On paper, Ducati’s DesertX Rally model is significantly different from the ‘standard’ DesertX it’s based on. But how significant is the Rally model’s performance advantage when you take it into more challenging off-road terrain? And does that advantage warrant a $12,000 price tag premium!

At the Rally model’s recent international media launch in Morocco, we compared notes about the two DesertX models’ relative performance with Nick Selleck, an Aussie guy who’s been involved in the development phase of these landmark new models for Ducati...