Ducati Unveils Scrambler Hashtag

A couple of days back, Ducati released a teaser video announcing the imminent arrival of its online-only Scrambler Hashtag. It is now out and as expected, looks like the Scrambler Icon with a black paint job and orange graphics.

What's new?
Nothing, literally, except for the all-black paint job, blacked out components, orange graphics and a seat from the Scrambler Desert Sled. Touted as an online-only Scrambler, the general consensus was that you choose the bike, click on a few options, pay online and after a few days an XXL package arrives at your doorstep. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. You do pay online, but you don't get a large package. Instead, you pay a GBP 500 deposit online that gets you a voucher. This voucher needs to be taken to the nearest Ducati dealership, where after paying the remaining amount, you get delivery of the bike the conventional way. Not quite what we expected then.

What about the bike?
The Scrambler Hashtag is not based on the Scrambler Icon, but the smaller Scrambler Sixty Two. Smaller in the sense that it carries a 399cc L-twin motor that makes 40.9PS at 8,750rpm and 34.3Nm of torque at 7,750rpm. Rest of the underpinnings are from the Scrambler Icon, though. Now here’s a bike that we’d love to see in India.

Cool! When is it coming to India?
As much as we would like to see it here, it is highly unlikely that Ducati will launch the Scrambler Hashtag here. For starters, the bike costs close to Rs 6.3 lakh in Italy. So even if Ducati, by some miracle, manages to chop off Rs 1 lakh off the Hashtag’s price for India, we doubt there will be many takers for a 400cc bike retailing at Rs 5 lakh.

Meanwhile, Ducati has launched the Ever Red programme in India. It offers 24 months of extended warranty with unlimited mileage and can be availed for all new Ducati bikes or bikes still under warranty. Read all about it here.