THE RIDE VERDICT
WITH THIS 950, Ducati have opened up the Multistrada brand, making it accessible to more riders – both in terms of pricing and performance. At £2500 lower than the base 1200 and a whopping £5600 less than hugely popular the 1200S, the 950 represents excellent value for money – because while it may not be so flash or so powerful, the 950 is just as well built, practical and fun as its bigger brother.
Besides, the superbike-like 160bhp performance of the larger Multistrada isn’t for everyone – in all honesty, as a riding experience, the 1200 Multistrada is not for the faint-hearted. While it might give away more than 40bhp to its more expensive bigger Multistrada brother, the 950 trumps its natural rivals in the power stakes. Similarly priced bikes like Honda’s Africa twin and the Triumph Tiger 800 make less than 100bhp, which can leave them feeling lacking when fully loaded with luggage and a pillion, but the 113bhp 950 deals easily when being ridden with maximum load on board.
The smaller Multistrada is missing a few of its bigger brother’s hi-tech items, like the full colour dash, LED headlamps, single-sided swingarm, cornering ABS and Imu-powered traction control, but you honestly do not miss them when you’re riding the 950. The standard LCD dash and the 950’s lower-spec ABS and traction control systems do their jobs perfectly well.
In many ways, the Multistrada 950’s sensible power makes it much more rounded and inherently more stable machine. There’s no doubt that the 950 deserves to be a popular bike. Perhaps even more popular than the 1200…
“The 950 is just as well-built, practical and fun as the 1200”