Let us say the V4 is 10 MPG worse than the 1260. That is around £800 or $1000 over 25,000 miles or about the price of a full rocker belt service ?
V4 Mutley test in April issue of Ride mag. 300 mile test ride. Fuel consumption was crap. But interesting comparison with 1260 Mut regarding thrust. Despite the torque of the V4 being lower they say the new one beats the old model on grunt and flexibility. Using torque (measured) times gearing; the V4 unleashes more force( forward motion) than the V2. Example given: crack the throttle wide open at 60mph in third and the V4 has a third more shove than the V2! 690lb of thrust compared to 525lb for V2.
Oil change is every two years or 9000 miles whichever is sooner as well. They quote an annual service at £51 and £220 every two years.
And by 37,000 miles it's likely to be out of warranty and the valve service probably a reasonable straight forward job for a competent DIY mechanic too. No belts but HiVo chains I believe, not sure on service life but longer and without the ticking clock time element. Service wise its certainly a win. Though if it were me I might be changing the oil and filter annually.
I will definitely be changing the oil filter and oil annually, I will also replace the clutch and brake fluids as well, peace of mind, I have heard or read somewhere that the air filter is easy to get to as well on the V4, so will probably change that out as well, something to do over the winter months!!
I do more than 10000 miles a year so would still be in the 4 year warranty period at the valve service. 2 years between oil changes seems long. Especially given the hard riding they’ll get by some. It seems Ducaaaati are confident in their engine.
They quote £624 for the valve service. It seems the fuel consumption might be partly related to the low gearing. They reckon the V4 has more thrust than the 1260.
Until we have members of this forum doing some touring/ real life testing, the fuel economy has yet to be truly tested, watching some of the review videos, they are letting the bikes have it through the gears, which is great to watch and see, engines once they have a few thousand miles on them tend to get better economy wise, A BMW R1200RS I had from new ,once that got above 2000 miles the engine seemed to get better after every ride, it felt better to ride as well once it had loosened up!! I get my V4 hopefully in April, I have a 2500 mile trip/tour booked for mid June (Covid permitting) I will hopefully see then what it is capable of!!
Now that the reviews are coming out it looks like a proper piece of kit. The local dealer here just got one and apparently had it out in the canyons this morning. I can't wait to give it a go but I'm not really a touring bike kind.
I’ve been running one for the past week and a half and have averaged about 38mpg, but it’s hard to resist giving it a handful. My first impressions (with crap sound quality) are up on YT (search for Tim Rodie Rides Motorbikes). Would stick a link but I’m on a phone in a maternity ward/delivery room. Filmed a proper review on it yesterday but had a sudden call to get home quick. Pretty sure I hit vmax! All I’ll say is it lives up to the hype. The niggles other than fuel consumption are that I couldn’t get the Ducati Connect nav app to work, the heated grip button is a bit of a faff (it’s in an awkward place and once pressed you have to the use the joystick to set the heat), and it’s expensive. The cruise control button was a bit sticky on the one I had (same one Neevesy had). But once you’ve felt the V4 hover the front beautifully in second and third gear in sport mode you’ll forgive it all that. Handling is fantastic. Rode it in a blizzard and it gave me absurd levels of confidence...
Congratulations was going to exchange my bmws1000xr for a MSv4 until I got quoted 1600 insurance by bemoto end of
Yes but that is a misleading statement and purely the result of a large difference in gearing. To get the 1260 at the same RPM point as the V4 you would have to be somewhere between second and third in which case the 1260 would have more thrust. No matter which way you try to spin it the 1260 has way more mid-range power, but yes gearing the V4 much lower can help mask the situation
Just got my V4S too. Coming from a 1260S and Monster S2R1000 I must say the smoothness of the new V4 is quite a revelation. So easy to drive slow (traffic and roundabouts) and the adaptive cruise is just perfect in traffic, it just works. The heated seat is also a very nice touch in cold condition. Only driven a few miles (winter temps) and really looking forward to drive it a lot more.
