DUC’S GREATEST ADVENTURE YET
Ducati stunned the motorcycling world when it brought out the Multistrada in 2003. Every bike journalist in the world went: “What in the name of Biggles’ sainted aunt is Ducati doing bringing out an adventure bike?”
Then they rode it and went: “Great steaming wombats, that is amazing.”
The second similar gob-smacking moment was when the Diavel came out in 2011. It was a cruiser with sports bike performance, and the Multistrada was an adventure bike with the same, even when the engine was only 992cc and 92bhp.
Today that’s 1262cc and 158bhp on a bike with more gizmos than Apollo 11 had when it went to the moon.
What hasn’t changed is the commanding riding position and the excellent mirrors, with the biggest update otherwise being Ducati’s beautiful colour TFT screen, with all the information you need available at a stylish glance.
This includes which riding mode you’re in; Urban, Touring, Sport and Enduro for off-roading.
I suspect the number of riders who take it off-road is the same as the number of Range Rover drivers whose idea of off-road is parking on the pavement in Mayfair.
Urban, meanwhile, cuts the power to 100bhp and is only useful for pottering around town in the rain, if you’re into that sort of thing – which leaves us with Touring and Sport.
Sport delivers a harder edge to the power delivery, suspension and handling, making it fine for a weekend of hooliganism with your mates, while Touring gives you full power, but with a less aggressive delivery.
Not that Touring is sedate. Not even close: this bike is hilariously powerful. But it’s not one that’s going to bite, thanks to semi-active suspension for a plush yet planted ride, superb brakes, and safety aids such as cornering ABS, traction, anti-wheelie control and hill start which are a lot smarter than I am.
On the S model, the quickshifter is a work of genius for shifting both up and down, and there’s a flawless autoblipper matched to each gear to give the revs a little boost on downshifting.
All in all, a superb machine which does everything superlatively well and is the most fun and sporty of all the adventure bikes on the market.
Now Ducati, isn’t it about time you made an electric unicycle for another jaw-dropping moment? Bike supplied by Millsport Motorcycles, millsport motorcycles.com.