DUCATI’S MTS1200 Multistrada S Touring is the fastest, strongest and most versatile machine in the category we describe around the Cycle Torque office as ‘Any Road’.
We’ve had one at Cycle Torque HQ for nearly a year now, and we plan to keep it around for a little longer than usual for our project bikes.
We like it that much, we aren’t letting it go easily.
There’s a growing group of bikes which are capable of taking on almost anything you’d describe as a road – sealed or unsealed – but aren’t really full-on Adventure bikes. Honda’s got its new Crossrunner and Crosstourer, Yamaha’s got the TDM900, Kawasaki’s new Versys 1000 is in the category and Suzuki’s V-Strom range are there, too. All capable and versatile, but not ‘crashable’ enough for us to recommend as Adventure bikes.
What they are, and the Multistrada is really the one to judge the others against in this category, is fast, comfortable and capable.
4-in-1 Ducati promote the Multistrada as four bikes in one, because you can change the settings on the fly through Sport, Touring, Urban and Enduro. Each mode gives a distinct feel to the bike, each makes the bike that bit more versatile.
Enduro and Urban are the tame modes, the computer limiting power output to 100 horses, which is more than enough for blatting through traffic or up a dirt road.
In Sport and Touring modes you get the full 150 horsepower, although its delivery in Touring mode is toned down a bit. Sport mode is a wicked place full of instant throttle response, massive wheelies and immense fun.
No other dirt-road capable bike is this much fun up a winding bitumen road. Changing the modes also changes the suspension settings. Sport mode is the stiffest, as you’d expect, with each mode being tailored for the conditions. You can feel the suspension settings change under your bum as you use the indicator cancel light to switch between modes.
Although the Multistrada S Touring is very powerful and incredibly fast, we also believe it’s one of the safest bikes you can buy today.
There’s ABS and DTC, so the brakes won’t lock up and DTC is Ducati’s traction control, and with 150HP available spinning up the back tyre isn’t possible, it can be easy.
Other aspects which make this bike safer than many others include comfort (which reduces fatigue), long travel suspension (which takes the harshness out of poor roads) and great visibility thanks to the riding position and the best mirrors ever on a Ducati.
And love it or loath it, the Multistrada, despite the upright riding position and wide handlebars, is still very much a Ducati.
After all, the engineers assigned to the project were told to build ‘The bike they would want to ride on the road’, and these people were Ducatisti, of course. So there was never going to be a dirt-road friendly 21- or even 19-inch front wheel, it was never going to be fitted with a tame engine, it was never going to be anything but a versatile Ducati, complete with blistering performance and superb handling.
There’s no getting away from the fact the Multistrada is a big bike though. The seat height is high, the seating fairly roomy, the weight of the machine not insignificant. Once you’re rolling though it’s very well balanced, and the position of the footpegs good for standing if the terrain gets rough.
The Project
One of the big things we wanted to achieve with our Project Multistrada was to test what it would be like to live with the machine over a decent length of time and distance – so we put it in the hands of Cycle Torque’s contributors as well as letting the staff ride it as much as possible.
So Adventure bike owner Daniel Ballantyne took it bush and road racer Dave Mason took it thrashing, while CT Publisher rode it to meeting in Sydney and to a rally, and Picko took it to Queensland, a couple of times. It’s also been to a couple of Snowy rides.
In all we’ve racked up close to 15,000 kilometres in less than one year, a decent amount of that two-up as well.
So, it hasn’t sat idle in the shed. Along the way we wore out tyres, had it serviced, added some accessories and wished we had more time to ride it.
Genuine accessories
At the first service Ducati added the optional top box, a voluminous container which added enormously to the standard (on the ‘T’-model) capacity of the panniers. The standard luggage has stood up well to the rigours of a bike magazine.
After nearly 15,000km all three boxes still look great and work perfectly most of the time – get dust and grime in the pannier brackets and they get sticky, but are fine. The first batch of panniers had a single large latch, but Ducati quickly found people overloading them and added front and rear latches as well, eliminating Bulging Pannier Problem.
