Ducati MultiStrada 1200

[Moronic]

German publication Motorrad has posted a 50,000km teardown of the Multi online here.

Reads quite well in google translate. Note there are five pages, including a response from Ducati.

Basically, the Motorrad testers were happy with the state of the bike except that the big-end shells showed signs of wear, albeit within tolerance.

The other issue they had was the exhaust flapper valve (i.e. noise reg beater) seizing solid, which demanded a replacement of the cat unit,

Oh, and the chain lower run wore a groove in the swingarm, which also was replaced.

That last problem perhaps gives a clue to the nature of the 50,000km ridden, as the tester admitted the sprockets had got saw-toothed and the chain was very worn and slack.

So perhaps the big-end wear had arisen from cold-weather commuting with little warm-up time. Who knows.

Rest of the motor was in great shape, and compression was higher than when new.

50,000km ain't a lot, tho, in the scheme of things, especially given the price they are charging.

[Moronic]

Originally Posted by JNRobert

Took the '13 Skyhook out for a spin. Spent about an hour on mixed roads and speeds and I think I got a pretty good impression.

The overall difference between my standard Marzocchi 2012 and the Skyhook is, I would say, subtle (and not necessarily for the better). But before I get to that, I'll talk about the modes.

I haven't ridden the Ohlins version so this was my first experience on the changeable modes. The difference between Sport and Urban, for example, is significant and you're definitely getting a different bike (the engine mappings are also on my standard so this wasn't new to me). Personally, if I owned this bike I would program it to have the engine sport mode with the urban suspension setting. It is wonderfully plush and controlled and comes closest to the feeling of the standard bike.

The sport mode just didn't work for me. It's choppy and not comfortable at all and would wear me out on my daily commute in no time. I run my 'Strada in the engine sport mode pretty much exclusively and love the responsiveness and the suspension seems calibrated to work well with it, I never wish for stiffer settings.

Talking of the engine, the twin plug is maybe an improvement (perhaps a little smoother on throttle transition off the bottom) but there's still the hint of lean hunting on steady throttle. As mine doesn't have any of the issues I've read about on earlier models this isn't a big deal for me. The '13 is still a big lumpy performance twin (it hasn't morphed into a 1050 Tiger) and you'll know if that's something you can live with or not.

When I got back on mine it did remind me how great the standard bike is. I think it's a wonder what they've done with that suspension. This might be a false impression but I felt the '13 was squatting much more than mine but perhaps the sag was way off

If you already own a standard or Ohlins version, particularly the '12 model, I don't think you have anything to regret. If you love your currrent Mutly the Skyhook doesn't seem that big of a difference. If you're in the market for a new Multistrada the Skyhook is going to be fine - the bike still has all the attributes that make it great.

YMMV

Interesting write-up. Particularly the bit about getting back on your standard and loving it. Thank you.

I suppose there is no reason why you would run in Sport on a bumpy commute, tho. I think that was the point made in that MCN article: you can leave it in Urban for comfort and still get plenty of control when needed. Save Sport for the ultra-smooth stuff when you want her to feel like a Superbike. Just a thought.

[Moronic]

For balance on the Multistrada's 50,000km teardown, here is a link to a similar piece Motorrad has done on the Yamaha Super Tenere.

This is the model which UK mag Bike wrote up after a teardown at 80,000km (50,000 miles), the writers expressing astonishment at the low wear exhibited. However, a big proportion of that mileage was long-distance touring in the hands of travel writer Nick Sanders, and so you'd expect wear to be low as most in any engine occurs at start-up from cold.

Nevertheless, I'd thought the Yam might come out of the Motorrad teardown better than the Ducati. Having taken a look, I'm not convinced that is so. Three exhaust valves leaking, a piston pin seized to the piston, a litre of oil used per 4000km and lots of carbon around the combustion chamber.

This was a press bike that had gone through several different magazines over 10,000km before settling in at Motorrad, however.

[GB]

Originally Posted by Moronic

link to a similar piece Motorrad has done on the Yamaha Super Tenere.

This is the model which UK mag Bike wrote up after a teardown at 80,000km (50,000 miles), the writers expressing astonishment at the low wear exhibited. However, a big proportion of that mileage was long-distance touring in the hands of travel writer Nick Sanders, and so you'd expect wear to be low as most in any engine occurs at start-up from cold.
.

Don't forget that the SuperTenere was ridden without the recommended oil changes. If memory serves, he rode from Alsaka to Ushuaia, 3 times back to back in 100 days and had 2 or maybe 3 oil changes in 80,000 km. That's serious abuse especially in the dirty riding conditions and using any grade of fuel he could find when the SuperTen is supposed to run on premium fuel. Motorrad called the engine kaputproof!

[oalvarez]

As for that Motorrad article, nothing beats the Multistrada for on-road riding, and given the categories, I am not surprised at the first-place overall award.

[3B43]

And how do you go about getting the English translation of that article?

[Dr. Greg]

Just like my '92 Ducati 900SS when I rebuilt it at 41,000 miles. Big-end shells were pretty much toast.

And I've been counting on 100,000 miles from the Multi 12...hmmm

--Doc

PS. I believe there ARE examples of the 4V L-twin going 100K miles, admittedly rare.

[3B43]

Since I haven't eat the article, what'd Ducati say about the bearing?

[Dr. Greg]

Originally Posted by 3B43

Since I haven't eat the article, what'd Ducati say about the bearing?

Run the URL thru Google Translate. BTW, Ducati's response re the big-end bearings was: "since the engine's already apart, go ahead and replace the bearings."

Not too confidence-inspiring...

--Doc

[KHVol]

Originally Posted by Moronic

German publication Motorrad has posted a 50,000km teardown of the Multi online here.

Reads quite well in google translate. Note there are five pages, including a response from Ducati.

Tks for the link, Moronic..very interesting..also read the endurance test on the 999 and 1098...

[KodiakRS]

Couple of questions:

Have any of the TALL guys one here tried the MRA X-creen yet? I'm still having buffeting issues and wonder if the little spoiler doohickey will help.

Also, how hard is it to change the springs on the ohlins shocks compare to a normal shock?

[cug]

Originally Posted by GB

Don't forget that the SuperTenere was ridden without the recommended oil changes. If memory serves, he rode from Alsaka to Ushuaia, 3 times back to back in 100 days and had 2 or maybe 3 oil changes in 80,000 km. That's serious abuse especially in the dirty riding conditions and using any grade of fuel he could find when the SuperTen is supposed to run on premium fuel. Motorrad called the engine kaputproof!

The Motorrad test had all the oil changes done properly. It wasn't even close to the same test as the one with Nick Sanders.

And given the results from Motorrad, the Multi actually looks just as good, if not better than the Super Tenere, in that particular case. Given the photos and descriptions of the internals, the Multi sounded better than the ST.

[3B43]

I'm getting the springs changed on Friday. The mechanic said that the front springs are 'easy' (bout an hour), but the rear is a 'bitch' (3.5 hrs). Changing the spring is the easy part....getting the shock out is the tough part.

[Andreazz]

To many pages without pictures here now, so here is another picture of my Multistrada up in the Norwegian mountains last summer

[Pampero]

"Despite more or less clearly worded criticism, however, all but one reader would buy the power Funbike any time."