Ducati has finally bowed down to the millennials who love doing everything through a screen. The brand had dropped a teaser video of a bike that was going to be sold online a while back, and now the bike has been unveiled for the European market only (at least for now). Planned out by the millennial interns at the Ducati offices, the firm has launched a brand new Scrambler model adding to the already strong line-up of six models.

And it’s aptly called the Scrambler Hashtag. Yes, the #. What is even more brain tickling is the fact that Ducati is going to sell these bikes exclusively through a screen rather than on a showroom floor. But it isn’t as straightforward as your Amazon deliveries are.

It all starts with buying a €500 (about $620) deposit voucher from the dedicated Scrambler Hashtag website. But that is the end of the having an online buying presence. Once you buy this voucher and nominate a Ducati dealer of your choice, you head to the dealership with the voucher, sign a contract, finalize payment of the rest and agree on a delivery date suitable for you.

Ducati has been making Scramblers which could have been abused on roads that don’t exist, but it pleased the urban way and the masses rather and hence they became glorified street bikes. They became the street iterations of the South-West California and Mexico’s Baja scenes in the ’60s and ’70s.

The Hashtag 400 takes all of its cues from the Scrambler Sixty2 that ran the streets of America right up until last year. The same bare-ass nakedness rolls on here with the minimal frame components and a light, clean look. The same round headlight setup and the offset digital instrumentation make way here.

It runs on the same powertrain made of the 399 cc, air-cooled, L-twin engine that cranks out 41 ponies and 25.5 pounds of grunt, sufficient power for fun while staying well within the manageable range. The same six-speed transmixxer is also employed here.

The Hashtag also shares the chassis, wheels, suspension and braking units with the Sixty2. 41 mm, right-side-up forks and Kayaba coil-over monoshock handle the suspension. Whereas braking is taken care of 320 mm disc with a twin-pot caliper up front and 245 mm disc with a single-pot caliper in the back are sufficient, with ABS as standard.

The only differences with the Sixty2 are the Midnight Black paintjob with the orange Scrambler logo, mudguard, handlebar, and a Desert Sled-style seat.

The Hashtag 400 is priced at €6990 plus on-road costs which is about $8,650. This is around $800 more than what the Sixty2 was priced at while it was sold here. Nonetheless, the Hashtag is the most affordable Ducati on sale, currently available only in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Portugal.

Deliveries are expected to start in mid-March. Wheather Ducati will bring the Hashtag on the other side of the pond is yet to be seen.

Reference

Ducati Scrambler Sixty2