I dropped my bike in for it's MOT this morning at P&H and there was a nice new S in it's crate being unpacked. Rather than organising the loan bike I asked Marcus if they had their demo ready, and took it out for a quick hook around the local lanes. They only have a base model available at the moment, the seat was in it's lowest position and I could get both feet on the floor easily (5' 9"). You feel like you are sitting 'in' the bike more, personally I would prefer it higher (they couldn't find the adjusters to change it) First impressions? Smoooooooooooooth, I mean really smooth, more like a triple than a twin, no lurching and clutch slipping at low revs, no chain lash. Very impressed with the engine, torque is fabulous, a little step in power at about 6,000 revs and then it revs up like a cat dipped in boiling oil. Brakes, front's were fine, seem better than my originals, back brake actually works (for now), I even locked the back slightly. The caliper is odd, it is reversed and you see the back of a pad held by 2 'forks', looks like the caliber piston is just on one side? Buttons work well, more positive. Dash is fine, I couldn't seem to be able to see, or activate, the clock. The mode graphics are pretty small, you can tell which mode you are in but it's not as obvious. Any other bad news, not much, the screen is still pants (for me) buffeting and noise around the helmet, looks like a Wunderlich style addition might fix this (I held my hand there) or a shorter screen. That's about it. Slightly complicated button layout, but I expect you would get used to that. Seat is much bigger but it threw me forward on my 'gentleman's equipment' a bit more (Similar to the original seat, I have the comfort seat). Seriously good bike and the engine lives up to all the hype, I'll probably wait 6-9 months and put my order in, if they had a white 1200S one I expect I would have done a deal there and then.
So far pretty much all good news re new bike. Don't suppose you asked them where the feck mine is :Shifty:
Good report. Could the engine be too smooth? I like the feel of a V twin. Had a Honda V4 once because it felt better than a 3 or 4 across the frame layout. I have test ride booked soon so will be interested in the result.
This doesnt help. At all. 5'9 and both feet down?! At 5'8 was hopimg it wouldnt be much better then current one. Doesnt help at all! Bugger.
This is my first post in addition to the hellos in the newbie section, so I'll try to make it count. I did my 2015 MS test drive last week, I had the 1200S for five hours and did about 100 ml on it. I was amazed with the handling of the bike, it's very smooth and easier to handle than any motorbike out there - waiting for my 1290 Super Adventure test next week and the S1000XR ... well nobody knows about that :Shamefullyembarrased:. The DVT will be definitely a game changer in the whole industry and I bet we'll see lots of future models going that direction. There is much written about it but I didn't expect that smoothness as I wrote driving it felt as easy as a city scooter more fun though. The riding position was very comfortable and although I am a short guy 5,7 I could keep comfortably myself and the bike steadily on the ground and do all kinds of crazy manoeuvres while riding in the dense traffic. I took also a ride with my girlfriend and she was thrilled by the comfort of the seat - of course after riding on the back of a Ducati Monster the MS is a luxury, but indeed we've got another adventure bike and she still rated this as the most comfortable seat ever. The instruments will need adjustment as per individual - I kept turning on the high beams while using the clutch because the switch is just too close to the clutch lever. The TFT display is well visible on the sun using a white background with enough contrast while in the dark the background turns black to allow good visibility of the readings. It's a nice feature, however I am still wondering why on earth when the bike has a colour highres TFT display I can't have navigation and other functions (wifi, web-browser) integrated on it. It needs some study before start riding just to understand the different controls, I think they put too much attention on the riding modes while finding other functions requires some studying. In certain amount of revs the TFT was shaking due to the vibration so Ducati will need to fix this among many other 'stupid' bugs. I tried to test the riding modes but perhaps in that short period of time I wasn't able to notice any big difference apart from the Urban mode which I kept