Maintenance
I wrote about the first service in the December 2011 issue, where I discovered one small issue for home mechanics – the centrestand, when down, actually restricts access to a couple of the bellypan bolts which need to come out to replace the oil filter.
Remove the bellypan with the bike on the sidestand first. Ducati has stretched out the intervals between services for all its bikes these days, and the Multistrada is no more expensive to own than the majority of bikes.
Although the factory would like you to take your bike to a Ducati dealer for servicing, the electrical system plugs into the universal diagnostic tools every repairer of high-spec bikes would own, which makes servicing quick and easy.
The Desmo valve gear rarely needs checking or adjusting and while the final drive chain and sprockets will need replacing, the standard equipment is high quality and is still looking good after 15,000km.
The last service was conducted by Motohansa at Rydalmere in Sydney (02 9638 4488).
Motohansa is better known for its servicing, spares and accessories for BMW motorcycles, but the workshop can handle any make of motorcycle because it has the expertise and the right gear to do not only your handbook servicing, but all repairs too.
In our case the Multistrada was there to have Xenon headlight and spot lights fitted.
This isn’t a five minute job, and will require Motohansa to have the bike for a full day, depending on what bike you have, which dictates how much bodywork needs to come off first. While it was there it was deemed prudent to have the 12,000 kilometre service done. Incidentally this is only an oil and filter change, plus a general going over.
The more intensive service, including valve clearances is due every 24,000 kilometres, so dispel any doubts you have over servicing costs or reliability.
The modern Testastretta engine is a great engine.
Even though all new Ducatis will be bought from a dealership, what happens if you are the second or third owner, or you move to a remote area?
In a perfect world you would take your machine to a Ducati dealership, have your bike lovingly serviced by an impeccably attired technician, who has Italian as their second language, and you are served a strong short black while you wait.
This of course isn’t always the case, and although the Multistrada is a very technologically advanced machine you shouldn’t be put off buying one if access to a Ducati dealer isn’t a viable option.
The project bike has been back for one warranty claim – the electronic key failed.
The Multistrada was Ducati’s first machine to get a proximity sensor key – get close enough to the bike and the steering can be unlocked and the ignition started.
Usually I would think this is a pretty cool idea, but given the panniers and top box must be operated using the key, I found the idea less practical than maybe it could have been (Kawasaki made the same mistake with the GTR1400).
A few months into the project, I got a call from Daniel, who was out and about on the bike and it wouldn’t recognise the key was nearby, so he was stuck – until he was walked through the procedure Ducati has for such a situation – basically, you can start the bike without the key if you know its PIN – which is something owners set. As Daniel wasn’t the owner, he didn’t know what to do… Ducati simply replaced the key, mapped the new fob to the bike and the problem was solved. A nice touch in these days where we can’t ride our bikes as much as we’d like too is acknowledged by Ducati giving each customer a trickle charger to keep the battery right to go.
Aftermarket accessories
Ducati has many accessories available for the Multistrada, and has left provision for you to fit your own too. There are standard accessory power ports near the seats, perfect for heated vests and audio gear and the standard gear rack.
Besides the Xenon lights fitted by Motohansa (low beam lights, and spot lights wired into the high beam circuit, but with its own switch on the handlebars) we have also fitted a set of Barkbusters which took all of about 15 minutes, mainly because they are designed specifically for the Multistrada.
The RadGuard radiator and oil cooler mesh guards we fitted are a must we reckon.
Attaching the radiator guard was so simple it was almost laughable. In less than two minutes it was on, and that’s no exaggeration either. The oil cooler guard was a different story, it requires the removal of the nose cone. It looks time consuming but is relatively easy though, and well within the scope of the home tinkerer.
