Bought a Desert Sled in 2020. Put some miles on it - fell a couple of times - my fault, of course. Having ridden in the dirt on a few bikes I had a 21" rim laced to the hub. The "drop into a hole" effect was much reduced, but the weight being higher degraded the effect. I slid the fork tubes up further into the head and crown -keeping fork adjusters a quarter inch from the instrument and bracket brought the front end down almost 2 inches. That got rid of the excess height effect and restored the ability to put both feet on the ground. Enjoyed your presentation. It took a while to be comfortable with the single guage and computer controls but now I can go from ABS on to ABS off easily. Having to stop to do it is probably a safety feature, so I won't complain too loudly. Oh - I'm much more at ease knowing how far the fuel in the tank will take me than how far I've been. That being stated, one can only access that information if ABS is ON. S o o o o . . . meh. Thanks again.
I love love love that you did this video. I was wondering how these two bikes compare for so long now. I personally prefer the Desert Sled. Looks are very important to me, but performance is as well. If I spend that much money on something I want it to look good and work well. However, the T7 doesn't look bad, just a bit worse than the DS. I plan on doing stuff like the TET and other traveling on it. Honestly the small tank on the DS seems like a problem. I am used to a bike with 20l tank and for the T7 you can get a 23l Acerbis tank, but for the DS you have to carry an extra jug of fuel which is annoying when traveling and you already have luggage. I guess the T7 is just way more practical all round, but the DS has more character and looks nicer. For commuting and riding around for fun within 200km of home the DS is probably the better choice. For traveling around the world the T7 is probably the better choice.
The Ducati has a significantly lower center of gravity and a more well balanced feel. I like the Tenere but it feels top and front heavy compared to the Ducati. You can easily convert to 18/21 wheel size on the Ducati if desired. The T7 definitely has the edge suspension wise as it has full camp and rebound where the Ducati doesn't have comp. Only preload and rebound. All that said, I will be buying a Ducati here in the next few days and am really excited for it. I don't care for comp on one side and rebound on the other fork. I'll be getting some cartridges for mine.
Good review & very timely for me. I have an oldish Honda 650 Transalp that I want to replace. I've spent ages trying to decide what to get & narrowed it down to one of these two. I want to do some long distance touring both on & off road. The extra weather protection of the T7 seems better but I don't like how top heavy it is. I also prefer the look of the Ducati. I've not ridden either yet though plan to soon. My Transalp is also very top heavy and though it's been a good bike I've never really gelled with it for that very reason so I'm really leaning towards the Ducati. It's nice to hear you've had it for 3 years and still like it & largely trouble free. Thanks for sharing
Hey man great video! I always loved Desert Sleds and I was between buying one or a T7. I ended up buying the T7 ( same as your black 22 which looks great!) I love the bike, fun out here in Califorinia canyons and taking on long trips.. But I can say after a while of everyday riding its not the perfect city bike like you pointed out, just too heavy and feels too big.. looking to keep the Tenere and pick up another supermoto like 701 for everyday city. post more vids! Love Estonia!! Tallinn is awesome
Love this comparison. Your right to say the Ducati is a naked adventure bike, for someone who doesn’t do to technical stuff the Ducati should be good good enough. Both are dream bike I will one day own, if I need a more off road bike I would go with a dual sport like the crf 300 rally.
I have a 2021 desert sled and the abs is split, you can shut of the rear only. It’s been a fantastic bike, no issues thus far with 4k miles on it. Looks wise the desert sled has it beat, in my opinion. I was looking for that Evotech shift lever for my bike but it says it only fits up to a 2019, wondering if it will work on the 2021 models.
I got a little Honda CRF300L and my friend has a T7. It is top heavy and a nightmare to pickup in rough terrain. I was looking at the Desert Sled for looks, but what turned me off was the desmo valve engine. How often did you do the valve clearence check in 15000km and isn't it weird that you have to dissasamble the exhaust pipe in order to change the engine oil?
Very nice review, I was looking for a scrambler with benefits as the Ducati, but unfortunately just found out it went out of production. As I presently have a T7 and a Tuareg I was going to swap the T7 for a Ducati
Cheers from Latvia, Indrek! Nice vid! My friend has a DS and I own a T7 (after a 690 Enduro), and I must say that I agree with most of your assessments. In comparison, the DS seems a better bike for Sunday morning blasts while the T7 is a bit of a tool and a generic one. Ultimately, I was drawn by its simplicity and overall competence (and the price). Yes, it's not perfect, but there's a good chance we will become friends.
@@misterchuck6866 They are two very different bikes and I like the T7 for what it is, a mid-weight adventure bike. It is much better (more comfortable) for longer rides, handles better on tarmac and is a lot of fun on gravel. But it lacks the childish (silly) side of the 690. Anyway, if I wanted to ride technical stuff I would go for the Husqvarna 501, because ultimately the 690/701 is a strange in-betweener (and so is the T7, albeit at the other end of the spectrum). All in all I like the T7 and my only complaints are the suspension and the lack of a slipper clutch.
Hi! I have DS for 3 years. I love this bike, it's very funny on roads and off roads too, but for long travels is difficult to set. So I try T7 and I don't like it: 21 wheel it's so present, center of gravity is to hight. After I try Aprilia Tuareg 660 and I think this is the real competitor. Both italian philosophy, better sound, great cycling. I don't know If i change my DS in eny case to Aprilia Tuareg.
Am I the only one who find T7 very light compared to Ducati or KTM? I never found T7 top heavy at all compared to DS or KTM 890 Adv. (I’ve yet to sit on R model yet). I find T7 very nimble and responsive - even more so than DS or KTM. I am about 5”7 (172cm tall, and I weigh about 160lb) - I find the position of DS rather uncomfortable and the weight lunge to the tank part - making it difficult to make a quick turns especially in off road situation - getting riser may help but its more to do with the distribution of weight.
The long-distance comfort wasn't the deal breaker for me. I'll take looks over comfort :) So far I have seen only two windscreens for DS that don't ruin the looks (at least not a lot). A. desmoheart.com/collections/scrambler-800-desert-sled/products/carbonvani-ducati-scrambler-headlight-fairing-racing?variant=32240072982593 B. www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002636746054.html The Desmoheart one is 260EUR - a bit too expensive. I tried out the AliExpress one - here's a photo: photos.app.goo.gl/cnEdBJ6qvCkQ2KsL7 But I didn't like it after all and removed it. Marginal / almost non-existent comfort improvements.
I tried small windshield - didn't liked it. It didn't help much and it didn't look that good. Bigger windshield wasn't an option for me - too goofy, DS is a naked adv.bike, naked bikes and big screens doesn't rime on my vocabulary. Here are more thoughts on DS mods incl. showing that windshield I used: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FedpWqJRWGw.html
How are you liking your Tenerife over the desert sled so far. I’m thinking about trading my DS for the 2024 Tenere 700 only because the service is so expensive on the DS
