V4 Seat Options

Discussion in 'Multistrada' started by Travis Bickle, Mar 23, 2023.

  1. Dear All

    First of all thanks to everyone who gave input in my first two threads to this forum - it really helped me make my decision as I was cross-shopping against offerings from BMW, Suzuki and KTM. I'm super thrilled with my choice and know it was the correct decision!

    Anyway I'm in the market for a comfort seat. Unfortunately, although I got an absolute steal on my new bike, the dealer in Cardiff was only able to supply the bike stock as all the accessories / optional extras are on back order.

    I'm looking at the configurator on the Ducati UK website and can identify the following options:

    Heated rider’s seat A.
    PART NO. 96880941AA

    Heated rider’s seat B.
    PART NO. 96880921AA

    Rider heated raised seat.
    PART NO. 96880931AA

    They're all listed at the same price. The Ducati website is very sparse on information on the different options!

    As far as I can tell the only difference between seats A and B is the design.

    1) Am I correct in thinking seats A and B will be exactly the same as the stock seat in terms of height and comfort level, except for being heated?

    2) Am I correct in thinking that the raised heated seat will be raised by extra padding and therefore considered the enhanced comfort option? Or will it be the same level as padding and just raised from the plastic base?

    Looking to pull the trigger within the next day or two even if I have to order from abroad on Ebay so any and all input will be very gratefully received!!!

    P.S. heated pillion seat doesn't appeal to me as the only pillion I'm likely to take is my 12 year old daughter only very occasionally and never on a long tour, and I quite like the look of the red and black one that comes as standard on the Pikes Peak instead of the all black heated option.

    Thanks guys!!!
     
  2. From What I can see


    Heated rider’s seat A.
    PART NO. 96880941AA
    Is the standard Seat - Just Heated

    Heated rider’s seat B.
    PART NO. 96880921AA
    Is a Lowered Seat - Heated

    Rider heated raised seat.
    PART NO. 96880931AA
    Is a raised seat heated.


    Normally they are all the same plastic base - just different thickness foam.


    When you say that you had a Steal Deal from M&P - can you provide more details?
     
  3. That's what I thought. So I can assume from that, that the raised seat will be more comfortable (i.e. more foam padding)?

    Not to mention more favourable ergos? Bearing in mind, waddling around on tiptoes aside, the pegs on the Pikes Peak are ever so slightly set further rearward and higher than the V4S.

    I'm 6ft anyway but I'd rather sit taller on the bike and have more comfortable ergos and thicker padding if it's going to provide more comfort.



    Well it was £25k on the nose out the door without any finance or upselling. MSRP is £26,595. Plus I've heard stories of waiting lists of 6 to 12 months. The delivery bloke couldn't believe it when I said I'd been waiting under a month for the bike.
     
  4. £150 for delivery from Cardiff to Yalding near Maidstone in Kent.

    So £25,150 including delivery.

    Maybe I'm wrong but I thought I'd had a good deal out of it.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  5. No - its an OK deal.... just asking as the deal they offered me on a V2S a year ago was not so good - so I bought from else where.. infact I have had 5 Ducatis and only 1 was purchased from the local dealer - 2 others from Hyside, 1 from Ducati Coventry and 1 from Bridgewater - Cardiff is my nearest. So it does pay to shop around for price - but also availability....
     
  6. I got one of the first Pikes Peaks last year at a discounted price, along with a discount on any accessories, but won’t air the figures on here as it wouldn’t be fair to them.

    With regards to the seat, I have the raised heated seat, and yes it’s more comfortable than the standard heated seat as it has more padding. I’m 5’10 with a 33” inseam and can flat foot both feet at the same time.
     
  7. Depends on what you are looking for - if its a heated seat then the options are above, bear in mind that the heating element is in the seat close to the top and as such it is harder than the foam so not that comfortable IMO.

    If you are after comfort then look at getting the standard seat reprofiled with better quality memory foam to suit what you need, lots of places out there that do that, I had my comfort seat done at "Sussex Motorcycles" they removed the element and put in better memory foam and now it is all day comfortable. I don't miss the heated seat as I hardly ever used it, I have a heated jacket instead.
    FWIW - I had a poor experience with Viking Seats near Brands Hatch on a previous Multi - but maybe that was just me.
     
  8. Availability was pretty much the driving factor for a new bike as I was otherwise looking at used. The bike I ended up with may well have been someone else's cancellation as the bike was in stock at initial enquiry when I've heard stories of 6 to 12 month waiting lists for this model. So to be fair, they really didn't have to give me any discount on the MSRP at all as I'm sure it would have been snapped up anyway. Was part of a failed used bike purchase, put a deposit down on a used one from a private seller and the seller's circumstances changed and said his bike was no longer available for sale and returned my deposit. As a gesture of goodwill he put me in touch with a salesman at M&P who he allegedly had some leverage over due to being a very frequent repeat customer (like a brand new Ducati every year for the last 7 years or something) and that's why I got the £1,595 off the MSRP. Maybe the salesman took the pragmatic approach and hoped to arrange the finance and upsell some other products and services. As it turned out I bought it for cash and all the optional extras I wanted to be fitted were out of stock. So it doesn't seem like a very good deal for the dealer to be fair I imagine that's probably all of their markup they'd have made on the bike that they discounted me, if that's the case they've let the bike go out the door at cost. To make things worse for them he even said he'd order in the optional extras I wanted and post them out to me with a 15% discount. Still waiting for those to arrive by the way, three weeks after delivery of the bike.



