After revealing its first look during World Ducati Week, the Italian manufacturer has unveiled the Desmo450 SM supermoto, based on the Desmo450 MX platform. Ducati appears to be aiming it squarely at racing enthusiasts, with its equipment, design and maintenance centred around that use case. The lack of a headlight is another obvious sign that it’s not meant to be street-legal.
- Gets adjustable front and rear suspension with 280mm and 295mm travel, respectively
- Has 16.5-inch front and 17-inch rear rims with tubeless tyres
- Only production Ducati to have race slick tyres as standard
Ducati Desmo450 SM: What’s different from the Desmo450 MX?
Almost completely reworked for the supermoto discipline
Even though the platform is shared with the Desmo450 MX, Ducati has reworked it in almost every way for the Desmo450 SM. Starting with the suspension, Ducati has sought Showa’s help in redesigning it for supermoto use. The SM uses a Showa sealed cartridge 49mm USD fork with 280mm travel that is adjustable for compression and rebound. The monoshock at the rear has 295mm travel and is fully adjustable. Ducati says the suspension enables precise braking and corner entries while keeping the balance and traction intact. The twin-spar aluminium frame, however, is shared as-is with the Desmo450 MX.
Other parts such as the handguards and fork guards have been made smaller to fit the discipline, and the SM sports slicks as standard, making it the first and only production Ducati to do so. The bike gets a 16.5-inch front rim and a 17-inch rear rim with a Bartubeless system. According to Ducati, this system reduces the rotating and unsprung mass on the bike by 1.2kg. The factory-fit slicks are Metzeler Racetec Slick SMs, the same as those used in the Supermoto World Championship. Speaking of which, the Desmo450 MX has already seen quite a bit of success in the 2026 Supermoto World Championship at the hands of four-time world champion Marc-Reiner Schmidt.
The engine is a 449.6cc single-cylinder mill, delivering 63.5hp and 53.5Nm of torque. Thanks to the Desmodromic valve train, the rev limiter is set at 11,900rpm, offering a wide power band and flexible riding. The fuel tank capacity is 7.2 litres; with an empty fuel tank, the SM weighs just 109kg.
Braking duties are handled by a Brembo Stylema radial caliper with a 310mm Galfer front disc and a 240mm Galfer rear disc with a Brembo floating caliper. Other rider aids include Ducati Traction Control, Engine Brake Control, Launch Control, an up-only quickshifter and a Suter slipper clutch. All the control systems are tied to the two ride modes on offer and can be customised to the rider’s liking using Ducati’s X-Link app.
The maintenance intervals remind you once again that Ducati is aiming the Desmo450 SM at serious riders for competitive racing. An oil change is recommended every 15 hours of riding, with piston replacement and valve clearance checks necessitated every 45 hours. Ducati recommends a full engine overhaul every 90 hours of riding. If you’d like electronic assistance with this, Ducati offers a Com-Link module as an accessory, which assesses the wear on engine components to make maintenance precise and efficient over time.
At the time of writing, Ducati has announced that the Desmo450 SM will be available in European markets starting December 2026, followed by the rest of the world; Ducati hasn’t indicated if India will be one of the markets to get the Desmo450 SM at this time, but considering that the Desmo450 MX was launched here a year after its global debut, we could see the supermoto sibling in our market as well. In Italy, the asking price for the Desmo450 SM is EUR 13,990 (Rs 15.38 lakh). For context, the Desmo450 MX costs EUR 12,990 (Rs 14.28 lakh) in Italy, whereas in India, it is priced at Rs 17.28 lakh. We could thus expect to see the Desmo450 SM to sit above the MX if and when Ducati launches it here.
All prices are ex-showroom. EUR-to-INR conversions are based on exchange rates at the time of writing.
Ved Janve
Vishal Venugopal