Not every standard fitment screen suits everyone, so we got a few different Ztechnik Vstream screens from Mototoys (www.mototoys.com.au or 0400 284 840) to try. They are in various sizes, from a shorter tinted screen to the big daddy touring screens.
One thing we’ve worked out over the years is not every screen size or shape suits everyone. It does depend on your height and how adjustable your screen is, if at all, and bigger is not always better.
First up we tried the tinted screen which in this case is slightly shorter and narrower than the standard screen.
It wasn’t spectacularly better than the original screen, and of course it suited some of us at Cycle Torque better than others. It’s very much a personal thing, but if you get too much buffeting you should try a Ztechnik screen.
Fitting is simple, and uses a semi quick release system that simplifies changing screens if you have more than one, which isn’t a bad idea if your riding is varied between shorter stints and long distance touring.
We still have another two screens to test so keep an eye out for this in an upcoming issue.
The radiator guard alone is $195, if you buy as a kit including the oil cooler guard it’s $229.
If you go to RadGuard’s website www.radguard.com.au you might even get it cheaper.
$125 is what it will cost you for the Barkbuster hand guards, find out more at www.barkbusters.net.
As for the Xenon lights, they work extremely well at not only giving you more depth, but also penetration.
Performance
The combination of high performance, safety, comfort and style makes the Multistrada hard to beat.
It really does offer near-Panigale-like levels of engine performance, with awesome comfort from the well-sculptured seat and natural riding position. Its ability to cope with bad roads, dirt roads and urban decay all the while carrying two people and a load of gear makes the Multistrada simply awesome.
The integration of suspension settings, traction control, ABS, fuelling and ignition is Ducati’s way of using technology in ways to improve the ride. Having four distinct, practical and very different modes is great for bike set-up. Even though the 1098 based engine is essentially the same on the sportsbike and the Multistrada, the big Multi gets slightly different camshaft timing and fueling to make things a bit sweeter at lower revs. In the main it works, but there’s no escaping the fact the engine on our bike was happiest at 4,000rpm or over.
Early in the bike’s life it made the trip north to Desmo HQ at Byron Bay in Northern NSW (02 6685 6316) where our ECU was spruiked up with a Rexxer ACU flash load, cost $399.
The result was a much happier bike when the revs were lower than 4,000, and quite frankly we were impressed with the difference it made. We have ridden some 1098/1198 sportsbikes where the fuelling was a bit cantankerous at low revs, and while the Multistrada was nowhere near as bad, it did benefit from the Rexxer flash load.
We would consider this money very well spent.
It was on this trip where we dinged the rim. After hitting a big pothole we noticed the bump in the rim, but the tyre didn’t go down. In fact we rode for another 1,000 kilometres or so before we got the rim repaired by a local wheel repairer.
The cost was only $80 but of course the tyre and disc rotors needed removing before the repair, and we then needed to repaint the rim where heat and force had been applied. As the rim is satin black this was easy to do with a rattle can and some wet and dry. It’s been fine ever since and you wouldn’t know the rim had been repaired unless you knew where to look.
It tracks straight too.
What else have we learnt during our ownership?
It has fantastic brakes, fuel range ranges from say 250 kilometres to 300 and a bit depending on how hard you ride (yes, it goes like stink and likes to be thrashed), the dash is comprehensive and changing the settings is easy, once you work out how it all works, including the heated handgrips.
We like the seat, but some riders don’t particularly like the stepped separate rider and pillion set up because it tends to limit how much the rider can move around.
That said, it’s not a big issue, and it’s perfect when you are cracking on.
Adjusting the screen on the move is easy, even though it’s only manually adjustable.
Our second generation Multistrada is about to be replaced by the third generation, which looks very similar, and is, but has a new suspension set up, oddly named Skyhook. The Sachs suspension is semi-active, so it re-adjusts the damping as you go along. Apparently the name suggests the bike is hanging from the air, such is the suspension’s shock absorbing ability.
Will the new model be better than the current one?
Probably, and if it is it must be bloody good.