Too early to tell as I haven't done any rough riding with it, but I have high hopes for this bike.
On paper, the specs are similar. The wet weight is within a few lbs of each other - just a hair below 500lbs, but the Norden definitely feels lighter because the gas tank is mounted so low.
However, the primary reason I got the Rally was for the beefier, longer-travel suspension.
I spent all of this summer riding trails all over North America with the GS and a few times I bumped up against the limitations of the 19" front wheel and limited suspension of the BMW, compared to Neda's Norden Expedition - bottomed out the forks on the bumps, scraped the skid plate and bent my kickstand base...
Scrraaaape!!!
When I first got the GS, it was originally meant to be a highway/gravel travel bike, but over time, it got pulled into gnarlier trail duty, just because my EXC500 was no fun to do distance on. I was definitely asking too much of it.
So I researched beefing up the suspension on the 1250 with aftermarket solutions. I was just about to pull the trigger on a TracTive ESA setup when Ducati announced this killer end-of-season deal on remaining 2024 stock.
The DesertX Rally is to the base DesertX what the Expedition is to the base 901 Norden - beefier forks and longer travel front and back.
The Rally has comparable numbers to the Expedition's - 48mm forks up front with 250mm of travel, while the Expedition has the 890 Adventure R's 48mm/240mm forks. So I'm upgrading to an extra 40mm of travel up front and 20mm in the rear compared to the GS.
Kayaba closed cartridge forks
I'm also getting a 21F/18R wheel setup similar to the Norden, but the Rally has tubed rims compared to the 901's tubeless. The base DesertX has tubeless spoked rims, very similar design to the GS where the spokes terminate on the outside lip. Neat design, but once you bend a rim, it's almost impossible to bend it back and costs $$$ to replace. DAMHIK!
Bent rim on base DesertX - same kind of rim on my GS
On our rides, my riding buddies and I have dented rims so many times, so tubes are preferable to tubeless and I can stuff a tube in a tubeless rim anyway. The Rally has upgraded Excel Takasago rims that most dirtbikes come with, should be much stronger and also a severe dent won't leak air like a tubeless wheel will.
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