Ducati Multistrada

Living with the Multistrada.
Don't worry about choosing correct lines, the Multistrada knows them all and can alter mid-corner to suit any poor decision made by the rider. The trademark, steel trellis frame may not look as sexy as the huge alloy items found on most other machines but this minimalist design works better than most. With high spec Showa upside down forks holding the front end up, the handling is beyond reproach. Hanging off those long travel forks are a pair of Brembo Goldline calipers and massive 320mm discs, without even pulling a lever you just know that baby is going to stop with bags of feel and power, and it does every time.
This is one Ducati that, for a change, is happy pootling around town, the Marelli fuel injection system is faultless and not at all notchy like some of the sportier designs that have left Bologna, happy to pull from way down in the rev range all the way up to the max power at 7000rpm. The dry clutch can be keen both noisy and a bit snappy at low speeds, but is only needed when pulling away from a standstill, once on the move the torquey engine and slick gearbox means clutchless changes are the order of the day.
Out on the open road and few machines could stay with this bike, it charges into, romps around and then stomps out of all but the fastest of corners with ease, ideally suited for the switchback mountain routes the bike was designed to tackle. There are faults with this Ducati -the standard seat has all of the attributes normally associated with a plank and quickly become uncomfortable on long hauls. Ducati produce an aftermarket comfort seat, as indeed do several others, so that is quickly remedied. The original screen is too small to be effective at speed. Once again the accessories catalogue offers a cure at a price and later models do have a revised design. At the other end of the bike, the exhaust and rear shock are open to the elements in standard trim and do corrode if left unattended. Foibles apart, and the Multistrada is both a great design achievement and a superb real-world motorcycle, capable of crossing towns or continents with ease and offering immense rider satisfaction.



HISTORY: With bikes getting more and more focused for the task in hand, Ducati, in 2002, set out to create a machine capable of having more than a good crack at a wide variety of tasks. The result is the Multistrada, a strange looking machine at first, but there is much more to this bike than just looks.
Initially the biking community laughed at its ugly duckling looks, after all it shared the same design team as the ill-fated 999s series, but as soon as the first models arrived in dealers' showroom and made it onto the streets the attitude changed.
Using old school, air-cooled engine technology, simply to keep the weight down, the Multistrada rarely needs more than the 80-plus horses on tap, simply because it has few, if any, holes in its abilities. Overnight Ducati had turned the adventure sport class on its head and created the fastest selling model in their range to date, demand was, and still is, high for this great all-rounder.



There is also the 1000S model, which features Ohlins suspension. This machine weighs in around £700 more than the standard version and to most will be wasted, the original bike performing perfectly well in most situations with the higher spec suspension only really being effective on the silkiest of race tracks and not at all the Multistrada's natural home.
A new model, with a larger capacity, HOOcc engine has recently been released, making demand for the earlier models potentially less so but don't be put off, the first of the breed is a cracking machine and well worth checking out if a bike for all seasons and demands is high on your list.