Motorcycle specifications DucatiDesmo450 MX 2025 Ducati brings out the spikes

Ducati regularly opens up new horizons. After conquering the trail bike (Multistrada), relaunching the Scrambler's career and giving custom bikes a run for their money, the Bologna-based firm is now tackling the world of cross-country. The Desmo450 MX is the first cross-country bike in Ducati history. A motorcycle born of the philosophy that has always guided the brand: experiment and test solutions in competition, then apply them to production bikes.

The Desmo450 MX is built around a 449.6 cm3 single-cylinder engine with Desmodromic valve timing, and represents a unique piece in the specialized off-road panorama, offering the possibility of exploiting every gear to the full, both at the start and between corners, thanks to a particularly favorable flow rate that combines low- and mid-range torque with benchmark over-rev capabilities.

The lightweight aluminum frame has been designed with as few welds as possible, for the benefit of structural strength, lightness and rigidity. These choices immediately bore fruit in racing with Alessandro Lupino, who, after winning the first race of the MX1 Italian Championship, went on to become national champion. These races helped define the production bike, and will be the best test-bed for the ongoing development of the Desmo450 MX and all future models in the range.

The Desmo450 MX also represents a first in its segment in terms of electronics. It is the world's first motocross bike equipped with a traction control system capable of precisely defining actual rear wheel slip. This system identifies the riding phases when it should not be activated, so as not to limit the bike's performance. It can be instantly deactivated by the rider in situations where full engine performance is required, and automatically reactivated shortly afterwards.

Engine

The Desmo450 MX offers a very sustained torque curve at low revs, guaranteeing abundant power out of corners, with linear distribution and unprecedented acceleration in its class. This unique power curve, which provides the rider with 70% of maximum torque from 4,200 rpm, makes the Desmo450 MX less demanding and less tiring than a traditional 450, for optimum riding pleasure. This is made possible by Desmodromic valve timing, which, by reducing the energy required to open the valves, enables more aggressive lift patterns, even with large-diameter valves.

Thanks to bore and stroke dimensions of 96 x 62.1 mm, it was possible to use 40 mm intake valves and 33 mm exhaust valves. The former are in titanium, while the latter are in steel, with a hollow stem filled with sodium to enhance heat exchange, thus increasing reliability and performance consistency.

Particular attention has been paid to the cooling system, with rhomboidal radiators. New to the segment, they offer 6.5% more radiating surface area than a traditionally shaped solution, improving engine cooling while maintaining the bike's compactness, giving the rider great freedom of forward movement.

Maximum power for the Desmo450 engine is 63.5 hp at 9,400 rpm, and maximum torque is 53.5 Nm at 7,500 rpm. The limiter is set at 11,900 rpm, a new benchmark in the category.

Chassis

The chassis of the Desmo450 MX is based on an aluminum perimeter frame. This layout was chosen to obtain a lightweight structure, allowing the engine to have intake and exhaust ducts as straight as possible, to guarantee optimum performance. Borgo Panigale's technicians succeeded in creating a structure weighing 8.96 kg, characterized by as few welds as possible, thus achieving the objectives of lightness, reliability and rigidity. The frame contributes significantly to keeping the weight of the bike, in ready-to-use configuration but without fuel, to 104.8 kg.

The Desmo450 MX's suspension and brakes have been carefully selected. Ducati relied on Showa's long experience in competition, which was also chosen to facilitate adjustments for enthusiasts thanks to the technical arrangement of the spring and not air for the elastic component. The fork is fully adjustable, with 49 mm inverted stems, 310 mm travel and Kashima Coating treatment on the plungers. The shock absorber is fully adjustable and wheel travel is 301 mm.

On the braking side, Ducati has also chosen to collaborate with its long-standing partner Brembo to develop reference braking systems, also for motocross, as has been the case for many years on road bikes. The caliper is a floating two-piston caliper at the front and a single-piston caliper at the rear. Galfer brake discs measure 260 mm at the front and 240 mm at the rear.

Electronics

The Desmo450 MX features a true traction control system, capable of delivering benefits in terms of lap times, rider safety and energy savings. Unlike other systems currently available in the segment, the Ducati Traction Control (DTC) installed on the Desmo450 MX calibrates power cut-off according to actual rear-wheel slip, guaranteeing effective, rapid and linear intervention. The system is able to identify moments when it should not intervene, such as jumps, and self-exclude. What's more, if the rider identifies points on the track where he wishes to exploit the engine's performance to the full, he can deactivate the system with a light touch of the clutch lever.
The control reactivates automatically a few moments later. Ducati traction control offers four different levels of intervention.

The electronic equipment also includes Launch Control and Engine Brake Control, which, like DTC, can be set to different intervention levels and associated with two riding modes that the rider can adapt to his needs and the characteristics of the track via the X-Link application. The gearbox is equipped with a shifter.

Service intervals

Maintenance intervals have been defined with the aim of reducing the associated costs for the customer. Piston replacement is set at 45 hours, as is valve clearance control, while total engine overhaul is set at 90 hours, the benchmark for the segment.

The future

The Desmo450 MX is the first model in a complete range of specialized off-road motorcycles, designed to propel Ducati to new horizons, attract new riders and develop the Ducatisti community.

Photo credits: Ducati