Ducati MultiStrada 1200

Great start.

I had the same issue when I changed my black panels for the PP panels.

Congratulations with your new Skyhook Multistrada

wow!

Obviously this bike has a first rate suspension. However, I didn't notice the "Sky Hook" phenomenon. I even tried going over a speed bump at speed. It knocked me off the seat. I rode over many county roads that had been repaired numerous times. The ride was what you would expect from any high end suspension.

I did theses roads in all modes. Interestingly the Urban road was the smoothest. If I was going to spend the afternoon exploring remote country roads, smelling the flowers, etc. I think this would be the best mode. Especially two up.

One other thing, and this may be Sky Hook at work. There was a section that became washboard gravel for about 1/2 mile. My BMW K1200RS always needed to slow down and still was unstable. The BMW GS never had any trouble but did chatter on the washboard (unless I manually adjusted the rebound which for just a 1/2 mile I never did) the Multi in Touring mode just ate it up. I then repeated that section in Enduro mode and did not notice a great difference.

So I'm thinking Sky Hook really adjusts for quick changing road conditions. I'm going to continue to play with the settings in each mode. The manual is a bit vague on Sky Hook settings.

This is my first experience with a slipper clutch. What a wonderful thing. Makes downshifting such a smooth operation.

The gears shift easily and I had no issues with "false neutrals". Finding neutral at times was an issue. At a standstill, I couldn't get to neutral from second. I'd have to go up from first and then very gently. Having said that, there were three times that I was slowing for a four way stop with no intention of coming to a complete, feet down, stop. I was downshifting gently with no power and it didn't go into first but i thought it had. It certainly gets your attention as you are virtually stopped and giving it gas only gets you engine revving noises. I don't consider this a false neutral. Just be aware that you need to make a firm action between 2nd and 1st. Unless, of course, you want to go to neutral. Then you can't find it. May have something to do with moving vs. a standstill. Not a big issue, will go away as I get familiar more.

Low speed operations are much improved. When I test rode the 2012, I couldn't go thru a school zone with out feathering the clutch. Now, in first gear at idle the bike will happily chug along at 8mph. Make no mistake...the engine still is not happy until over 3,000 rpm and really prefers at least 4,000. 70 mph is a choice between 5th or 6th gear. 5th is peppy and 6th is lugging just a bit.

The not quite happy below 3,000 rpm and the 70mph 5th or 6th means it still has the same gear ratio as before. But it seems it won't be "hunting" at low revs, low speeds. Great.

The neutral thing, I bet it will go away both in terms of your experience with it and when things loosen up a bit.

Thanks for the reports, really appreciate it.

Between what the journalists who described it during the Bilbao presentation of this bike and what you describe here, it seems the 4 in 1 bike got a bit muddled with Skyhook. I remember one journalist saying that he would leave it at Touring mode, so that he could get a better operation of Skyhook. But in the end, I think you could program Skyhook to be on its softer mode for all modes (enduro, urban, touring and even sport). Because once speed goes up, Skyhook will firm things up enough to operate similar to sport mode anyway.

I guess there is much to learn about this.

Hey Hap

You had me @

wow!

Tony,

I'm not an expert but I think we'll both be glad we waited for the 2013s.

I feel for you though. I lived in upstate NY for a while. There will be no riding for you anytime soon.

Hap

I'm afraid you're right :-(

The speedometer is purposely set 5 % high. I don't understand. When I rode in Italy the drivers treated speed limits and stop signs as suggestion at best. Protecting ourselves from ourselves? So at a true 60 mph the speedo reads 63. I usually ride at 10% over. I'm thinking that 70 indicated gives me about 66.

The turn signals self cancel after about a 1/2 mile. Very good feature. However if you go over 50mph it won't cancel. Can anyone explain the logic behind that?

City vs Highway?

Italian....logic....BWAHAHAHA!!!!

Makes no sense to me Hap, but I suspect Lion is correct and some rocket scientist at Ducati figured that if you're going down the highway, it's fine to have your signal on for miles and miles.....

-SM

A lot of car's speedos are this way too. I think its done to keep you "safer". Not sure that works when you are texting and driving though

This has been covered elsewhere on the forum and internet but......

By law (Federal) a speedometer must not read (indicate) under the speed the vehicle is actually traveling. Some manufacturers may specify a bit tighter, some a bit looser, but all will add that fudge factor to assure the speedo doesn't read under the actual speed attained. As tire diameters vary modestly according to profile, temperature/conditions, manufacturer and design, and since motorcyclists have a tendency to experiment with them we can assume Ducati built in a broad fudge factor to account for various conditions. It's not so much to protect the rider as it is to protect the manufacturer from litigation in not meeting the standards, but it does have the "benefit" of keeping you out of the ticket zone if you adhere strictly to the indications of the instruments.

Ducati has done us a service by indicating their fudge factor right in the manual, and that should be noted here as not all manufacturers are so forthright in this respect. It allows you to mentally do the math if you feel the need, and I think under the circumstances, that's fair enough. I don't have a GPS to check for sure, but my sense is that the speedo is fairly consistent in it's operation. Those of you with a good GPS could confirm or deny that.

My solution to the built-in speedo error is this.





Works great. Very accurate. The sensor is epoxied to some AL that I had laying around. The AL strip is mounted to the right fender mounting bosses on the forks. The magnet is fixed to the disk brake carrier.

I need more ride reports..... NOW

Awhile back I asked for recommendations for aftermarket folding clutch and brake levers (handlebar), that weren't more than a couple hundred dollars each.

Well on black friday I ordered a set of "braking" levers, it I remember correctly they were about $90 from Sportbike track gear. I installed them on New Years eve. They were an easy install and are excellent fit. No problems what so ever. They fold and are adjustable in length and lever distance. Most importantly, they shouldn't break during a tip over leaving me stranded. I'd recommend them although I hope to never put them to the test.. They fit the 2010- 2012s.

Thanks for the info. I'm on the lookout for some like that myself