Ducati MultiStrada 1200

[KR8NKAOS]

800 miles and counting


Some observations so far:

Plenty of horsepower!
Stock fuel mapping is shit, ProItalia plugged into one of the six ecu's and fixed it.
Installed a bigger tinted windshield, and wind buffeting is gone
Installed Ducati's touring seat, and no more sore ass.



GPS and radar decter to mount, and we're off to the races



Long term ride report coming up.....

Cheers

[bross]

Originally Posted by KR8NKAOS

Cheers

That's a great shot for comparison purposes, thanks.

[cug]

Originally Posted by fixinbones

To say it sucks is a bit overboard and uncalled for. If you have some criticism thats ok, but bashing a bike for no reason is a no, no. Just a little friendly advice to head back to the Parallel twin board before you really start to piss people off and get a bad rap around here. Calling Gadget Boy to the forum for an inmate spanking.!!!!!

You are only partly reading my comment (or partly understanding it which might very well come from me using weird english as it is not my native language).

To make that perfectly clear: For me personally the Multi sucks for most of my riding. And I really mean it that way. So far I have tested quite a lot of bikes and the Multi was by far the worst for my personal taste and usage.

If you read bashing in that - I think that is more you not understanding what I meant to write (for whatever reason). I'm not bashing the bike. I can also say that a Ferrari convertible completely sucks for my personal usage - and this is not meant as bashing the car, it's just that there is barely any worse car than a Ferrari out there for my usage of cars ...

[Lucky Explorer]

Testa, you said it. Ducatis are special and only for certain riders, and Cug said it comparing it to a Ferrari. You are either in to Ducs or you're not. I own GS's, KTM's, and Duc's , when I am on the Duc, it is special. Actually unreal, but others may find it difficult to like. To all who hate them, hey, enjoy what you ride.
Allen.

[FrankDog]

I have had them both and put over 2,000 miles on my 2010 Multistrada
and it excels in every area.

It is so far ahead of, and better than the BMW what your saying is ridiculous

It is the best bike available today and you say it sucks. Is there anyone in anywhere who owns the new Multistrada who can say this.

I don't know of anyone who has it that doesn't rave about it.

[MookieBlaylock]

Originally Posted by FrankDog

I have had them both and put over 2,000 miles on my 2010 Multistrada
and it excels in every area..

happy for you bro, but i got news for you, not everyone likes what you like.

[cug]

Originally Posted by FrankDog

I have had them both and put over 2,000 miles on my 2010 Multistrada and it excels in every area.

How about getting your words aligned a little bit? You're seriously lacking here ...

I have said: it sucks for my personal taste and usage. If you are here to insult people - go home and play in the sandbox.

[bikeworm]

Originally Posted by cug

How about getting your words aligned a little bit? You're seriously lacking here ...

I have said: it sucks for my personal taste and usage. If you are here to insult people - go home and play in the sandbox.

I see no insults. Comparing a 800 GS to the MTS is ridiculous. Comparing a Ferrari to a Jeep is ridiculous too. The problem with this new bike is why guys with or getting the MTSs read this particular forum, the fix for the mapping is good stuff, your opinion, not.
I feel the same way about this bike as I did when I bought my new 04 950, and 08 1200 GSA, these forums are in part why keep both bikes, and now adding the MTS. The negativity is why I stopped visiting this one. The MTS brought me back, and the few guys that own one may get a bit put out by those that don't.
Mahalo

[cug]

Originally Posted by bikeworm

I see no insults.

Look at the title of his post.

Originally Posted by bikeworm

Comparing a 800 GS to the MTS is ridiculous. Comparing a Ferrari to a Jeep is ridiculous too.

I haven't compared the Ferrari to a Jeep. Haven't given an equivalent for the F. But a Jeep might be fitting. Then the Multi is more like one of those high power SUVs (Cayenne or so).

The thing is: I am looking for a bike that fits my needs and is comfortable for me and can be used for longer touring. The F800GS fits the bill, the Multi fits the bill on paper. That the two are different bikes - I have never denied that. For some people the Multi is the best thing since sliced bread, I personally don't like sliced bread. That the F800GS is the much better bike for me, this is clear for me.

