This Week in MXA, presented by O’Neal Racing. We’re fresh off a trip to Mammoth Lakes with the all-new 2027 Ducati Desmo450 EDS, Ducati’s first purpose-built dual sport, released in the brand’s 100th year.

Built off the Desmo450 platform, the EDS is tamed down for trail riding: lower compression, a heavier crank, bigger radiators with a fan, and a quiet street-legal exhaust. It makes roughly 42 horsepower stock, but Ducati offers factory upgrade stages (map switch, Wi-Fi tuner and a full exhaust) that drop about 20 pounds and add around 15 horsepower. It retails at $12,995.

The good: an engine that lugs through rocks and won’t stall, all-day cooling, and dual sport gear right out of the crate. The bad: the fork tops out hard for heavier riders, and the stock 80/20 tires don’t track well off-road. Plus: meet MXA’s new photo and video guy, Tom Haraden. One year of riding, and he’s taking on the 24 Hours of Glen Helen this weekend on his KLX300 “The Couch.” Then it’s off to Sweden for the Gotland Grand National.