I ride a TDM900 and don't stink of piss, cost 7 grand brand new with two year warantee, can be fixed road side IF it brakes down and does 250mile on 20 quid of fuel, seems quick enough to 130 and goes down a B road as well as any multi. Underrated bike and ahead of its time IMO. Post had to be down voted as I feel violated lol Anyway last bloke I saw who pissed himself blind drunk rode a BMW.
Agreed a deal on a Red S DVT Touring today from P&H, didn't want those crappy panniers but it's all they had. Anyway a week away in the Alps with the boys from the 3rd to the 10th on my Pikes Peak and then I'll pick the new one up. Happy Days!
I sense colour prejudice developing here :Finger:. This is 2015 guys! I have a white one. I wanted a white one. I prefer the white one. I think she is beautiful, gleaming and resplendent. And of course she absolutely most definitely goes faster than the red one I was going to get. The thing I like most about her is the little iddy bit of red bit of frame - oh bollox, should have got a red one :Banghead:.
White will always go faster than Red, especially when the sun is out, White is more reflective, hence the Sun rays deflect off it pushing against the White thus making it go faster. I thought that was common knowledge, did none of you guys go to University?????
Everybody knows the flux capacitor isn't fitted to the white one, but is standard on the red one so ergo the red one's faster
Fastest manned vehicle in history: Apollo 10 - Colour: WHITE And it has been proven that the white spacesuits worn added 100,000 lbf of thrust per man, entirely due to the maximum velocity properties of the colour white.
White is nice until it comes to resale, Ducati is synonymous for red and they do tend to sell on better privately.
True although I believe there are less white models considering it is only available in the S model, so could argue it both ways!
Well I just test rode the XR and whilst yes it's quick and smooth I wasn't blown away. It seemed very large and wide from the seating position and I felt very much on top of the bike detached even, like I was a passenger not a rider... The quick shifter was nice but not perfect although the engineered pop on the down shift was nice. The brakes seemed savage (like the servo assisted RT's?) with no feel to them but hey it has abs and c-abs in pro mode so what does it matter? Well feel matters to me. The economy was poor only 42mpg on the test indicated? Not sure of the absolute dimensions but the rear felt far away from feedback via the foot pegs and did not seem planted so I switched to dynamic and it still felt the same... Longer swing arm than the MTS? Anyhow, returning home I ordered a DVT, happy days and my 2p worth.
I went and had a look at the XR in the local dealers showroom the other day. Personally i thought quality of finish was noticeably lower then the Multi. Some nasty welds on the subframe. Will still have a demo ride though in a week or two.
I just rode my pal's new XR back to back with my standard DVT Multistrada. I had an order in for the XR before riding the Multistrada which I then ordered immediately. The bikes are very similar indeed, with the main difference being the way the engine delivers power. The Ducati is much more urgent and feels a lot more torquey - you get instant grunt as soon as you open the throttle. The BMW builds more gradually. If you like immediate grunt, the Ducati is the one for you. The BMW is very smooth low down and feels more flexible than the Ducati at very low revs. The BMW is very quick, but in terms of responsiveness to the throttle, the Ducati is much better. The BMW though is very "buzzy", with zizzing vibes through the bars at motorway speeds which started to make my fingers feel a bit strange. After I got off the bike I could feel my fingers starting to get back to normal - I don't think I could live with this. I suspect it will be a bit of a nightmare on a long journey with numb hands the result. The Ducati is far more relaxed at motorway speeds, while the BMW seems to be revving 1500-2000 rpm higher. Deal breaker for me (if I hadn't already bought the Multistrada!!). Both bikes have very similar riding positions. The seat on the XR is a bit more comfortable. Because of the steering damper, the XR bars feel harder to turn at a standstill. The BMW handles very similarly to the Ducati, flipping side to side very nicely. Difficult to differentiate between the two in fact. The quickshifter on the BMW is very good up and down if you're "on it". If you're trundling around it's a bit less than smooth. I'd like one on my Ducati. The Ducati is obviously far better looking, though the BMW drew most people at Box Hill and Newlands Corner, though this is probably because the Ducati is an already existing model. The BMW looks pretty good but doesn't seem as beautifully designed as the Ducati. I thought the "normal" suspension on my Ducati was superior to the electronically adjustable suspension on the BMW. I tried the BMW initially in "Dynamic" mode which was way too hard, and set it to "Road" which was still too firm and niggly. By contrast, the Ducati was much more fluid and supple. I think if you're looking at choosing between these two bikes, your selection is most likely to be based on the way each engine delivers its power. The Ducati is more urgent and immediate, and feels faster. The BMW is smoother and if kept high in revs it flies. I much prefer v-twin style delivery so am very pleased with my Multistrada. If I had chosen the BMW I'd be concerned about the zinging vibes through the bars and I'd always know that the Ducati was the better bike .
Great write-up. It's definitely between the XR and MTS for me. I reckon it'll be the MTS but I ought to try the XR out for comparison first. I'm surprised Ducati didn't put a quick-shifter on the MTS, it would have been a nice touch. It'll be interesting to see if any of you guys opt to fit one. It's something I'd like to add - along with a termi / akra.
