I own both bikes and have completed 3000 miles on each mainly in the Alps (XR) and Pyrennees (DVT). They are both great bikes. The XR is ballistic, much faster than the DVT, has very fast steering, brilliantly strong and fast brakes, plus a great quickshifter. It has more 'room' to the pegs but the suspension is harsher than the DVT. It's a TallRounder Sports Bike for the older rider. The DVT is plush with very good low balance agility. It is fast in the mountains but lacks the punch of the XR but it is fast.......seems the DVT mechanism has traded the 11degree punch for all round smoothness. The DVT has more sophistication with the bits and pieces, the lights are very very bright. The pillion gets a good deal on the DVT now it has the new frame with much improved room. The XR is the hooligan to the DVT fast plush maturity......wow, never thought I would say that about a Ducati.
2 questions: 1) you've not mentioned the vibrations. How's that been? It instantly put me off the XR, which is a shame cos it has good things going for it. 2) (and this is the most important one) How the hell have you managed to get both bikes past the trouble 'n' strife??
1. If you ride the bike, ie ride it as in change gears and speed as you travel down the road and around bends there are no vibes........but I'm sure if you hold the throttle, dilligently, at 70 mph it will let you know there is an inline 4 somewhere below the seat. Two of us went on SXR's to the Alps and neither of us discussed vibes just the exhilerating shot out of a cannon performance.....and we travelled across Swizerland on motorways....... 2. My wife has increased her collection of shoes. ps the vibes recede with miles, they really are not an issue despite doing 350 mile days.
Just get them in the same colour. It would take an incredibly observant wife to figure out they're not the same bike, and they're one in a billion.
You've got to be joking. My wife is a hawk-eye when it comes to my bike purchases. She once spotted I'd fitted some Gilles rearsets on my bike. I shit you not. @roundincircles - you must be married to a centipede to equalise those bikes to shoes.
The Dvt is geared very different to the XR, a simple mod on the dvt, either one down on the front or up 3 on the back and the DVT is a beast. I'm sure ducati have taken note of the quickshifter on the Xr and rumours suggest the pikes peak dvt will be fully loaded . Both great bikes.
I have my 2010 multi. I love it but I am aware it won't last forever before some repair becomes uneconomically viable. I'm afraid to try the XR because I know I'll probably want one and I can't afford it right now. I've left behind sportsbikes, not because I find them too quick but because their suspension and seating style aren't real world when you look at our weather and road surface state. I do 20% 2-up riding so if I can have a reliable and cheaper to service XR that could work well for me. Hopefully the XR will be fully sorted by the time I get around to buying my next bike because I have very little faith in Ducati engineering right now and don't like riding around imagining engine noises and rattles.
I test rode the S1000XR also, on September 18, and compare it - from the rider's point of view - to my MTS1200s 2015 DVT (9000 Km since April 2015). Nope, the gearbox is not as crisp and precise as the MTS. It feels like there is no immediate connection between your left foot and the gearbox - rubbery. BUT if you add the wonderful quickshifter, then yes it is more desirable than the MTS's system. The quickshifter BMW put (option but all will install it) is an evil move to cover gearbox rubbery feeling and most important the lack of a hydraulic clutch. Nope the BMW is not faster at low rpm. It is much stronger and faster above 9000 rpm. They covered up the lack of immediate thrust at low rpm by smooth fueling and MOSTLY by very short gearing. In sixth gear the XR at 6000 rpm makes 75mph, whereas the MTS makes 107mph ! Oh and the noise of the exhaust helps in promoting this speedy feeling even at low-medium rpm. No one with the XR will drive all day above 8000 rpm to feel ready to accelerate hard in an instant as the MTS. The XRs vibration at 5k is only part of the problem when touring or commuting long distances. The howling of the engine (while nice in a drag strip or in a track) is at the very least tiring. The XRs brakes are excellent, but not in MTS standards. As in all consumer BMWs, it has too much aid from the ABS servo, so it feels easy, but has no 'first bite' and no delicacy and feedback as the MTSs brakes. The XR is only 10lb lighter than the MTS but feels even lighter in turns than the MTS - 1 point to BMW. It also has a steering stabilizer so there is no shake at hard acceleration as in the MTS - another point to BMW. But the steering stabilizer is not electronically controlled, so it is hard to flick the steering in supermoto style riding at low to medium speeds- 1 point off BMW. Design (engine bulk hidden by black color, cheap mirrors, ugly pannier bases, mediocre tail section, screws everywhere etc) is two notches down for the XR. If you can find an XR look below the instrument panel - there is a crappy plastic cover that doesn't even meet the sides of the fairing in a level (attached by two bin screws). Unacceptable for an expensive BMW. It looks like the only thing that the XR owners will feel good about is that they have a 'multistrada killer' forgetting that the multistrada is also good at relaxed quiet urban use, power ready at any touring speed to pass a long truck, modestly capable in an unpaved road, and race ready to lead or follow the XR closely in a track. Inline 4 vs L2. BMW should make a V2 in an R1200GS quality standard and design a real MTS killer.
