Ducati Multistrada 1000s
Ducati Multistrada 1000S
Rethought, revised, ready to rail
DON CANET
MODERN MOTORCYCLES HAVE EVOLVED into very specialized machines, often designed to perform best for a specific kind of riding at the expense of broad-range versatility. While this may be a luxury for multi-bike owners, what if your budget or garage only has room enough for one?
Ducati’s Multistrada was conceived as a multifaceted bike that would transcend several categories, a jack of all trades and master of patched ’n’ potted backroads. When slotted into last year’s lineup, the Multistrada 1000DS proved highly versatile and fun to ride, but had a few rough edges that were difficult to overlook. Refined for 2005, most of the bike’s shortcomings have been addressed, while Ducati has also expanded the Multistrada family to include a pair of 620cc versions and this bike, a more sport-focused 1000S model.
CYCLE WORLD TEST
Having an ’04 1000DS in our long-term fleet the past year has provided first-hand experienced with the issues surrounding the first-generation machine. It also offered an opportunity to seek solutions. The first thing to go was the stock saddle, which was about as comfortable as a vinyl-covered plank of pine. We replaced it with a Ducati accessory “comfort seat,” but found an aftermarket saddle from Sargent better yet. Ducati has your backside covered with this year’s much-improved standard seat, featuring thicker padding and a new shape that offers longrange comfort.
We were also disappointed in the lack of wind protection and degree of helmet buffeting the ’04 model’s stubby windshield produced. Installing a taller screen available from Ducati’s accessories catalog offered an effective fix. Here again, Multistradas now come equipped with the tall screen. Other improvements to this year’s bikes are new mirrors set farther outboard to provide a much better rear view. A new, longer and more robust sidestand has addressed the tippy nature of last year’s machine when parked with heavily loaded saddlebags. Installing the bike’s accessory centerstand has kept our long-term unit from capsizing and is a convenient addition in any case.
Having grown to love our massaged long-termer, we were eager to test the new 1000S. Similar to the DS model in most every way, the S serves up more sport appeal with its top-shelf Ohlins suspension, carbon-fiber front fender and cam-belt covers, and an attractive Magura tapered-aluminum handlebar. It’s surprising how much a handlebar can alter perception of a bike, particularly considering the S’s riding position feels much the same as the DS, but the S’s supermoto-style bar imparts a much sportier appearance.
Thumb the starter button and the dual-sparked, air-cooled, 90-degree Twin slowly cranks over, coming to life after a couple revolutions. Riding away while “Lo” (temperature) flashes on the LCD dash poses no hiccups or hesitation, and with plenty of torque right off the bottom, upshifts at 3000 rpm or so provide quiet and casual cruising in town.
The Multistrada takes to city streets with the prowess of a dual-sporter on steroids. Its light handling and abundant steering lock make child’s play of tight parking-lot maneuvers and it sifts through city traffic with feline finesse. The upright riding position and 33.3-inch seat height puts you eyes-level with SUV drivers, boosting confidence thanks to enhanced vision and visibility. While my 32-inch inseam proved enough to allow solid, heels-planted footing at stops and the ability to back out of parking stalls while straddling the seat, shorter riders should plan on doing the tiptoe tap dance.
Finding neutral at traffic signals was never an issue. Thankfully, because squeezing the stiffly sprung clutch for prolonged periods would become tiresome. While the Multistrada shares the same engine as the Supersport 1000DS, it has shorter final gearing with four teeth added to its rear sprocket. We appreciate the ease with which this bike pulls away from stops, requiring few revs for a smooth launch. It also feels snappier than the Supersport when dialing on the throttle, and with its taller stature, lofts the front wheel with great ease in low gear. Using good shifting technique, changing up through the six-speed gearbox is silkysmooth and quiet, even with the jump from first to second, where passing through neutral can be clunky on many bikes. Once on the freeway, dual-sport parallels vanish. Here the sport-radial-shod 17-inch wheels and firmed-up suspension combine to deliver a level of competence unmatched by any long-travel adventure-touring platform.
Rain grooves and road seams pass unnoticed beneath the bike; even riding in windy conditions had little effect on the bike’s composure.
Engine vibration is minimal when revs are around 4500 rpm, good for about 75-80 mph in top gear. Running above or below this sweet spot produces a bit more rumble felt through the grips, but is never a nuisance.
Roomy ergonomics, enhanced by the new seat and tall screen gives owners added incentive to make use of the subframe’s integrated bosses for attaching a set of accessory hard
bags. So equipped, the Multistrada rivals the best sport-touring bikes available, although out on the open road is where the Multistrada’s one remaining flaw stands out.
