‘Chasing perfection’
Tyre swap and dash update add some icing and a cherry to the Multistrada V4 S’ tasty cake
Is there anything more frustrating than something brilliant failing to work properly? That’s exactly the situation I’ve been wrestling with for months as the Multistrada’s connectivity continued to be sporadically seamless and infuriating in increasingly unequal measure – with ‘infuriating’ taking the dominant role.
The problem? The Ducati Connect app and the dash would randomly refuse to talk to one another, or hold on to the connection on the occasions when they did decide to be friends – a bit like that ex who keeps following, then unfollowing, you on Instagram… After a discussion with Ducati it transpired that my (very early) bike hadn’t yet received the dash update aimed at boosting connectivity ease and reliability. That update has now been done – and it’s connected faultlessly ever since. It’s still slower than one would wish for on initial startup, but once connected it’s a good system, made even better by the Multi’s sublime dash. Amidst a sea of TFT competition, I genuinely think the quality and functionality of the V4’s dash is peerless – further boosted by the intuitive interactivity of the command joystick and other backlit switchgear buttons. Other manufacturers should take note. If Ducati could now just add a permission tickbox that allows the whole caboodle to connect without you needing to do anything other than start the bike and ride, that’d be close to perfection. The Bluetooth connection establishes itself shortly after start-up, so if the WiFi one could join it (providing you’ve started the App), it would make life much less of a faff.
They’re black and round… …and they keep you in contact with the ground. Mostly. But the OE rubber – Pirelli’s Scorpion Trail II – wasn’t giving me the feel I was craving, and appeared to be slightly dulling the Multi’s delivery. Grip is good and they operate with great consistency and poise – but they feel slightly too rigid, slightly anaesthetised, and on wet tarmac you just don’t get the feel from the front to give you the confidence to use all the available grip. So 1500 miles ago they exited the rims in favour of a set of Dunlop Mutants (circa £280 per pair plus fitting). This is my first experience of the Mutant – and I like them a lot. On the Multi they have given the ride a softer plushness and increased sense of feel and grip. But even better, they’re sharpened the steering response and given the confidence to push harder. The result is riding the big V4 like it’s a skinny supermoto. And in the wet, the increased feel and confidence is revelatory by comparison. Gone is the glassiness of the Trail IIs, replaced instead with the ability to ride almost as if the road were dry. Dual-purpose tyres are often buzzy and noisy on the road, and some tyres really hum at speed. There is tyre noise from the Mutants, but you have to concentrate on hearing it to pick it out – so it’s certainly not intrusive. Negatives? Only one so far. At 32 to 38mph there’s a barely detectable squirmy sensation from the rear. It’s exceptionally subtle, but if you concentrate, it’s definitely there – presumably caused by the blocks just moving around a little. At any other speed though, it’s like you’ve got sports tyres fitted. I’m yet to try
them off-road – but on the road they’ve really brought out the Multi’s cheeky side, while being effortlessly grown-up in terms of competence.
Too much icing?
My Multi was on our stand at the MCN Festival a couple of weeks ago, and a fair few showgoers mentioned my lack of bolt-on goodies. As I told them, there’s a good reason for this: The Multi in this S Full spec simply doesn’t merit bolting much else to it. The only non-stock mods I’ve made so far are adding a Beeline nav device (invaluable when the dash was temperamental), and Evotech radiator guards (£110) and handguard protectors (£160) – both of which I’ll review here next time. If you can’t wait for the full report – the summary will read: superb.