Hi all I’ve got my Desert X at last (2022 model). My last bike, a Tenere, was decatted and remapped to suit to save weight, take the heat away from under the engine and to smooth out the throttle response. The downside was it was louder but really ran well. I’m not going to do anything to the Desert X yet but wondered what the pros and cons are. If anyone has done it, it would be good to hear from real life experience.
Hey, congratulations on buying the DX. I have the full Termi system on mine with the Ducati remap, sounds great and runs perfect. You may already know that there is a website dedicated to the Desert X with all the info you could ever wish to know. Desert x forum . Com
Tried a Leo Vinci decat on mine briefly with standard can & no remap. It didnt feel any perkier , & was significantly louder but not in a nice way. It did increase tank range by a significant amount, that and the way it had increased engine brake effect made me suspect it was running leaner than with the Cat fitted. I decided i didn’t like the sound o/p which was a harsh note & my general impression/gut feeling was it was probably running too lean so pulled the decat pipe & refitted the cat. Others elsewhere have posted no remap is needed for a simple decat, ime I'd say if thats the way you want to go (and dont mind the exhaust note) then a remap is advised.. PS all the Youtube Vids of a DDX with a decat I've watched dont capture the harsh bap bap frequencies the Decat adds, I recorded my own exhaust noise using an Iphone and GoPro and both of those also filtered out the harsher sounds on the recording when played back. If it sounded anything like my Superlight or 916 when it was decatted I'd have been more than happy with the noise (not the suspected lean fueling) unfortunately it didnt, I suspect because both of those have twice the exhaust can volume to dampen the engine noise o/p . PS I also tried the decat with a free flow can and it didn't improve the sound O/P any.