    Way to put me in my place LOL. I really feel like a POS now. It never occurred to me that 'airing the deal I got' would be unfair to the dealer. You're probably right. Sounds like you might come from a sales background and so can see it more from their point of view? As far as I was concerned, I was asked what I paid for the bike so I answered the question. That's as far as my thought process went.

    Thanks for confirming my suspicions on the seat scenario! Interestingly the raised heated seats is one of the items I'm still waiting for from M&P, while it's showing currently in stock on their Ebay store. So I'm not sure what to think about the 15% discount accessories order I am still waiting for, as I haven't even paid for them yet either (I offered but they said they'd take the money once it's all in stock). Maybe they've forgotten about my order, or hoping I'll forget about it / go somewhere else.



    Yeah if, as Multirider75 as confirmed, the raised seat is going to provide more comfort, I'd rather hold out and get the exact one I want. Although getting a used one would certainly not bother me in the slightest. Thanks for the suggestion though.



    Ok, food for thought! I have used Top Sellerie before and have been very pleased with them, if slightly agro being in France and having to pay the customs and postage charges not to mention the shipping time on to of the lead time. If they don't have your seat in stock to do a straight swap it's going to take a few weeks turnaround on sending yours to them and waiting for it to come back, your bike being off the road in the meantime. That's not fun. Probably a project for the winter. I'd heard of Viking as they're very near me (I'm 20 minutes from Brands). Would you care to elaborate how the experience was poor?
     
    #9 Travis Bickle, Mar 27, 2023
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2023
  9. Regarding this specifically. Just had a quick look and it doesn't look like they do a non-heated raised seat even if that's what I wanted to go for.

    I'll look into the custom seat option (Viking/Sussex/Top Sellerie) but setting that aside for a moment and assuming I want to go for a genuine part... For maximum comfort it's a toss up between keeping the original seat or getting the raised heated seat (with extra padding, albeit with the heater element in between). Which of the two do you guys think would be most cushy?
     
    • Like Like x 1
  10. I’ve got the raised/heated seat. It’s hard to give you a comparison as the seat was fitted from new.

    What I will say though is the V4 comfort/raised/heated(whatever!) seat is comparable to the 1260 equivalent.

    I struggled with the standard version on the previous bike, not unbearable but was glad to get off after 120 mile. Both the Touratech (1260) and V4 offer no such issues.
     
  11. I was in a couple of dealers last week and both said September delivery although they also suggested they’ve got a spare one next month, some creative ordering on the dealers’ part ! No mention of a discount as I didn’t ask, mine arrives next month at old price.

    I can’t believe they’re still so popular with 6 month delivery, they’ve sold more V4 PP in 12 months than 3 years of the 1260 PP and that was/is a bloody good bike. There’s going to be a lot of second hand V4’s in a couple of years.
     
  12. Ain't that the truth! How do you expect the residual values to fair with this in mind? Could we be footing the bill for everyone else down the line getting an incredible amount of bang for their buck? That's always been the case with vehicles but the general perception is that's less true with premium brands as they always hold a higher percentage of their value used.

    I never rode any of the older Multistradas, and while I'm sure they were fine machines, every YouTube review is saying this is a completely different ballpark and in a completely different league.

    I think they knocked the ball out of the park with this one. It truly is a do-it-all bike of virtually no compromises.
     
  13. It was a few years ago that I tried Viking for a re-upholstering a seat, looked ok when fitted but after a month or two it went lumpy and when Sussex Motorcycles did it again the foam was just cheap foam not memory foam so haven't used Viking since. They may be better now.
    If its comfort then get it done how you want it - I took advice from Sussex Motorcycles and had the V4 Comfort seat heated element removed (i still have it!) and the seat re-profiled with good quality memory foam and now it is all day comfortable. I also found that with a heated jacket on I never needed the heated seat as well so I don't miss it.
     
  14. Yep, agreed 100%. I’ve had a lot of bikes, the V4PP is the best, BY FAR!
     
  15. Disagree , the V4s is as good and better in a lot of respects , both as fast as each other , one likes smooth roads and the other deals with all roads ( as per its name) either way the V4 multi has been a game changer.
     
  16. Yeah I was about to say the Pikes Peak is not jack of all trades and master of none, but rather master of all trades.

    But that wouldn't be strictly true, would it.

    As you rightly said, in many ways the V4S and the Rally fit that description better.

    For my use case however, not being interested in gravel roads or anything beyond that, the Pikes Peak is in the top 1% of all bikes in the areas that matter to me (power/performance, engine configuration and behaviour, engine character and sound, handling/sportiness, comfort, touring, tech etc.).

    The V4S and Rally are definitely going to better off the beaten track and on crap roads and arguably the better allrounder, depending on what you plan to do with it.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  17. I haven’t owned a V4S though. The PP is the best bike I’VE owned, which makes it the best bike in the world, ever. :D
     
    • Funny Funny x 1
  18. I’ve had a V4Sport in my garage. Used it for the TT because Ducati delivery estimates.

    It’s a great bike, but it’s no PP.

    I do tarmac only and ride fast*.








    *ish
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  19. Fast is all relative. However quick anyone is there is always likely to be someone faster on lesser machinery. I bet MM93 didn’t think he would ever look slow. :D

    The V4 is a brilliant bike but it does have some weaknesses. There are far better bikes for commuting or riding on a seriously twisty road.
     
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