Ducati target adventure-sports rivals
Can new Multistrada 1260 S cause an upset on the UK’s toughest test?
Fitting high bars and tall fairings to powerful sportsbikes is nothing new. Ducati were the first, back in the early noughties, with their quirky, Pierre Terblanchedesigned, air-cooled Multistrada 1000 and a few years later came the Tornado-based Benelli TreK. Riders back then fell into two categories: sports-mad or everything else. Nobody wanted a mix ‘n’ match, so both of these forward-thinking machines bombed. But as we got older, creakier and less willing to adopt the knees-behind-the-ears race crouch, things changed...
We slowly started to fall out of love with our beloved race replicas allowing the ‘adventure-sports’ bike, as we now call them, to start to take hold. In 2009 the KTM 990 SMT lured many away from their GSX-R1000s and R1s. It was a big supermoto with a fairing and delivered an insane level of performance mixed with first class luxury like nothing previously. A year later the sports adventure template was set with the arrival of the Ducati Multistrada 1200. With its 1098 superbike-derived engine and chassis, 17in wheels, gadgets galore and true long-distance touring ability, you could choose to tear up your favourite Sunday stretch, smash a trackday or waft down to the Pyrenees in knee, wrist and back-soothing comfort. BMW joined the party in 2015 with their superbike-derived S1000XR and KTM succeeded the iconic SMT with the 1290 Super Duke-based GT in 2016. These are the big sports adventure three. The XR was updated last year with some Euro4 tweakage, an extra 5bhp, new handlebars (to isolate engine vibes) and a beefier subframe. And now the Ducati gets a new lease of life, too.
The new Multistrada 1260 S has the Euro4-spec, long-stroke motor from the X-Diavel cruiser, lazier geometry for better stability, 340-gramme lighter wheels, redesigned side panels, shiny new IMU electronics and a colour dash. It comes as a base model, the Öhlinsshod Pikes Peak and this S version, with semi-active Sachs suspension, big brakes, hill hold, self-cancelling indicators, LED cornering headlights and keyless ignition.
It’s the most expensive here, but in this ‘S’ guise the Ducati has a kitchen sink’s-worth of toys and all the ‘emozione’ and ‘passione’ that comes with Bologna’s most evocative badge. It might not have the brutal acceleration and top speed of the KTM, but just as fast as the rabid BMW and more cossetting than both, with more bodywork to shelter behind, a comfier two-way adjustable seat and bigger screen. When you set the cruise control and load it with luggage (our bike has the £952.60 Touring Pack, including panniers, centrestand and heated grips), the Duke will devour continents. Closer to home it purrs serenely while handguards and heated grips keep the early morning Northamptonshire chill and light drizzle at bay.
Flicking from Touring to Sport mode toughens up the Multistrada’s suspension and power delivery. Tyres dig into Tarmac when you show it a Bedfordshire bend or a Cotswold curve and explosive pulses of power send you searing down straights. Its new, longer wheelbase gives extra stability but British roads rarely allow the kind of road speeds where the old bike would have problems anyway.
But with so much power squeezed from its bellowing V-twin, the Multistrada 1260 S doesn’t have the low-down power you’d expect from a big Ducati. Combine the motor’s relative peaky nature with its tall gearing and there’s a lot of clattering if you change up too soon. Fifth and sixth are like overdrives and the gearbox is peppered with neutrals
‘If the Ducati is at the calmer end the KTM lurks on the wild side’
where you don’t want them – and none when you do. “Trying to find neutral is like trying to pick a Yale lock with a shovel,” sighs fellow tester, Paul Berryman.
But if the Ducati’s in the calmer, more relaxed sector of the sports adventure spectrum, the KTM lurks on the wild side. It’s as if the 1290 Super Duke GT has been forced to wear its comfy, hi-vis touring clothes. It does it grudgingly and will transport you long distances without too much pain, but all it really wants to do is to be let of its leash like the barely disguised super naked it really is.
Blessed with the kind of crisp front-end a superbike would be proud of, the KTM oozes cornering confidence and brake feel (although our test track reveals its actually the worst performing stopping from 70mph). Semi-active electronic WP suspension transforms motorway concrete into carpet and keeps the KTM composed over the barwaggingly bumpy twists between Stratford and Broadway. IMUcontrolled lean-sensitive traction control and ABS offer safety without being too intrusive, but turning them off isn’t as straightforward as with the BMW or Ducati systems, so we don’t bother.
Low-end grunt oozes from the KTM’s V-twin, as does midrange and a searing top-end. Power is instant, and if the M40 was an autoboahn, the GT would put the BMW and Ducati in the shade with its superior, unflappable, GPS-recorded 170mph top whack.
But with its narrow screen and minimal plastics the GT is also less tourer-like than its rivals, as Paul explains: “It looks like a sports adventure but hasn’t any adventure. It’s a light, nimble, punchy naked with different clothes on. It’s like Usain Bolt wearing a different pair of shoes and pretending he’s a
marathon runner.”
Sitting neatly between the brainout KTM and calmer Ducati is the BMW. Based on the S1000RR, as originally released in 2010) its engine, chassis and electronics are all long in the tooth now. It has no right to be as impressive as it is, but the XR is a class act and has won every sports adventure shoot-out since its inception.
Its four-cylinder motor is smoother, with a wider spread of power than the twins and there are fewer vibes affecting your arms, bum, feet and mirrors. XRs have a reputation for buzzy bars, but this latest model doesn’t give us any problems.
‘All three offer genuine superbike performance’
That raucous engine might be giving away nearly 300cc to the twins, but it bursts with power, crackles on the overrun and sounds every inch an openpiped race bike. How it passes noise regs defies belief. Electronic suspension lets you choose between a soft and controlled ride, while brakes, handling and power are good enough for trackday fun. Its only real flaw is its non-adjustable clutch lever, which sits too far away, but with a quickshifter and autoblipper, you rarely use it anyway.
A late afternoon B660 blast on the MCN250’s homeward stretch reveals the XR’s savage side, as tester Jason Critchell reveals. “I usually ride an old VFR750. I was worried that with all that power it would fly out of my hands, but it’s really seamless and easy. It took a while to figure out the dash and get used to the electronics – I’ve never even used a quickshifter before. I thought that relying on electronics would make me forget how to ride, but it’s opened up my riding and given me confidence.”
All three of our sports adventure weapons offer genuine superbike performance with painless touring practicality. The Ducati is the fast and comfy one, the KTM a savage super naked with a grudging nod to practicably and the BMW the best of all worlds. For a company that makes the best sports and touring bikes in the world, you’d be surprised if this Bavarian beauty wasn’t this good.