News from Intermot is coming in thick and fast, and the most recent unveiling is the Triumph Street Scrambler, updated for 2019 with more power, a handful of technology upgrades with a pinch of style changes. The changes won’t bring the fight to the more focused Ducati Desert Sled, off-road, but thankfully some of the upgrades address the Triumphs weak points to make it a better bike, all around.

Taking both the Ducati Desert Sled and Triumph Street Scrambler up from Seattle to Alaska, it was clear right out of the gate what separated the two bikes — weight. They both weighed roughly the same, but the way it’s distributed on the Triumph and combined with the lower ride height, it put the Brit at a disadvantage off-road.

For 2019, Triumph gave the Street Scrambler a magnesium cam cover, a lightweight crankshaft, dead shaft and balance shaft as well as a lighter clutch. All of that shaves around 10 lbs of the bike, which, admittedly doesn’t sound like much standing still, but when things hit a couple-thousand RPM, the lowered rotational mass is monumental. And all those lightened parts means the engine can make more power and rev higher which, hence the new 7,500 rpm redline and 10-horsepower bump to a total of 65hp.

For when you’re in the dirt, Triumph added new Brembo brakes as standard, riding modes and switchable ABS, but as far as physical upgrades to tackle rougher terrain, there isn’t much. You still get the same ride height and suspension travel as the old Street Scrambler, but Metzeler Dualsport tires do come standard. The Ducati still has the upper hand when it comes to that arena. Official pricing for the 2019 Street Scrambler will be announced in November, but with all the extra tech and internal improvements, don’t be surprised if it eclipses the 2018 MSRP of $10,800.