V4 Anyone Gone From 1260 Enduro To V4 Rally

I saw very little new Multistrada stock when I visited today, not sure if there will be much ‘old’ stock to clear, if and when the update is released. I’m still coming to terms with consumption and my bike is currently returning low 40’s mpg, in Urban/full power/smooth, no playing. Had a very short hoon in Race mode to deal with a knob driving an M5 on Sunday and the instantaneous consumption was eye watering. Big thing for me is the seat height difference which in stock, is significantly taller, unless you invest in one of the 2 low seats or lowering kit. Andy

 

I’m riding a V4S, I find the fuel range a pain and will be a primary reason to change to a Rally or wait for the R1300GSA.

 

I'm quite glad of a leg stretch after 150-180 miles when a fill up is needed, but then I'm old (ish) hence having a V4 PP in the first place, so yes fuel economy is poor if you're bothered about such things, I don't think any brand of higher performance V4 will be as good on fuel as a twin, or IL4.

 

I was just trying to remember if I was out in my M5 on Sunday, but my conscience is clear!

 

I agree with the leg stretch, but my refuelling habit is a bit of a PITA, it never seems to be convenient. I have reconciled myself with the chain cleaning etc.

 

The 1260 Enduro had it all:
Fuel economy, ground clearance, low down torque and range with its large fuel tank.
Shame it's no longer on showroom floors.
Ducati should be learning a lesson from BMW who's GS lineup are twins.

 

Just back from a week long European tour, fuel range on the V4 was fine for me. Always happy to stop for a break anyway and never put more than 18.5 L in at any fill up. I can understand the concern if you are riding in the middle of nowhere but for most of us normal riders it’s not really an issue.

 

On my V4S the fuel light comes on at about 150-160 miles. Last year hooning about in in Scotland it came with no fuel stop for miles. I rode more carefully for 40+ miles to a fuel stop and it clocked 205 miles on the trip meter and I got 19.5 ltrs into the 22 ltr tank, so there is quite a lot of range left when the light comes on. My mate on an MT10 was panicking a lot more than I was, he was on fumes .

 

Sorry I can’t really remember and I was using kms. I know I usually had a range of about 60-55 kms left when the light first came on

 

I’ve noticed that even when the range says zero, there’s about 25 miles left, on my PP. Done it a few times, never run out.

 

My Rally is getting a consistent 40-41 mpg with a conservative range of about 285+ miles. My V4S got about 35-36 mpg and 175 mile range. Besides that, this motor is considerably smoother than the V4S was. I had it lowered 20 mm with the factory kit and I'm running a Russell seat at the low setting. 30" inseam and it works but still tippy toes. There are a bunch of other improvements/updates between the two bikes so overall I'm very happy having made the jump. The '21 V4S had 80,000 miles on it and is now with a friend of mine. The Rally now has about 15K.

Marc

 

These are different engines. The one in the Rally was originally used in the Diablo. It has different cams and 4 O2 sensors where the V4S in the States had only two O2 sensors. The extra sensors allow them to monitor and adjust the injection per cylinder vs per bank on the V4S. The V4S had a nasty surge 4-5000 rpm and really bad when cold. This one doesn't surge at all regardless of RPM or temp. It's a major improvement. The other update I appreciate is the newly designed rear brake setup which includes different hydraulics and linkage resulting in a rear brake that works for a change. You can actually stop the bike with it if you wanted to The most amazing thing for me is that with a full 8 gallons of gas on board I can barely notice the weight in the twisties. I can feel it a tiny bit when transitioning from side to side but then I have to concentrate to feel it otherwise it feels the same as the old bike did. Of course once you have used up a couple of gallons they feel the same. I really think this one is a major improvement from the older bike even though I wish I could get my feet down a bit more securely. I understand that Ducati had to increase the clearance in order to be on par with a GSA but realistically how often is this bike ever going to be off-road at $30,000? Probably close to never. I really wish they had left it at the V4S height or at least made it possible to lower it that much. I had the lowering kit in the V4S so even with the Rally lowered it is still 30 mm taller than my old one was. I dropped the seat down from the high position on the V4S to the low position on the Rally so now the difference is 10 mm which is doable as I mentioned.

Marc

 

@John W I have a 2021 V4S with 30,000km on it and I average 7ltrs/100km = c.41mpg and get about 240-260km before the fuel light comes on and then can only get 17-18ltrs in depending how long it is between light on and fuel stop.

I never notice the fuel consumption unless I’m out with @Hugo Magnus who has a 1260 and delights in pointing out to me he only has to put 11 litres in whilst I put 16 in and we’d both done the same route at the same speed the previous day.

 

None of them do that. You're thinking of the Harley. These bikes have a button that you can hold down for 3 secs and it will remove all the preload. It will stay like that until you either hit the button again or go 71 mph at which time it will revert to the original preload set. Next time you want to lower it you have to hit the button again. This is basically a moot point on the Rally since Touring mode with one helmet is already set at preload #1 so no benefit from the button unless you're running in the luggage or passenger preload settings which have additional preload. Interestingly, Urban and Sport modes with one helmet are also set at preload #1. The V4S dials in more preload for sport but not the Rally. I questioned this with the folks in Italy because I thought it was a misprint in the owner's manual but they wrote back that with the EVO suspension on the Rally they are changing the suspension hydraulically between Tour and Sport without increasing preload. They said I could add some preload if I wanted to in Sport but they didn't recommend it since the engineers hadn't designed it that way. I guess they just keep tweaking all these systems and usually don't even tell anybody particularly the dealer. I am forever educating them as well

Marc

 

I've got the Rally model, and done about 4K on it. Fuel tank larger, aluminium, 30L overall. Normal V4 is plastic with a cover on it. I can cover a good distance before needing to visit the petrol station. What is in my view a major improvement, is moving the phone pocket from the middle of the tank to the left side of the damper forks. Much better looks. I don't use it for a phone, but rather small power bank, that I can charge on the go. Then at night when camping, can recharge my helmet intercome, and phone with it. Also the tank protectors near the sadle are decent size, and I don't feel like I need to stick anything more in there to protect the paintjob.

As far as I know, compared to normal V4, they made the bike longer, with more room for passanger. Rear bank of cylinders deactivates under 4K RPM to save fuel, and help with engine heat. Bike probably sits higher, as it has longer travel suspension. Don't know if normal V4 has an offroad mode? Rally does for sure. And to me, I feel like Ducati have learnt few things about V4, that were not quite right, and improve on them on the Rally model.

Saddles are a bit hard though, had mine modified to get some memory foam in there. Much better now. But that's probably all Ducati, not just this one.

The windscreen is a bespoke shape to the Rally too. Probably larger.

Rear sear is adjustable back and forth, not sure if present on normal V4?