See, the instrument panel is rich with features geared for
the traveler. The LCD display has several modes to toggle through, indicating fuel used, fuel remaining, real-time and average fuel consumption, miles run and miles remaining until empty. There’s also a fuel gauge and old school lowfuel warning light. The problem is the fuel gauge indicates empty shortly after 100 miles, which triggers the low-fuel light and a flashing gas pump icon. Worse, the fuel remaining and miles-'til empty displays both read "---" just when you need them the most. Then after nursing the S to the first gas station and topping up, you discover there was still a half-tank of fuel remaining! In the end, using the odometer/trip meter to monitor how many miles you can squeeze out of a tank is your best tool. So much for bells and whistles...
Baseline settings for the S-model’s Superbike-spec Öhlins suspension are in the middle of their adjustment range. This leaves plenty of latitude to soften the ride for the long haul, or firm ’er up for serious play. Tapping sport potential by firming up the spring and damping settings at both ends is easy enough, just don’t look to the spartan toolkit for help here. All that’s provided is a sparkplug wrench, screwdriver and a cable for hanging a helmet. We recommend adding your own 4mm Allen wrench for dialing-in the fork’s compression and rebound damping screws. Altering shock-spring preload and damping is a simple twist of the respective knob.
Curiousity about the lOOOS’s potential for track-day use was answered with some laps around the technical Streets of Willow roadcourse. As expected, the bumpier sections of the track were a cakewalk for the long-legged Duc, but we were pleasantly surprised by how controlled the bike felt when snapped through side-to-side transitions. It makes other bikes in its class feel loosey-goosey by comparison. Even when tempting fate with trail-braking into corners, the front end did not exhibit the twist or flex you’d expect of a tall machine. The Pirelli Scorpion Sync radiais offered all the grip we could use, as cornering limits were dictated by the exhaust shroud touching down on the right and the sidestand on the left.
While certainly no match for a 999 repli-racer on the track, we can see the Multistrada 1000S more than holding its own on the rough-and-tumble backroads we ride. Not bad for a bike that can carry you to and from work, or across several states in comfort. Even if there is room in your life for more than one motorcycle, the Multistrada 1000S is specialized in its own right, a master jack of all trades.
EDITORS' NOTE
Ii's N1~E TO SEE DucAll US'IENS TO ITS cus tomers. Gone for 2005 are the Multi strada's ridiculously hard seat and nar row (check out those shoulders!) mirrors. The new seat is pretty livable, though still not quite of `round-the-world qual ity. Unchanged is the dim digital speed ometer and info center, which are still nearly impossible to read through a tinted shield, unless the sun's over your shoul der. Also, the fuel-warning light comes on at half-tank. But then I just bought a leftover 2003 ST4S rather than a new one, largely to avoid this very instrument cluster. I'm just an analog kind of guy. Otherwise, this bike is a joy to ride, with a sweet, smooth, torquey engine that isn't geared to the moon like most Ducatis of recent memory. The bike is quick, agile and fun, with a great riding position, and it's hard to argue with the benefits of Ohlins suspension. Styling? Not much garage appeal for me, but then it's a beautiful-is-as-beautiful-does type of bike. And on the backroads, it does beautiful. -Peter Egan, Editor-at-Large
HAVING SAMPLED MANY DIFFERENT MOTOR cycles that pass through our hands at Cycle World, I find that some suit me immediately while others are an acquired taste. Ducati's Multistrada l000S is a bit of both. While some of its more unique styling elements may never grow on me, thanks to its fine blend of versatility and sporting performance, the bike as a whole is looking better already. For me, the long-legged Due represents a refreshing break from conventional wisdom. One bike for traveling near or far, fast or slow, loaded or light with excellent competence and nimble handling. And with its lust-worthy, race-spec suspension, wheels and brakes, I figure the 1000S can easi ly hang with the hardcore sportbike crowd-even if that only means in the parking lot at the local roost. Oh well, it's a start... -Don Canet, Road Test Editor
DUCATI TALKED A PREtTY BIG GAME WHEN the Multistrada was being developed circa 2003. "Fastest over the Futa," was one of the maker's claims, the Futa Pass being Bologna's local Racer Road. Sorry to say, then, that the bike that subsequently arrived in dealerships was unlikely to be the fastest anywhere. It was simply too softly sprung; "in the interest of adventure-touring comfort," explained R&D chief Andea Forni. So tell me about the seat then... Two summers ago at the Centopassi rally, I spent a week riding through the Alps with the men behind the Multistrada. And according to them, the initial prototype was much sport ier than the eventual production model. One R&D tester said with great gusto, "It would eat CBRs and Ris, like a shark!" This l000S must have been the bike he was talking about. I don't know that it'll beat a full-on sportbike down a gnarled-up backroad, but it would be fun trying. -Brian catterson, Executive Editor
DUCATI
1000S
$13,495
