DUCATI MULTISTRADA 950
The ultimate choice for comfort and muscles
I’ve spent a bit of time on Ducati’s Multistrada over the past few years. I had the big Enduro Pro for a month a year or so ago and covered some big miles on- and off-road, and I had a fantastic couple of weeks hooning around on the tricked-out Pikes Peak model last summer. If there’s ever one floating around in the warehouse, I’m the first to try and nab the keys from my colleagues. But I’ve never got my hands on the ‘baby’ Multistrada. Until now.
I had a decent idea of what to expect from the 950. There’s a reason the Italianfactory’s bikes don’t come cheap; they don’t mess around. A quick glance over the techspecs on the Ducati website confirmed exactly that. This might be the small sibling of the ‘full fat’ ‘Strada 1260, but it’s no parts bin special. It’s just that little bit smaller with a little bit less power. Don’t worry though, its 111bhp is nothing to be sniffed at…
I immediately felt at home on the Multistrada 950. I’m a fan of wide bars and an upright riding position – and that’s what the Multistrada offers. Factor in its supremely comfortable seat and a decent amount of protection from the elements, and it became clear we were going to get on great. It was going to take a little more than that for me to properly sing the praises of the ’Strada, though. It’s nearly a couple of grand more expensive than its group test counterparts, so it had to really prove itself out on the open road.
And it did. As far as I’m concerned, the Multistrada 950 is the easiest of the three bikes to ride by quite some distance. It is so assured on the road, floating over lumps and bumps no matter how hard you hit them.
That’s a testament to the chassis, of course it is… but I’m confident that Ducati’s increasingly sophisticated electronics play an important (if largely unnoticed) role in keeping things in check.
It’ll stop on a sixpence too, thanks to its Brembo braking system which is coupledto some seriously sophisticated technology, which Ducati calls its ‘Safety Pack’. There’s some clever stuff going on which is far too complicated to go into in great detail, but basically there’s a Bosch ABS unit and IMU which works to optimise both front and rear braking power, even if you grab a handful of brake when you’re banked over. How clever is that! You can disable the ABS if you fancy, but if
Ducati’s spent a load of time and money trying to keep you right side up, why would you bother? If you’re tempted to take to the dirt, there’s an ‘Enduro’ riding mode
which you can easily access using the left-hand switchgear. It allows you to either spin up or lock up the back wheel on the rough stuff. It works well, although I can’t see many
’Strada 950 owners wanting to take their pride and joy off the beaten track, no matter how capable it is.
It’s agile too, in spite of its 19-inch front wheel. I didn’t notice any of that vague, disconnected floating feeling you can sometimes get from a larger front. It’s worth mentioning that Dave did; nothing unsettling, but noticeable enough for him to mention. He’s either much more perceptive than me (which is quite likely), or I’m just a little less conscious of the feeling, after choosing to spend my time on similar style bikes to the ’Strada at every opportunity.
It’ll top a ton in no time at all, with plenty of grunt to fire past slow (or even fast) moving traffic. It’s a little bit harder work in town, but providing you flick it back into the ‘Urban’ riding mode it’ll tootle around at low speeds without any trouble.
I’ll be honest, I found it increasingly difficult to rein myself in on the ’Strada. It was so easy-going at speed, that I kept pushing it harder. That’s what it wants – it’s a Ducati, after all. And that’s great – of course it is. But it also presents a bit of a problem. Nearly every time I looked down at the clocks I was the wrong side of the speed limit.
If you were planning on tackling some big motorway miles, or were expecting to see your share of unfavourable weather conditions, I’m confident you’d be thankful of the ‘little’ Multistrada’s self-assured nature, but trying to keep things legal while thrashing about on A- and B-roads proved quite challenging, for me at least.
In contrast, the time I spent on Yamaha’s Tracer felt raucous and that little bit naughty, with its stiffer (cheaper/less plush – you choose) suspension helping to reinforce the
feeling that every inch of Tarmac was hard won.
It’s all too easy to fall into the trap that bigger is always better. Bikers are the worst for it. But it turns out that’s not always the case, and after spending a few weeks with the smallest member of the ’Strada family, I’m sure of it. I’d pick the 950 over the 1260 every day of the week. That’s nothing against the flagship model, but for less money I’d take the lighter weight, lower powered machine and have every confidence it’d do everything I needed it too, from crossing continents to nipping to the shops. And I could use the money I’d save to pay for that next big trip.
The Ducati is the best of the bunch, there’s no doubt about it. It’s quick, agile and supremely capable. It’s also the most expensive. Does that put me off? No. It’s worth every penny. If you’re in the market for a bike that’ll allow you to blast over to the Alps in perfect comfort and then be up for some fast-flowing mountain action, I’m not sure you could do better.
We didn’t set out to find a winner in this test, which proved wise in retrospect. Even so, we thought that this would be a pretty straightforward test of three sporty adventure bikes. As it turned out there’s more to these bikes than first meets the eye. Each of them has its own identity, strengths and weaknesses, and a unique riding feel.
The Yamaha is definitely the sporty one of the bunch. It’s still comfortable and practical, but that triple engine is just a bit more high-revving and eager to go than the others.
The Ducati is also a great performer, but with the silky suspension, it hides the urge to hit the redline better. For big-miles comfort it’s difficult to beat the Multistrada.
And sitting in the middle of the other two is the BMW. It can hustle with the best, but also offers great comfort over longer journeys.
At the end of the day, they’re all great bikes for a multitude of uses – none of them is likely to disappoint if you are after this type of bike.
Ultimately, it comes to which aspects are high on your list of priorities.
If we learnt one thing here, it’s that if you are after a particular kind of bike, whatever style it may be, it always pays to ride a few that you don’t think will impress you as much – you might just be surprised like we were, and that experience might just change your mind about which bike to buy. Or even if it doesn’t, it’s a great excuse to ride a few bikes.