MOTORCYCLE REVIEW – Ducati Multistrada 1200

Ducati’s new Multistrada is an amazing motorcycle and represents the future of motorcycling. Most of us who have ridden for many years have more than one bike in the garage. At one time I had a supersport hyper liter bike (see Unobtainum Deluxe), a Ducati 749, and an Aprilia Futura sitting next to each other in my garage. Now I have an Aprilia Caponord (adventure touring) and another Aprilia, the Futura (sport touring). I like the Futura when I want to go fast and lean over and I like the Capo for two up, long distance, touring.

That’s all changed now with the Multistrada. You can have EVERYTHING in one bike. You want to go fast? Done. You want to tour? Done. You want to carve up back roads? Done.

I don’t have time tonight to get into all the details so I’m just posting pictures and a few comments. Check back later in the week for a detailed review.

What do all those buttons do?

The magic key.

The dashboard is clear and easy to use and read. TONS of data at your fingertips. Contrary to most reviews I’ve read it is easy to use. Thumbing the button on the left side turn signal switch brings up the four distinct modes Enduro, Urban, Sport and Touring. When stopped you select the mode you want and hold the button down for four seconds. When riding you need to roll the throttle shut and press the button for four seconds to make the selection change. There are a zillion sub-modes but we won’t go into those here.

Cool LED lights. The turn signals in the mirrors are very bright.

Hard to see in this picture but the windscreen is adjusted by knobs at the base and is very easy to move up and down when riding. Wind protection is much better than on my Caponord with a Givi tall windscreen, but not as good as a BMW 1200 GS.

The mirrors are better than most Ducati’s but useless at a ton or more.

FANTASTIC, make you wanna slap your momma, brakes.

Left side bag. Not sure if a full face will fit. The magazine reviews were right, the construction of the panniers is flimsy. I hope they come up with something significantly better (and larger).

There is significantly less luggage room in the right pannier. Check out the heat shield.

What’s it like to ride? FAST. Freaking fast. On one section I hit well over a hundred and it was still pulling like crazy when I shut it down. First, second and third under hard accelleration will keep the front tire off the ground. The group leader was riding a 1198 and on one section when he nailed it I was easily able to keep up with him. It feels really weird to be able to ride upright, be comfortable, and then just grab a fist full of throttle and hit warp speed instantly. I love this bike. I’m really pressed for time now. Check back tomorrow for a more detailed review.