for 5 minutes and switched back to Sport. I won't be needing the Urban mode and the DVT works so well that the bike is very easy to handle even in Sport mode inside the city narrow streets in dense traffic. I was expecting the Touring mode to provide more comfort in bumps but it didn't. That's maybe because I saw a test ride of a 1290 Super Adventure where the guy was advertising how he didn't feel the bumps at all, so I had similar expectations from the MS. Indeed I'll have a test drive on the 1290 next week and see compare for myself the difference. The throttle of the MS1200S is very smooth and as other people mentioned opening after 6000rpm gives that euphoric feeling of taking off not to mention that the whole street is watching like a thunder stroke down. Acceleration and braking is fun thanks to all the electronics, but what I'd like to test again, if I'd had the chance, is to modify manually different settings (ABS, DWT, DTC) and see how the bike behaves. I think the MS1200S has much more potential than what the test bike settings allowed. Due to the windy day my motorway test was limited but I did up to 140mph easily, I think the MS can keep a steady 120mph travel speed without sweating. Quality and delivery is one remarkable point where I think Ducati needs to put some extra attention if they want to raise the MS1200S unquestionably to the top of the range. Yes the handling is amazing, the bike looks great and has many advanced features. However asking to pay top bucks for a motorcycle with plastic hand guards leaves a bitter taste to the consumer. I believe most of us see the MS as a high end machine so you can imagine my shock when in my test MS1200S I saw the right hand-guard broken and hanging like some cheap piece of plastic. Moreover a weird heat appearing occasionally behind my left thigh was making the ride unbearable from time to time. The fact that this is a first year model makes me concerned about other bugs that may appear after a while. The accessories offering is narrow and pricy and as there is no competition it leaves to the trip planner no other options than to postpone or pay the bucks. I am going to test drive next week the 1290 Super Adventure and looking also to test the S1000XR if that motorbike is going ever to be released and then decide which one I am gonna go with. I add below my comparison chart of my potential candidates. I am not commenting on the price as I believe all three candidates are apr. at the same price level more or less. MS1200: handling performance appeal, looks delivery / customer service features :Facepalm: quality :Meh: accessories KTM 1290 Super Adventure: handling (on paper :Watching performance (on paper :Watching quality (seen the bike at the EXPO) features :Vomit: appeal, looks :Stop: accessories (still researching here) :Facepalm: delivery / customer service (problem with wheels, not in production yet) BMW S1000XR: :Sorry: handling (no information) performance (on paper :Watching quality (on paper :Watching features appeal, looks :Sorry: accessories (no information) :Facepalm: delivery / customer service (problem with plastics, delivery starting in July)
Very interesting, you state the motor is very smooth but make no mention of the available torque, do you feel it to be superior to the older model ? Please give us feedback on how you find the KTM and BMW in comparison
The KTM looks a good bike in terms of performance and trinkets but style wise it looks typical Bavarian ie very practical. I do know KTM is Austrian but I tar all with the same brush cos I'm good like that. The mutley on the other hand will attract on lookers cos it's a sexy beast. A comparo will be good though.
Not ridden new mutley yet but tried a Caponord on Saturday last and although doesn't have the 160 bhp I was impressed with the alround useability of the big v twin. Give it a go.
I've booked a test ride on 29 April, next Wednesday. Looking forward to it. Will it really be the big step forward that it's supposed to be, compared to the 2010-2014 Mutley? I rather suspect I shall find I have to buy the new one.
Ordered my new red s and having a test ride on Wednesday. Yes it's the wrong way round but come on how could they not make a great bike even better with all the improvements. Can't wait, just hope they sort out the 3 year warranty option before my new baby arrives in late May.
So much for the September order that's been quoted then. My dealer said no orders to Ducati for Mutley's would be processed until September. If you've only just ordered I should have mine by then surely.
