What Florida Sand Taught Me About the Ducati Desert X

Last week I finally got to do what a new motorcycle is actually meant for and ride it. Almost every day. We were in Florida visiting family for Christmas and decided to haul the new bikes down with us. I brought the Ducati Desert X and Kels was on the Honda SCL500. Not a bad way to escape snow, ice, and the kind of cold that makes you question your life choices.

We were staying close to Ocala National Forest and not far from Tiger Bay and some trails around Ormond Beach, which meant dirt every direction. Or what Florida calls dirt, which is really just sand that is actively trying to ruin your day.

I managed to get out riding all but one day we were there. Mid 70s, sun every day, no rain. Coming from a place where you sometimes do not see the sun for a month straight in winter, this felt illegal. In the best way.

Before the trip I had the Desert X just about fully set up. Skid plate, crash bars, water pump guard, headlight guard, handguards, bags, cat delete, new turn signals. I am probably forgetting something, but you get the idea. The bike was ready to get some testing in.

I used OnX Offroad to find trails and just went for it. The first ride took me onto Old Dixie Highway, which is an actual road and used to be a brick highway back in the day. Now it is a mix of broken brick, sand, dirt, and mystery. Some sections still have enough brick left to remind you what it once was, and some sections are just a suggestion of a road.

As I kept going, it got tougher and tougher. A bold way to start testing a brand new bike. If you have ridden in Florida you already know this, but dirt roads here are just sand roads in disguise. Deep, soft, bike swallowing sand.

I made it through Old Dixie and continued on into Ocala National Forest, eventually finding a trail that led all the way toward Lake George. Things were going great until they were not. Out of nowhere I hit a stretch of sugar sand and in about half a second my rear wheel was completely buried. Not stuck a little bit. Gone. Up to the motor. Just vanished.

I am standing there trying to figure out how I am going to get this thing out when a guy in an old 4×4 rolls up, looks at me, laughs, says yeah you are screwed, and drives away. Thanks, Florida man. Really appreciate the support.

So I tried walking next to the bike and giving it some gas. That did nothing. Then I accepted reality and just dragged it sideways out of the hole and then forward until I was clear. Not elegant to say the least, but effective. While I was catching my breath, a couple dirt bike riders came by and said they would help if I was still stuck. They also mentioned that the trick is to hit sugar sand fast and stay on top of it. Lesson learned.

Kels came out riding with me one day and we did part of Old Dixie, but her bike is not fully set up yet and definitely not on the right tires, so we skipped the rougher sections. We then followed a route she found that was supposedly all gravel. Some of it was gravel. Some of it was not. We ended up on some really cool sand roads around Palatka that cut through cabbage fields and old brick sections. Honestly one of the cooler rides of the trip. From there we headed to DeLand to visit our friend Danny and grab lunch.

I went out a few more days on my own, mostly riding Tiger Bay and Rima Ridge. I did manage to put the bike down once, which is always a great way to test your setup. All the protection worked exactly like it should and there was zero damage. That is a win.

One thing I did notice was the tires (Contintental TKC80). The ones I put on the Desert X, which to be fair came with the bike so no harm no foul, wore down really fast. I put about 550 miles on them and I would guess I have maybe 800-1000 miles left depending on pavement vs. dirt. I won’t be getting these ones again.

All in all, it was a great trip. I learned a lot about the new bike, got some real seat time, escaped winter for a bit, and confirmed that sugar sand is not my friend. I would call that a successful ride.