoto bike the Italian brand has produced. Ducati currently offers two motard machines in the form of the Hypermotard V2 and Hypermotard 698 Mono. However, Ducati is calling the new Desmo450 SM its first racing-focused Supermotard, namely because it qualifies for the S1 GP class at the Supermoto World Championship.

The Hypermotards that Ducati is currently producing can compete in open classes at a variety of racing circuits, and are unmatched when it comes to the kind of fun you can have while commuting to work in a crowded city, but the new SM is designed specifically for the more technical circuits found on the Supermoto World Championship schedule. Think: tight, go-kart-style tracks with table-top jumps and banked corners intermixed.

Photo by: Ducati

Ducati currently has a modified Desmo450 MX entered in the S1 GP class, supported by Team Unidici and piloted by Marc-Reiner Schmidt, a four-time World Champion. Their team is currently holding down second place in the points standings after the first three rounds. Schmidt is racing a prototype, though, and not a production-based bike; however, we have to expect some of the DNA from his race machine has made its way into the Desmo450 SM.

According to Ducati, “The Desmo450 SM has been developed specifically for this discipline, featuring dedicated brakes, suspension, engine components, and specific bodywork elements.” That tells me the forthcoming SM likely shares a lot of components with the prototype that Schmidt is currently racing, with data from his efforts in the S1 GP class being used by the Borgo-Panigale factory to fine-tune a production-level supermoto racer.

Photo by: Ducati

Looking at the bike unveiled during World Ducati Week, it seems like the new SM shares the same bodywork found on the rest of the Desmo450 range, with the addition of a shorter, SM style front fender. The frame appears to be similar, if not the same aluminum perimeter design that the Desmo450 MX is built on, and I am going to guess that Ducati is using the same 449.6cc single-cylinder motor to power the SM - an engine that features Desmodromic valve timing and can spin up to 11,900 rpm.

That said, Ducati did confirm the Desmo450 SM has been specifically tuned for Supermoto racing and will utilize a traction control system similar to the one found on other Desmo450 machines.

What do you think?

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So, while we have to wait a few more months for additional details, at first glance this Desmo450 SM looks like an absolute weapon, one that shares components with the other high-revving Desmo450 models, and benefits from the data Ducati has derived from racing in the S1 GP class at the Supermoto World Championship.

And while I'm excited to see how Ducati has tuned this SM machine for track use, I can't help but wonder if an EDS variant is in the works. Because ripping a supermoto on city streets, through the back alleys, and up the twisty backroads is about as much fun as you can have with a helmet on.