Ducati Built Its First-Ever Supermoto. It's the Only Ducati Sold With Slick Tires From the Factory.
The Desmo450 SM, previewed at World Ducati Week during the brand's centenary year, adapts the Desmo450 MX motocrosser's 449.6cc single for supermoto racing — and was already winning FIM Supermoto World Championship rounds under four-time champion Marc-Reiner Schmidt before Ducati has even released its final specs.
Ducati previewed the Desmo450 SM at World Ducati Week in Misano this month, calling it the brand's first-ever racing supermotard and the fifth model built on the Desmo450 off-road platform, alongside the Desmo450 MX, MX Factory, EDS, and the smaller Desmo250 MX. The reveal landed inside Ducati's 100th-anniversary celebrations at WDW. Ducati has confirmed the bike's full technical specifications, along with production and availability details, won't arrive until mid-September — but the machine is already racing competitively in the FIM Supermoto World Championship's S1GP class, in the hands of four-time champion Marc-Reiner Schmidt and Team Unidici, who sit second in the points standings after the season's first three rounds.
The Desmo450 SM starts from the Desmo450 MX motocross bike but Ducati says it reworked the engine, chassis, suspension, brakes, and bodywork specifically for supermoto's mixed pavement-and-dirt discipline rather than treating it as a badge-and-tires job. In its motocross application, the 449.6cc DOHC liquid-cooled single makes a claimed 62.6 hp at 9,400 rpm and 39.5 lb-ft at 7,500 rpm; Ducati hasn't yet confirmed what, if anything, changes in the supermoto-tuned version ahead of September's full reveal.
What's visible now: spoked Takasago Excel wheels, an upswept exhaust, long-travel Showa suspension, and Brembo brakes with a larger front rotor than the MX donor bike. Ducati is calling it the only production model in its current lineup sold with slick tires as standard equipment from the factory — a deliberate signal that, unlike most of Ducati's off-road range, this one isn't meant to see a trail.
The Desmo450 SM has already been given a confirmed UK price of £12,095 ahead of its full launch, positioning it at the premium end of the supermoto market before Ducati has even finished specifying it. It's purpose-built to qualify for the S1GP class of the Supermoto World Championship, and Ducati says more availability and dealer detail will follow as the bike nears its showroom arrival.
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