My dealer told me that Ducati UK had put a hold on any new orders until September, however my dealer had preordered about 8 bikes is they are already in the system. There has been a production delay but early orders and demos are already arriving. Outlook is delay will be caught up in May. If u have not put down a deposit suggest u try other dealers with a pre order opening. Good luck
Sat on one in Snells today, certainly a lot lower and slimmer meaning both feet on tiptoes and a flat foot with the other on the peg Need to get a go now!
Yesterday morning I had test ride on a new 1200S, for about a half hour on the roads around Ducati Aylesbury. The engine is the first thing you notice, it's a lot smoother at low revs (up to 3,000 rpm) with no hesitation or shuddering. It's almost a bit bland, until you open up the throttle and it picks up quickly then really takes off with a bit of a snarl at 5,000 rpm. I didn't go beyond 7,000 rpm (as there was only a couple of hundred miles on the clock) but should imagine you'd still get that "bungied to the horizon" sensation up to the red line. Initially it felt like the engine had less torque than the old model however when you look down at the speed you're going faster than you'd have thought and it was so effortless. A few times it felt like the engine was being managed to deliver less performance, just a bit disconnected from the throttle input. I didn't see any flashing red lights from the traction / wheelie control systems which might have explained this sensation. I did a couple of tight turns in the car park and it's then you appreciate how easy the engine makes low speed riding. The extra few degrees of steering lock help together with the confidence of the lower/narrower seat. I'm 5'9" with short legs (30") and could get the balls of both feet down with the seat in the higher position. The seat was reasonably comfortable however the riding position seemed to have a more of forward lean and put a bit more load on my arms than I'm used to. For comparison, I have a lowered Sargent seat on my 2013 bike as I found the standard seat very hard and uncomfortable after half and hour. I'll give the standard seat in the lower possible a good try before resorting to a air cushion or third party replacement seat or maybe even some bar risers. I spent most the time in Touring mode. The default Urban display doesn't include a rev counter, so didn't use this mode much as I wanted to keep an eye on the revs. I didn't get into Sport at all, as on bumpy back roads most of the time. The suspension seems a lot more compliant than my 2013 Skyhook model, where I've set all the damping to the softest setting. In fact it felt as plush as I remember my 2010 Ohlins bike - which is something I was hoping for. I don't know what spring rate(s) the rear suspension has compared to the older models, so only some two up / fully loaded riding will tell if it's a bit under sprung at the rear like the Ohlins equipped model. I assume all the damping/preload settings were default, I didn't check (my bad). The front brake had a much better feel than my previous bikes, a lot less lever pressure/movement which gave more confidence under hard breaking. The back brake seemed good but there again it was fine my 2013 bike, unlike my 2010 bike. A few other things I noticed: The handguards are flimsy plastic and I don't think they'd stay in one piece if the bike went over at slow speed. As they now wrap back to the bar ends, you can't fit BarkBusters which I've proved can protect the levers and handguards from damage in the event of a topple over. There are air vents under the rear seat / mudguard which look like cooling slots for something electronic with a big heatsink mounted under the seat (regulator?). Image borrowed from a posting by @Motohtori. I would have thought that whatever is mounted behind these vents is going to wet and mucky, and then fail far too early :-( No little fold out handle to help lift the bike onto the main stand (touring option). Probably just as easy to use the new shaped pillion handles. At first glance, I couldn't see anywhere obvious to put a Scottoiler reservoir, nowhere similar to the old models - in the space between the seat fairing and rear frame tubes. Still don't know if I'll get my new 1200S White Touring in time for a tour of Sardinia starting third week of May. I ordered back in November from Ducati Aylesbury, I was told then that they had already taken 3 orders.
Yes the new one with standard adjustable seat at lowest setting is lower than the low seat on the old multi. I am just short of 5'9 and tried it at the bike show. Feet down versus ball of foot with low seat on old one so have not bothered to order with new model.
Tried it today. Still tall, but can do tip toes both sides or flat foot and other on peg. Normally its tip toes one and other on peg so big improvement. Will try with low seat, see if I can get both feet almost flat...thinking base model not S next time if I change
