It’s the one. Maybe…
The Rally heads home, but has it left behind an unfillable void?
I’m not a ‘one bike’ kind of a guy. I love being able to pick a style, age, or character of bike for the ride ahead, and that’s led to me having a five-bike garage (for now) that spans 50 years of models, three engine configurations, three styles, and three different brands. Every year when I answer the big ‘would you buy it’ question on my longterm test bike the decision is hugely influenced by cost. I simply can’t afford to buy a high-end new bike like the Multistrada V4 Rally. Except, it transpires, I can…
If I add up the current value of my own bikes, it comes to circa £32k – meaning I could flog them all and buy pretty much any new bike I fancied. So, as I watch the Multistrada V4 Rally get loaded into a van for its return to Ducati UK, is it the bike I’d drop that cash cow on? Yes, it is. Or at least, it might be.
With only one bike in the garage, it would have to do everything – and while you can argue that most bikes in any niche do largely the same thing, there’s no doubt the Multistrada does everything better than most. Some will criticise its ‘superbike on stilts’ aggression, but I love that attitude. Some will say it’s too big/heavy/expensive for hardcore off-road, but I’m not a hardcore off-road rider. Some will say it’s a fragile and delicate Italian that’s bound to be unreliable, but neither aspect rings true in 2024.
The Multistrada is a chameleon that adapts to its environment or your mood with near-seamless transitions. You can shrink motorways, then moments later carve a mountain pass, negotiate a byway, dominate city streets, or knit together a network of bucolic B-roads while admiring the view.
And all the time you’re supported by a frankly astounding suite of electronic rider aids that are tailored to almost any riding environment – all delivered though a superb TFT dash, using intuitive menus and backlit switchgear that prioritise simplicity, navigability, and minimal distraction. You only have to fill up every 300 or so miles, too – thanks to the 30-litre tank and decent economy (48-52mpg is easy to achieve, even at pace).
The engine is smooth or savage, docile or maniacal, depending on what your right hand asks of it, and there is drive everywhere.
Build quality is impressive as well. This bike has had a tough life, been used hard in all weathers, on all terrains, and its only scars are from a static drop on a rocky beach while being shot for a group test.
So why is it only a ‘maybe’? Its V4S sibling is to blame. If I were trading my eclectic fleet for this eclectic chameleon, I’d choose the Multistrada V4S – while constantly missing the Rally’s fatter tank.
LIKES
Too many to list. Engine, chassis, electronics, looks!
DISLIKES
Nav app isn’t brilliant, phone compartment is small