I test rode XR and the RS before the DVT and as soon as I got on the DVT I knew this was the bike for me. Its just in another league if you ask me, I find both the XR and the RS a bit boring, I know they're quick but the DVT has a lot more about it. I went for the S Touring and as someone said earlier in a post, the ability to change all the settings on the fly is amazing, plus being able top go into each one and tweek it that little bit to suit you. I find that I am a bit young for an RS and the XR I feel is trying to be a DVT but in my opinion, it fails I am afraid, it does have soon better looking features but at the end of the day its just not a Ducati
My wife and I are contemplating an Edelweiss Alps tour next year and both the XR and DVT are available to choose from. I now have a 2014 MS GT that she loves riding pillion, especially "at speed". We would not have to worry about luggage as that is handled by Edelweiss. The real question is, will my wife hate the trip if we go with the XR? I know the DVT would be fine but have not heard/read much about pillion comfort on the XR. The riding would be almost all twisties at a brisk pace, very few highway miles. Anyone with pillion experience on an XR? (more than just a short test ride)
We've just got back from a long weekend in France covered around a 1000 miles, and the wife was very happy with the 'pillion experience' on my XR. She mentioned that the pegs felt a little lower than on my 1200 Multi and was she was just as comfortable on both bikes.
Only just stumbled on this thread, Rode an XR briefly twice last year but not for long enough to make a fair overall assessment but impressed enough to contemplate buying one. Anybody have any more lasting impressions/comparisons between latest model XR 'S' and a DVT?
I've just got back from a tour of Ireland. there was one in the group. to be honest it looked nice, it had the quick shift which became a bit annoying as he used it to change down using the engine braking to slow off he and hardly used his brakes most of the group didn't like riding behind him because of it. I asked him about the vibey bars and he said it's sorted now, all I did was put some bigger bar end weights on, that's stopped it. BUT after a long ride he could hardly hold his pint, in the evening I could see him massaging his hands under the table. One of the mornings he sat on his bike and looked over at me shouting my bike doesn't look right? then he realised his hand guards had swung down under his bars, this became an issue and after this was constantly altering them every time we stopped, he couldn't get the clamp any tighter so was going to take it back under warranty when he got home. So I'm just guessing the bar ends didn't make much difference. Not a good bike it would seem for a weeks touring on relatively slow roads.
A lot more people than you would think it seems , whether it comes from schooling during learning to drive a car and what is seen as 'the correct/safe approach' I don't really know. I certainly get great enjoyment out of engine braking, enough to show even wear on my Elefant rear sprocket making it hard to see whether it was worn.
I'm not saying the Multi is a looker, but it is compared to the XR. Not sure I could live with that level of ugliness. The wife seems to get by but I think I'd struggle....
If anyone is following me and my brakes are coming on, it's either an obstruction, its deceptively tightening or I'm in race mode and scaring myself stupid. Be warned lol