[Digital Nomad]

Originally Posted by cug

This is f***ing ridiculous - buying an $80 hack to make a $20k bike run as it should? How can this be serious?

Unless NA bikes are very different from Euro machines, the surging is a very minor issue - if there's a fix, there's a fix, if there isn't, I'm not going bovine over it. With just on 2000 miles on the clock and a trackday under its tyres, mine is definitely showing signs of settling down.

And if anyone's missing low-down grunt, then I can only assume that they're coming from a John Deere!

[ScottDill]

cug - Thanks for the review.

I think it's just your grammar that got some readers panties in a wad. When you wrote.

To put it that way: it has lots and lots of good things I absolutely don't care for, and it completely sucks, is not well thought through and annoying in the areas I do care for.

All they saw was the "and it completely sucks". I read at as you trying to say that it sucks in areas that matter most to you, but had trouble getting it out clearly.

I may have missed it, but what are the things that matter to you that it lacks?

I get the fuelling issue that others have commented on, but owning an Italian bike means there will be some set up time....DAMHIK.

[996DL]

There's distinct differences between a open minded review and a pompus diatribe, cug managed to somehow combine the two.

996DL

[mmcannava]

Kaos:

Are other dealers aware of the ECU tweak that ProItalia did for you? Is it a Ducati rep fix or just something they solved themselves?

[KR8NKAOS]

Originally Posted by mmcannava

Kaos:

Are other dealers aware of the ECU tweak that ProItalia did for you? Is it a Ducati rep fix or just something they solved themselves?

Actually the local dealer didn't even have the scan tool yet! They changed the oil, but couldn't turn off the service oil warning lamp....very bad experience at the local dealer
Proitalia rolled it in the back and rolled it back 10 minutes later. They stated that they check the Throttle positioning sensor, and check air fuel mixtures, and checked for any codes. All I know is I rode a different bike home!

[cug]

Originally Posted by scodill

I may have missed it, but what are the things that matter to you that it lacks?

For me it's really the day to day usability that's just plain not to my taste:

- Vibration was too strong for my liking.

- Fueling at low revs was absolutely horrible on the test bike here in touring mode, better, but not good enough in urban mode. This might or might not be fixable, I'm still of the opinion, that something like this should not leave the shop when the initial inspection at the dealer is done (that's the latest).

- Seating position was pretty perfect, but somehow I could not move around even the slightest bit - in the back was the passenger seat, front was uncomfortable, left foot was always either hitting or stomping on the center stand, right foot - don't remember, was busy keeping my left foot off the stand. As I know how much I move around on longer rides, this is not for me.

- Manageability at slow speed is not bad, but also not nearly as good as on my F. I would get used to it, but it was a let down.


I think, it was mainly that I had such high expectations, I was really looking forward to riding this bike and I was incredibly disappointed. I could have gotten off the bike after a mile - I disliked it that much. Probably, given more time and some nice roads I would have really appreciated the good sides, but the ride reflected about 70% of my overall riding and if I hate a bike there, the other 30% can't make up for it. And I'm a one bike person. I don't like to have three specialists in the garage, I absolutely prefer one bike that does all I need 90% great and I can appreciate that much more than the specialists.

The Multi is probably the one bike from Ducati that comes closest to what I look for in a bike, but it's not even close to the F800GS in my highly personal usability. I know that most people don't care about usability in a bike, but I do. I like a bike that is highly flexible and still gives me smiles.

I just expected so much more. Maybe that was the mistake. Again, like having a great night with a celebrity and then running really fast because I wouldn't live with her attitude on a daily basis. And there I would have fun at least which I hadn't on the Multi. Surprising enough but all the things I disliked where so overwhelming that the overall experience was one of the biggest let downs I had on a motorcycle - because of the extreme discrepancy in expectation and real life experience.

Originally Posted by 996DL

There's distinct differences between a open minded review and a pompus diatribe, cug managed to somehow combine the two.

It was never meant as a "review". It was my personal experience on the Multi. Nothing else. I had extremely high expectation and I wanted to like the bike, but the reality hit pretty hard here.