Then he should buy a Honda and leave us to our Ducati misery... ...then he's handed his arse by a competent MTS pilot on the road and he realizes he's actually riding a washing machine. With brilliance, comes the madness. Nothings changed since '78.
I've already got one Ducati so i know how ownership can be. Done the 'Honda' thing and got bored in the end but equally don't want a bike that will let me down in the middle of nowhere too often. I suspect Ducati may do away with the base model in 2013 and maybe run a 848 version instead.
The old one is niggly, almost constantly, and I too have had some enormous repair bills. I won't be buying another Ducati until Audi have owned them for a good few years.
the real difference comes between switching from 1 up to 2 up/fully laden.... And it is a testimony of how good the bike is that you even would consider or want to ride it from agressivly sporty alone to 3000 mile tours with 2 and luggage.. in the same 2 weeks! you'll never see a GS/Yam Tenéré 1200/Triumph 1200/Vstorm/Vtourer/Guzzi Whatever on the track, now? Btw : In J O Groats, A nice guy proudly showed his autographed ex Ch Boorman J O Groats / Cape town fully kitted GS... It was the third of 3 bikes they had prepared to do the trip and it was auctionned of... So : Beemer prepared 3 bikes to get to cape town! As to Ducati in general : i have spent a heep of money on them... but never has 1 let me down! Fiddles? yes! ..... Bling? oh Yes!.... heavy maintanance? sure... brake or let down's? not 1! grtz Koen
revalving and maintenance do make a great difference... i had the same reaction when the ohlins on the 999 were done... and Showa is a top manufacturer!
Standard Multistrada versus Multistrada S = shades of the sadness off 1150gs versus 1200gs from a certain BMW forum. All rather pathetic. IMHO ;-)
I don't think saving £3k for pretty much the same thing is 'pathetic'. I'd love one with all the bells and whistles but i don't need suspension i can adjust on the 'fly' and could do a lot with the money saved.
Saving £3000 isn't pathetic I agree. That wasn't what I was getting at. I myself went for the standard with ABS. Just the presumably good natured ribbing between those with and without the 'on the fly''leccy suspension. Everyone reckons there bike is the one to get. I know as a fact that every bike I have ever had was the best bike ever,when I had it
Coming back to the initial post....As the "install base" grows so too do the niggles and issues. However most of the posts do state that people love their bike. I too have had a few issues, and am facing the end of my warranty. perhaps we worry too much and should simply let tomorrow worry about itself. Lets ejoy the ride whilst we can!
Figaro. I had a GS Adventure and sold it to get the Multistrada and never regretted it for a second. I see my mates BMW ADV regularly at work and am so glad I changed for loads of reasons which would bore you all to tears
It is an interesting phenomenon; these MTS forums. I was a "car guy" before I was a "bike guy". I am a member of, just guessing here, at least 30+ automobile/bike forums. The MTS forums I have frequented are quite unique and I cannot figure out if it is a demographic/generational thing, entirely unique to MTS, or a union of the two. I have NEVER and I mean NEVER seen a forum with so many problem threads. I owned an E46 M3 during the "rod throwing years" and as a result BMW extended warranties to 6yrs/100k; there were a lot of pissed off "older" (30+) gentlemen at the time. Perhaps the 996 Porsche RMS/IMS (rear main seal/Intermediate main shaft) issue(s) could be a similar crowd but even those owners seemed to "take it in stride"; perhaps a longer warranty (4/50) and two additional wheels made everything alright. The MTS forums are brutal, I've never seen anything like it. Is the "older" (30+) demographic reducing the total number of posters and that is off setting the number of positive vs negative threads? I wonder how they sell any if people are researching, via forums, ahead of time. As an owner, MTS 1200 ST, I have no complaints.
Nowt wrong with my MTS 1200abs but then my expectations were very low when I bought it and it has lived down to all my expectations in the past year................doesn't stop me riding it. I sometimes think if you stick a Ducati badge on a bike some people lose all attachment to reality. IMHO it's just a bike. it's not magic, or a long lost artifact if it's as bad as some of the posts would have you believe get shot of it and buy something else. Rubbish is rubbish what ever badge you put on it............................But then I have been told that I'm a Ducati owner not a Ducatisti............what ever the hell that means
There is no doubt that the advanced electronics on the MTS are a new phenomenon in the bike industry and i think it's fair to say that owners of the bike are guinea pigs for the future electronics on Ducatis. There don't seem to be many major mechanical faults but the electronics are so advanced that if anything goes wrong, it still costs a fortune to repair until the time that there become more independents specializing in motorcycle electronics.
I would take a wild guess then, that you have never been on the BMW GS forum. Believe me, this is mild compared to the worries, complaints,and general dissatisfaction there.....:wink:
The false neutrals in the gearbox is one big major mechanical fault. I think it is pretty uncool and potentially very dangerous when accelerating away and you change up and completely lose all drive.
You are correct sir; perhaps I should spend some time over there (GS forums). I'll be the first to admit I have close to zero GS experience.
I also have not been on the BMW GS forum and I wonder if this comment is true? If it is then it is a blow because I am expecting Audi ownership to bring Germanic build quality i.e. improve it, but if BMWs are worse!
