PrincessFalafal
Well-known member
Over the winter I made the mistake of test riding a 2016 Multistrada Pikes Peak when I was at Ace Motorsports in Concord with the intention of buying a Tiger 800. I stressed and waffled about it for nearly a month, including posting a long advice thread here about it where basically everyone said "Don't commute on a Ducati" but I'm dumb and did it anyway.
With the luggage, factory heated grips, tank grip stickies, 3-year warranty and pre-paid maintenance plan I got out of there for just on $20k and was very satisfied with the price. For as much hate as dealerships usually get and as many smarmy ones as I talked to, Matt and Ace Motorsports was actually fantastic the whole way through. My girlfriend ended up making him cupcakes and will hopefully get a Thruxton from him in the future.
Anyway, six months on and here are my thoughts on the bike after riding it back and forth to work every day in all weather:
The brand carries weight. No non-motorcycle people knew what a V-Strom was. My answer to the question "What kind of bike to you have!" was always met with blank stares as I fumbled through some answer about how it was sort of like a motorcycle SUV.
By contrast, everyone knows what a Ducati is. Even if they don't understand "Multistrada", they always make the "OOOOOooooooo!" noise. Marketing: It works, bitches.
-Dear god this thing is geared tall. While it has plenty of torque to get around, it almost feels like there's no first gear and sixth gear is pointless below 80mph. I can't count how many times I've found myself doing 70mph in 4th because it just feels right. I'll probably drop a tooth in the front pretty soon.
Fuck it's loud. It's got the full termi and re-map, and I think I'm going to put the little snuffer tip on because as it stands I'm "That guy" setting off car alarms even though I'm trying to be as quiet as possible.
The pannier rack didn't fit with the Termi system. The modified footpeg bracket that the termi system uses to hold the muffler interferes with the support for the pannier rack. At the advice of Motoguild I took it over to Dennis at Norman Racing in Berkley and he made me a bracket in a couple hours that works around the problem perfectly.
It needs to be ridden kinda hard. Trying to pussyfoot around town just doesn't . . . work. It's partially the gearing, but it just doesn't do very well if you're trying to be gentle. But when you say fuck it and accept the fact that you're the asshole with the too-loud bike roaring away at intersections and dropping your shoulder into turns and waving the front wheel in the air, fuck it's good. It's just so fucking good.
Holy False Neutrals Batman! And the gear indicator is more of a suggestion than to be taken seriously, especially when it comes to neutral. Trust your toe, not the display. Anyone make a detent arm kit for this thing?
The power. Is it a 1290? No. But there is a LOT of torque available with flick of a wrist and even on this heavy of a bike 90mph roll-on power wheelies come along with ease if you've turned the wheelie control down. That being said, the 5krpm torque gap is there and occasionally surprises you by not having quote the punch you expect if you're at that flat spot in the rev range.
The shorty windshield rocks, but buzzes a bit around town when it's in the Up position. On the highway though it does a perfect job of keeping the wind off your chest and neck.
Right foot position is kinda cramped by the exhaust pipe. Thinking about possible fixes.
Gas mileage. Getting in the low-40s commuting, high 40s if I'm rolling up highway 1 all day. Could be worse, but it's not the 58+ my V-Strom go.
It still makes me cackle with glee. It falls onto its side and changes direction with shocking ease. A bike this big and heavy should NOT be this nimble or hold the road so well. It's just dumb, it's so dumb to have a bike with this seating position and this handling and this much power. The suspension is phenomenal and the brakes are amazing, I still find myself laughing in my helmet at how delightfully batshit it is to ride.
I bought the bike with 12.1k on the odo, and it's just about to tick over 16k.
And it's already going in for warranty work! The fuel gauge sensor is gone wonky, because it's a Ducati. Should be covered under the extended warranty (I think), so I'll be getting that swapped out in a couple of weeks. Until then, I just use the trip computer like I always do anyway.
With the luggage, factory heated grips, tank grip stickies, 3-year warranty and pre-paid maintenance plan I got out of there for just on $20k and was very satisfied with the price. For as much hate as dealerships usually get and as many smarmy ones as I talked to, Matt and Ace Motorsports was actually fantastic the whole way through. My girlfriend ended up making him cupcakes and will hopefully get a Thruxton from him in the future.
Anyway, six months on and here are my thoughts on the bike after riding it back and forth to work every day in all weather:
The brand carries weight. No non-motorcycle people knew what a V-Strom was. My answer to the question "What kind of bike to you have!" was always met with blank stares as I fumbled through some answer about how it was sort of like a motorcycle SUV.
By contrast, everyone knows what a Ducati is. Even if they don't understand "Multistrada", they always make the "OOOOOooooooo!" noise. Marketing: It works, bitches.
-Dear god this thing is geared tall. While it has plenty of torque to get around, it almost feels like there's no first gear and sixth gear is pointless below 80mph. I can't count how many times I've found myself doing 70mph in 4th because it just feels right. I'll probably drop a tooth in the front pretty soon.
Fuck it's loud. It's got the full termi and re-map, and I think I'm going to put the little snuffer tip on because as it stands I'm "That guy" setting off car alarms even though I'm trying to be as quiet as possible.
The pannier rack didn't fit with the Termi system. The modified footpeg bracket that the termi system uses to hold the muffler interferes with the support for the pannier rack. At the advice of Motoguild I took it over to Dennis at Norman Racing in Berkley and he made me a bracket in a couple hours that works around the problem perfectly.
It needs to be ridden kinda hard. Trying to pussyfoot around town just doesn't . . . work. It's partially the gearing, but it just doesn't do very well if you're trying to be gentle. But when you say fuck it and accept the fact that you're the asshole with the too-loud bike roaring away at intersections and dropping your shoulder into turns and waving the front wheel in the air, fuck it's good. It's just so fucking good.
Holy False Neutrals Batman! And the gear indicator is more of a suggestion than to be taken seriously, especially when it comes to neutral. Trust your toe, not the display. Anyone make a detent arm kit for this thing?
The power. Is it a 1290? No. But there is a LOT of torque available with flick of a wrist and even on this heavy of a bike 90mph roll-on power wheelies come along with ease if you've turned the wheelie control down. That being said, the 5krpm torque gap is there and occasionally surprises you by not having quote the punch you expect if you're at that flat spot in the rev range.
The shorty windshield rocks, but buzzes a bit around town when it's in the Up position. On the highway though it does a perfect job of keeping the wind off your chest and neck.
Right foot position is kinda cramped by the exhaust pipe. Thinking about possible fixes.
Gas mileage. Getting in the low-40s commuting, high 40s if I'm rolling up highway 1 all day. Could be worse, but it's not the 58+ my V-Strom go.
It still makes me cackle with glee. It falls onto its side and changes direction with shocking ease. A bike this big and heavy should NOT be this nimble or hold the road so well. It's just dumb, it's so dumb to have a bike with this seating position and this handling and this much power. The suspension is phenomenal and the brakes are amazing, I still find myself laughing in my helmet at how delightfully batshit it is to ride.
I bought the bike with 12.1k on the odo, and it's just about to tick over 16k.
And it's already going in for warranty work! The fuel gauge sensor is gone wonky, because it's a Ducati. Should be covered under the extended warranty (I think), so I'll be getting that swapped out in a couple of weeks. Until then, I just use the trip computer like I always do anyway.
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