Desert Shred: Custom Ducati Desert Sled

Scram Africa Sled from Cid Motorcycles… 

When the new Ducati Scrambler hit the market in 2015, it received a warm reception as a retro street bike, but it was no off-roader. As with many of today’s production scramblers and “retrobikes,” style seemed a higher priority than function. However, Ducati soon followed up with the Desert Sled. While still part of the Scrambler family, the Sled is a different beast altogether, built to  perform once the pavement ends.

“It’s no coffee shop poser making empty off road promises. It’s a genuine off-road capable bike in retro form and when it was launched it was the only one in its class.” –MCN

The DS has extra frame tubing to stiffen the chassis, a longer reinforced swingarm, side plates at the frame/swingarm/engine junction, and adjustable Kayaba suspension with 7.9 inches of travel at either end — among other upgrades.

For Desert Sledders who want to test their mettle and that of their machines, it’s tough to think of a better event than the annual Scram Africa rally hosted by our friends at Fuel Motorcycles — a ~10-day, 2500-km ride across the rugged mountains and deserts of Morocco. While the route changes each year, riders always face a challenging variety of sand dunes, mountain trails, water crossings, desert roads, and remote villages before making it across the finish line. Of course, a heavy dose of camaraderie fuels the ride.

In 2022, London’s Conrad Augustus took his 2019 Desert Sled down to Africa for the Scram. While the stock DS has been reinforced for off-road abuse, Morocco managed to make its mark on the high-riding Duc in the form of a broken front engine mount bolt, which led to a bent and cracked frame.

Back on home soil, Conrad sought the help of Anthony “Cid” Daymond of Cid Motorcycles — a shed-builder who left the motor trade 1.5 years ago to pursue his passion of customizing motorcycles full-time. Cid’s son, Sam, is co-founder of Baffle Haus in South Wales — a combination workshop, coffeehouse, and motorcycle store — and Sam rides an ’89 Moto Guzzi Mille GT Cid built for him.

“Sam and his team at Baffle Haus…gave me the confidence to go for it and I’ve kept very busy since!”

Cid’s first order of business would be replacing the broken frame with a brand new one from Ducati — and as long as the bike was in pieces, Cid and Conrad decided some customization was in order.

For the front, Cid fabricated a mounting frame for a set of Denali D4 Enduro headlights and Motogadget indicators. Though it would take a ton of head-scratching and experimentation to make the new lights play nice with the Ducati’s CAN-bus system, Cid managed to make it all work with no errors. Of course, the wiring difficulty virtually guarantees that no one else will have a similar setup.

Other highlights include a relocated speedometer, LeoVince exhaust, Zard seat and side panels, relocated license plate bracket and rear indicators, and a ton of Cerokoated parts: triple trees, exhaust, pegs, belly pan, and more.

Meanwhile, Image Design Custom laid down the lovely paint on the tank and fenders, as well as the custom lettering with the bike’s nickname: “Il Duce.”

All in all, this custom Desert Sled is ready knock out another Scram Africa…and look damn good while doing so. Bravo to Cid for such a great and functional build, and we wish Conrad many years of dusty, dirty, sandy, and muddy fun on this desert shredder.

Ducati Desert Sled Custom: Builder Interview

• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.

I’m not a company I’m just a man in a shed! My workshop is a double garage with an extension on the back and two bike ramps. I gave up working in the motor trade about 18 months ago to concentrate on my passion of modifying motorcycles and have to say with the encouragement from my son Sam and his team at the Baffle Haus in South Wales that gave me the confidence to go for it and I’ve kept very busy since!

• Why was this bike built?

Conrad contacted me after competing the 2022 Fuel Scram Africa on this 2019 Ducati Desert Sled. A front engine mounting bolt had broken, causing the unsupported engine to bend and crack the frame, so my first job was to replace the frame with a new one from Ducati with the original chassis number. The decision was taken that while it was here we could customise it.

• What custom work was done to the bike?

The bike has a LeoVince exhaust system. Zard seat and side panels. Relocated rear number plate and rear indicators. Then the steering yokes. Exhaust. Foot pegs and belly pan and a few other bits and pieces were all Cerokoted black.

Relocated the speedo from in front of the handlebars to behind to tidy up that area.

Superb paintwork by Image Design Custom on the tank and also painted the mudguards black.

The biggest challenge was to fit a pair of Denali D4 Enduro headlights and Motogadget indicators to give it a more aggressive stance. I fabricated a mounting frame from scratch, but the hardest issue was to get them to work with the Ducati’s can-bus system, as the Denali wiring requirements were completely different to the Ducati’s.

But after a bit of head scratching and a few relays and resistors, I’ve got them working through the original switchgear without error messages showing.

Follow the Builder

Builder: @cidmotorcycles
Owner: @conrad_augustus
Paint: @imagedesigncustom | @imagedesigncustom.bts
Thanks: @bafflehaus | @bafflehauscustoms

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