Ducati enters the market of globe-trotting big adventure bikes with its latest offering.
The name Multistrada, meaning many roads, has implied for a long time that this motorcycle could go anywhere but it is only with the launch of this model that it can now truly be said that it is a bike for all roads. First up, the bike looks similar from a distance so what are the main differences? A 19 inch front wheel, 30 litre tank, metal panniers, dual sided swing arm and Pirelli Scorpion Rally off-road tyres are the first things that jump out at you, but, as I was about to find out, this is a completely new product for Ducati and a new market for the famous Italian company to start playing in.
Out of the 840 parts that are used to make a Multistrada, 266 are totally new for this Enduro and, as this is a launch report, I’m going to briefly touch on all of them to give you an idea of how full of technology this bike actually is.
Let’s start at the front; the Enduro now comes standard with spoked tubeless rims, 19 inches in the front and 17 at the rear that take 120/70 and 160/60 tyres respectively. The bike will come out with its standard road orientated Pirelli tyres but the Scorpion Rally knobblies can be fitted as an option. The suspension still employs the Ducati Skyhook Evolution system which is semi-active - rear is controlled by a Sachs rear shock and the front by upside down 48mm forks. The front and rear now have 200mm of travel which is 30mm more than the standard Multi and it now has 31mm more ground clearance. The attitude of the bike is constantly measured and monitored and adjustments are continuously done. Interesting is that the bottom of the fork now has the axle offset by 16mm, new triple clamps which change the rake to 25 degrees (one degree up). Trail changes to 110mm which is 4mm up. With these changes the bike’s stability off-road should be enhanced and Ducati has fitted a steering damper as standard as have the major competitors. At the rear the Multi now features a stiffer, longer, double-sided swing arm which takes the overall wheelbase to 1594mm which is up by 65mm so, make no mistake, this is a big motorcycle. Because this is a new swing arm, the hub of the rear wheel had to be redesigned as well as the braking system. In total this bike now has a curb weight of 254kg and a dry weight of 225kg which is still well below its opposition.
Braking is taken care of by dual 320mm discs up front gripped by M4 Brembo callipers and at the rear it has a big 265mm single disc. What is new is the addition of Bosch 9.1 ME ABS ECU IMU (Inertial Measurement System) which gives the added benefit of cornering ABS. What this system (which is very easy to access from a switch on the left switch gear) also does is give the bike, in its four different riding modes (Enduro, Sport, Urban and Touring), a very different character. What is amazing, and give me a little time to explain, is that there is a different suspension setting for each of the four modes. And, on top of this, you can also choose between single rider, rider and luggage, rider and passenger and then lastly fully loaded. In each one of the settings, of different levels of DWC (Ducati Wheelie Control) there are eight different settings, as well as DTC (Ducati Traction Control) of which there are again 8 levels and Cornering ABS settings. Even the way in which the power is delivered is preset with the options being 160hp sporty delivery in Sport, 160hp smooth delivery in Touring and 100hp in Urban and Enduro. What I do love about this system (and I’ll touch on it more when I chat about the riding of the bike later) is that it allows you to customise every part of it, even suspension preload, and once done it will stay there until you change it again when you want to go back to default. This is such an important feature as biking is such an individual kind of sport with no two riders in the worlds all liking the same set-up. You can truly custom set this bike exactly to your liking and when you get back on it, it is the way you left it. Even the braking has various options and here you can choose between 3 options. Level 1 for maximum off-road performance, ABS only on the front with the ability to lock up the rear, then level 2, which is the sport preset, ensures equilibrium between front and rear without rear wheel lift detection, while level 3 gives optimum braking with rear lift detection. This is for ultimate safety and is the preset for Urban and Touring.
Then let’s talk about the ergonomics. The Multi has a 20 litre tank, higher handlebars, robust foot rests and steel brake and gear levers as well as different mirror stems for standing. The seat has a standard height and is non-adjustable but there are two seat options available.
