Ducati to hit the trails | Motocross legend Tony Cairoli confirms plans for 450 enduro bike

Nine-time motocross world champion and current Ducati factory rider, Tony Cairoli has told MCN that Ducati have a road-legal 450 enduro bike in the works and it is slated to enter production during 2027.

The news comes following the confirmation of Ducati’s Desmo450 MX motocross racer at the beginning of 2024, which is set to go on sale in June 2025, assuming final development stages are met.

“The plan is first to complete the 250 motocross platform, that’s the next step. Then we will have enduro bikes,” Cairoli told MCN during an exclusive interview at the recent World Ducati Week event in Misano.

“By 2027, we will have some [enduro bikes] ready on the market. We haven’t decided for certain yet when it will be though, because we want to develop the bikes well. Next year the 450 will be here for sure, and after that the 250 will follow.”

Ducati’s new-found passion for off-road racing comes as part of an initiative to attract more young riders to the brand. This was also one of the reasons behind the recent introduction of the Hypermotard 698 Mono supermoto range, which starts at £10,995.

Start them young…

MCN spoke with Vice President of Ducati’s Global Sales and Aftersales, Francesco Milicia, who said: “We see the data that riders are becoming older. At the same time, I have to say that usually they live and are fit even longer.  

“But of course, we are looking at it, and the Hypermono goes in this direction,” the VP explained. “More than this I say even the very, very challenging adventure that we just started with the off-road… it’s going exactly in this direction.

“It’s a very challenging complex world, but in the end we decided to go ahead, and one of the reasons was because we want to help even younger generations to discover the world of Ducati.”

Milicia says that this was more than a business decision for Ducati, adding: “When you start to talk about a project… you have meetings, to understand if it’s good for the company, profitable or not profitable. But we perceived so much passion, and we saw that within the people of Ducati here in Borgo Panigale, there were so many passionate about off-road, that in the end, we said, yes, let’s go ahead with that project.”

The future enduro will be based on the Desmo450 MX platform, utilising a reworked engine, different suspension tuning and dropping from a 19in to 18in rear wheel, among other changes. Critically, the bike would be suitable for road registration unlike its pure motocross sibling.

Taking on the MX elite

Ducati are also looking to broaden their competitive intentions from the Italian Pro-Prestige MX1 motocross championship in which they currently race, to world MXGP for 2025, with two racers set to compete for the brand.

“Antoine Meo is doing some testing, but not with a specific enduro bike just yet, just with the motocross bike with some adjustments made,” Cairoli continued.

“Ducati wants to win everywhere in motorsport,” he added. “This segment is the only one we haven’t explored so much, both for racing and sales, that’s why we want to push in this area.”

Despite its relatively recent creation and on-going refinement, the Desmo450 MX has been performing strongly in the Italian MX series, scoring a double win in the fourth round of the championship at Ponte a Egola.

Both Cairoli and teammate Alessandro Lupino took victories at the event, signifying the first competition win for the Borgo Panigale machine in what was Cairoli’s first-ever competitive outing on the 450.

Rivals muscle in

Ducati are not alone in their quest to branch out into the world of competitive off-roading. Looking to tackle the established Japanese and Austrian competition, Triumph announced plans back in 2021 to enter the motocross and enduro market, and launched their £9795 TF 250-X earlier this year.