DESERTX GETS TURN-BY-TURN NAVIGATION FOR 2023

With so many of us adding phones, GPS units and more to our dashboards in order to navigate the urban jungle or vast expanses of Oz, we now have a ton to look at instead of the trail ahead. So, with that distraction in mind, Ducati’s design team has introduced a new Turn-by-Turn navigation system as a genuine performance upgrade to the 2023 DesertX. It connects your phone to the bike via Bluetooth and visualising directions directly on your dash, all without using external accessories or having to stop to check your phone every five minutes wondering if you’ve gone the wrong way…

The system relies on a Bluetooth connection between your smartphone (iOS or Android) and bike and (if you have them) headsets, all through the Ducati Multimedia System (another separately sold accessory for the DesertX), which shows notifications on the instrument panel regarding phone calls, messages/emails received and listening to music.

The Turn-by-Turn navigation system is a simple affair – all you have to do is enter one or more destinations for the app to calculate the route according to your preferences (fastest, most efficient, exclusion of toll roads, etc) and you can head off into the sunset, safe in the knowledge that you know where you’re going.

Your phone can be stashed without the need to keep the display on. Navigation is carried out with the support of inbuilt maps, which can be downloaded in advance to keep you on course in areas with crap coverage. If you are online, you get to take advantage of real-time traffic info and speed limits. Navigation directions are displayed on the screen, leaving space for riding-relevant information. Also in the interests of safety, the system displays the next turn along with the indication of the approaching turn well in advance.

The system makes it possible to choose which indications to receive (visual, or visual and auditory if a connection to the rider’s headset is active) and to record the route together with all data on speed, lean angle and photos taken during the trip, so that the experience can be relived or shared. The system’s functionality will be constantly evolved alongside map coverage, with both being progressively increased in the coming months.

Being a Ducati Performance accessory, you can add this to your new bike at purchase. Or if you’re lucky enough to have got your hands on a DesertX already, you can roll in and get the software upgrade. With Ducati’s new Diavel also getting this system, we’re sure it’ll make its way to the Multistrada range before long too.