On the road IN TOWN
B-ROADS
It’s on narrower, twistier, more entertaining roads that the 950’s balance of power and handling shines, as it’s both easy and rewarding to ride. The 937cc engine produces a broad spread of useable torque that translates to great traction without disrupting the chassis. The ride-by-wire throttle modulation is near perfect, without any hint of snatchiness.
The suspension works well here, as the bumps from the road do little to upset the chassis or the rider. The standard setting err on the side of comfort but the damping rates aren’t so soft as to cause the front end to dive excessively when rolling off the throttle, or the rear to squat under load.
The Pirelli Scorpion tyres suit the 950 well and the 19in front doesn’t impact on the bike’s handling in any way. In fact, its rate of turn is ideal for road riding. On faster bends the Multistrada tracks the chosen line with perfect stability - a characteristic repeated at all speeds and even under hard acceleration.
Like the 1200, the Multistrada 950 has four modes - Sport, Touring, Enduro and Urban. Both Sport and Touring modes allow the engine to give its full 113bhp, but each mode has a different throttle response and varying amounts of preset traction control and ABS intervention, with Touring being the softer, more conservative of the two. There’s little need on the road for the Urban and Enduro modes, which limit power to 75bhp and increase (in the case of Urban) or decrease/turn off (in the case of Enduro) the electronic interventions.
The Brembo braking set-up, with twin radial calipers up front and a single disc rear, strikes a great balance between performance and precision. The bite is neither too harsh nor too weak and there’s plenty of stopping power. Plus, it’s reinforced by an excellent ABS system that offers three levels of intervention and, like the eight-step traction control, can be switched off.
Overall, the Multistrada 950’s a great bike for getting the best out of a good road. With dry tarmac and Sport mode engaged, it flows through bends accurately,
“There’s little need for the Urban and Enduro modes”
powering down straights before scrubbing speed and flicking into the next turn. There’s plenty of engine braking for smooth riding, but the bike comes alive at the kind of pace that needs a bit of braking before each bend.
MOTORWAYS
The name Multistrada means “many roads” and this 950 is a versatile bike, still delivering performance and comfort even on the motorway. The manually adjustable screen can be changed with one hand while on the move, using a squeeze-and-pull clamp, keeping all but the tallest of riders cocooned from windblast, while the factory-fit handguards really work well at keeping hands shielded from the cool spring breeze. The two-piece seat is plush and easily comfortable enough for long hours in the saddle.
Switching into Touring mode softens the throttle map but the engine still produces its 113bhp peak power, backed up by the traction control and ABS systems when encountering wet patches of overbanding. The gearbox is excellent, providing shifts that are smooth and precise. Plus, as the 950 generates 80 per cent of its peak torque from as low as 3500rpm, it’s pulls most gears relatively happily. Even cruising at motorway speeds in sixth there’s always more go on tap for an impromptu overtake.
At night, the Multistrada 950’s dipped beam gives an excellent, wide spread of light. The same cannot be said for the high beam, as disappointingly it doesn’t aim high enough and narrows the illuminated area to just a few feet. Another night-time niggle is that the illuminated LCD dash reflects distractingly up onto the inside of the screen, like a weird, inverted heads-up display. All it needs is a little shroud on the top of the dash to cure this, as it is somewhat annoying on unlit sections of A-road and motorway. Another niggle with the Multistrada 950 is that clutch operation is a poor from a cold start, suffering poor modulation and a limited amount of feel that makes it prone to stalling before setting off. It’s fine once it’s warmed up and the cable clutch is impressively light. The upright riding position is near-perfect for an urban commute or gently threading your way through stationary lanes of city traffic, as it places you up high and offers plenty of forward vision as well as impressive road presence.
This might be a large capacity V-twin with a distinctively Ducati growl at tickover, but it is actually impressively well silenced at all speeds and it remains free from excessive mechanical noise even trickling through town. It’s incredibly smooth and easy to manage at low revs. Even if you catch yourself in too high a gear, the Multistrada is incredibly forgiving with none of the piston slap or lurchiness of older, less refined big twins. The lowspeed manoeuvrability is spot-on and there’s excellent steering lock. The high and wide bars, the upright riding position and a surprisingly sensitive rear brake give great control and make the bike really easy to manage in tight situations.