On Tuesday the Italian motorcycle manufacturer announced another upcoming Scrambler model would be unveiled in just a couple days time. While we could just be patient and wait to see what the bike will be, obviously I’d rather speculate and spread rumors, because what else would I do? With a single dark image of the headlight of the bike, there’s very little we can glean from this. But we’re going to try. Let’s try, shall we?

Ducati says that the new Scrambler model, dubbed “Land of Joy” will bow on Thursday. Land of Joy seems to be a conceptual space that the company has created, which is “A universe made of music, food, lifestyle. And an endless amount of fun.” I’m not certain exactly what that means as it pertains to a new motorcycle, but sure, why not?

The launch video, the second in a series of six planned by Ducati, has been given the title “Mark Your Roots”, which makes me think this is going to be something with a distinctly throwback look. Scrambler is already a pretty distinctively throwback bike, featuring an upright standard riding style and a vintage-aping round headlight mounted up front. There are currently four models of Scrambler; the Icon, the Nightshift, the Cafe Racer, the Full Throttle, the Desert Sled, and the 1100 (available in Pro, Special, Sport, and Sport Pro guise). There are variations on theme for each of those models, but they’re all based on a similar foundation of vintage flair and relatively inexpensive pricing.

In the teaser image you can see the traditional Scrambler X-headlight and offset gauge cluster. There is a set of medium-rise handlebars and hydraulic levers, as usual. Oh, and a set of tight-fitting LED turn signals. Okay, so we can’t tell much. It could be any Scrambler, honestly. So what has Ducati been working on lately?

Could this be the Scrambler Motard concept turned production? God, I hope so.

Way back at Eicma 2019 the company unveiled a concept bike (above and below) showing that the idea of a less-expensive throwback-styled Ducati Motard could join the lineup. The current Hypermotard starts at $13,999 anyway, so there’s plenty of room for a cut-price $10,000 model to slot in underneath that. Throw some street tires on the bargain not-a-Ducati with 803ccs and you’ve got an instant winner.

I’m guessing whatever is shown off later this week won’t look exactly like this. In fact, I hope it doesn’t. If I had my druthers, I’d give it a more vintage look and taller suspension. Basically give me a desert sled with street tires and a little of the Scrambler Cafe Racer’s style. I’ll take mine in wine red with a brown seat, please.