Minimalist Multistrada
Personally, I’m really pleased to see the 937cc ‘‘testastretta’’ L-twin engine of my Ducati Hyperstrada 939 moving on to bigger things.
The 937 is now also the motive heart of two new Ducati models in 2017 – a road-oriented sportsbike ressurecting the historic SuperSport name, and this, the new Multistrada 950, which replaces my H-strada in the Ducati lineup.
Smooth, sweet, and responsive, the 937 is an engine that fully deserved to break out of the Hypermotard/Hyperstrada market niche that it Ducati originally placed it in. For super-motos like the Hypermotard are still something of an unusual taste for conservative Kiwi bikers.
They seem to sell well in Mediterranean Sea markets, but enjoy little popularity anywhere else.
Here, we much prefer our multi-purpose motorcycles to offer decent comfort and weather protection and be ready for longer journeys than just popping down to the seafront to pull a few wheelies and check out the bikinis.
So the transition of the 937 into a full touring-oriented model like the Multi 950 makes so much sense that it’s something of a sur- prise that Ducati around to it earlier.
Still, it’s better to be late to the middleweight ADV party than to never arrive at all.
It’s a sector that has seen plenty of action lately, given the popularity of the Triumph Tiger 800 and BMW F 800 ranges, and the way the new 1000cc Honda Africa Twin gave those Euros a bit of shakeup during 2016.
Meanwhile Yamaha’s affordable-yet-fully-equipped Tracer 900 had a similar effect on the segment the year before, despite being more of a streetbike dressed in touring hardware than an all-surface ADV. didn’t get