With all this technical jargon out of the way, what’s it actually like to ride? For this world launch, Ducati flew me to Sardinia to a little town called Cagliari, Sardinia being an island to the south of Italy known for its beauty as well as picturesque adventure riding spaces. On arrival we were divided into two groups, those being off-road and road, and I was going off-road first on bikes that were fitted with knobblies for this purpose. The next morning we headed almost immediately into the mountains and, as it had rained the night before, this would be a true test of the bike’s off-road abilities and was going to show any shortfalls.
Let’s not forget Ducati is aiming straight for the 1290KTM and BMW GSA market and my first impression of the bike, even though it has now got a 30 litre tank, was that it appeared to be lot smaller than the two bikes mentioned before. Also, the higher handlebars and footrest position make it extremely comfortable for riding whilst standing up. As a mater fact, during technical situations, I found this to be the position that offered the most control and I could do this for a long time. I found it interesting that Ducati gave us bikes with tanks almost filled to the brim for our launch ride which was not going to be very far so we only needed a little fuel. This being said, it hid its weight quite well and, even though the roads were muddy, I had enough confidence to play with the various levels of traction control and even got to a place where I rode with it off. I opted for the full 160hp with progressive delivery and this was my preference. A160hp dirt bike leaves a trail of mud and sprays grit with fresh knobblies on which only can be compared to a big V8 speed boat on water. Actually it’s quite addictive and I yearned for some open SA spaces because this is where I feel this bike will really shine, but I suppose Ducati wanted to keep us safe and on the slow side. I hit some rocky bits and not once did this bike show any sign of a tank slapper even before the steering damper would have needed to kick in. The offset front forks obviously did their thing in the stability stakes.
We were taken to a few places to ride that, believe me, you would not want to take your quarter of a million rand bike to, but hey, it’s my job and the bike came through the other end smelling like roses. I for one thought that the YouTube videos showing the bikes being ridden on MX tracks might have been a marketing ploy taken too far but the Skyhook suspension never bottomed out, not even once, and it left me thinking that I might have been a little harsh with my judgement. Maybe they just wanted to show what you could do with the bike if it was not yours!
The afternoon was my tar stint so, upon departure, I switched to the Touring setting. This bike was fitted with the standard trail tyres and on the tar I could immediately feel the difference but that’s obvious between the two types of tyres. The roads we were on closely followed the contour lines so we had some seriously tight turns and the bike was, for sure, put through its paces. Again in Touring setup the bike was soft and smooth but, as the other journalists all had a bit of a mischievous flair about them, the pace soon got to a feverish pitch so I opted for Sport mode and the bike was transformed. This is a Ducati and in its Sport setting it’s uncompromising over bumps with the electronics set to give you the maximum forward propulsion. Ducati, after all, has a racing pedigree and it’s proud of it. The bike is taught and, for these roads and at this pace, this setting was a pleasure. Something I’d like to mention at this point, although no one admits this, is that the VVT of this motor with electronic ride-by-wire which sends signals in real time to the valve train and depending on throttle opening and riding temperament, gives you the ultimate drive you require at that given time. It’s got the V-twin sound but not the shudder at low revs. There have been even further enhancements done on this system and good news is that should you own one of the new VVT Multistradas, this software will be downloaded onto your bike as well. It’s a continuously changing world we live in and the engineers I spoke to all had only compliments to give to the new ability to fine-tune spark and fuelling to obtain the optimum outputs. Makes one wonder how technicians ever really got the old carburettors balanced in years gone by.
Of course with all this optimisation comes better fuel consumption and Ducati claims 5.6 l/100 which I’ve got to say is most probably doable as I obtained 6.3 l/100 but I was riding it as if I stole it, with the tight roads being my only limiting factor.
Who’s going to buy this bike? Well I think you might find that in a country like SA where the 1200 GSA actually outsells the smaller GS1200 and where the bigger part of the population actually prefers a double brandy and Coke as opposed to a single, this Ducati 1200 Adventure might just be what the doctor ordered. Expect to see lots of them on the roads ridden by people who want to be a little different but still want a very competent motorcycle. I loved it and with my love for the Ducati brand, make mine a red one.
click here to find out more www.ducati.co.za
