1260 New To Me Multistrada

Doesn’t look as uncomfortable as the pillion seat

Agree about those mirrors though.

 

Tyres are subjective. I like the Michelins. Previously had Road5s but just fitted Road 6s. Stable, predictable sport touring tyre, rain or shine, with good mileage. Not the cheapest I'll admit. If you're more sport than touring then you may want something more orientated in that direction, fewer miles before change though.

The OEM seat is pretty poor for a premium touring bike. I very quickly swapped mine out for the Ducati Performance Touratech ones. No longer made but they do come up occasionally on here, again these were expensive new, in good condition used they're still pricey (which is why people will sell them separately on trade-in). Night and day difference in terms of comfort over a tour. Still quite firm/flat but a better shape and the foam is better quality. There are companies that will recondition/upgrade your OEM seat too, probably cheaper but then you won't be able to recover as much on resale.

 

Looks a good clean bike. I would ditch the Scorpions and put a set if Michelin Road Pilot 6 on, better handling and great in all condition. See if you can get the seats re-upholstered with memory foam - depends on where you are in the UK for people who do that kind of work - only other option would be Ducati "Comfort" seats, look on e-bay or ask here if any available.

 

That looks great. The right colour, and with the all important full system, which makes a huge difference. Keep an eye out for the Touratech seat, that makes a huge difference. A tail tidy will neaten up the back end of the bike, other that it looks spot on.

You may want to fit an actual pillion seat though, otherwise your wife will hate this bike even more than the last one!

 

But you did manage to get part of a bin each one - not bad for a first attempt

+1 on ditching the Scorpions and going for a set of Michelin Road 6 or Metzeler Roadtec 01SE

+1 on changing the standard seat. A Ducati Performance Touratech seat is the best option if you can find one.

The Evotech radiator, oil cooler and engine/front cylinder guards are very good but I'd also recommend a fender extender to reduce the road crap thrown up at the front cylinder and radiator.

When you change the mirrors, I'd suggest you get a set of handguard protectors - Evotech do a nice set, better looking than the agricultural by very functional Barkbusters. These can save damage to the handguards and levers in the even of a topple over - the handguards are a bit fragile and easily broken plus I think they are now only available for purchase with the LED indicator so are expensive to replace.

 

There were two types of 'comfort' set.

The best is the Touratech one, these do come up for sale occasionally, they have the Touratech logo on them, it stops you tipping forward into the tank.

Then Ducati started making their own version which reports say is not as good, but still better than standard.

If they are not marked on eBay as Comfort they are probably just the standard seat.

 

The Touratech seat was discontinued with the arrival of the 1260 DVT. However, sharing most components with the 1200 DVT the Toutarech seats fit perfectly. I guess that Ducati resented loosing a chunk of money on each sale to Touratech so decided to make their own version. Or, more likely, get some third party producer to make it nailed down to a price to enhance their profit. As far as the official comfort seats go the Touratech ones are the gold standard if you can find them.

Initially you might think "what's the fuss about". The seat still seems quite hard, however, the shape, padding material and cover are all vastly superior. The OEM seat had me wincing by the first fuel stop. On a multiday tour getting on to the bike each successive day got worse and worse to the point that I was thinking it wasn't fun any more right from the off. The Touratech seat transformed this beyond all comprehension. Yes, I did get a bit of smarting over the last 50 miles of a 450 mile motorway dash home, with only stops for fuel, from Scotland for an ailing dog. Last years trip to Corsica, with longest day being 340 miles, part autoroute, there were no such issues and no complaints regarding seat comfort from my lady on the back either.

I was lucky and bought my rider seat from a member on here and the pillion seat from Ducati Manchester when they bought a container load of old stock spares from the factory. Both at significant savings over new prices. Should be able to recoup 100% of that if the time over comes.

 

Touratech seat is the best upgrade.

I had Metzeler Z8s on my 1200 which worked supremely well in all conditions and were great value. Not sure if you can still buy them.

 

Sargent Seats are another option and still available with no issues, the only draw back with them is they utilise your existing seat base to mount their foam and cover to, I got round this by purchasing a set of damaged seats from Ebay and sending them away to be "Sargented", comfort wise, literally all day comfortable, I've just done 10 hours in the saddle on my way to France with little issue, certainly worth a look if you cant locate a Toutatech one

 

The cost is highly variable as you can spec material, piping, heated options etc, you would be best looking at Sargent UK website, turnaround was approx 2 weeks when I had mine done although it wasnt an issue for me as I still had my OE seats
there is a matching pillion seat cover, but it is only the cover, no replacement foam

 

Hopefully a picture of Sargent items on my bike

 

Does he do that for a living, or have you just asked a random stranger?