Agree, I use all the modes & Enduro actually jacks the bike up & goes soft. Thats why i bought it. I went for Pikes peak but changed my mind when i found out no skyhook.
As I'm sure most would agree it's rare for a forum member to suggest they bought the wrong model hence I'm currently on the side that questions the need for Skyhook. Certainly on day to day riding. Some might also suggest this is supported by the fact that the PP comes with non adaptive suspension so seems to be Ducatis thinking too no? That was the general view and advice I got when I bought my 2014 model 2+ yrs ago and I can't think of many bikes that have left me behind. Several thousand miles on Scotlands best roads so agree it can be a bit wallowy with panniers over fast and undulating terrain, but always planted, never skittish or in need of a dampener in my mind. As it happens I am now in the market for a new, most likely S version, but not because I found my current gal lacking, just fancy an upgrade. Amazing bikes, whichever you prefer.
On my sports tourer's it was kitted up to ride 2 up but 95% of the time only had one single person on it so in many ways it was often over engineered if you tour a lot, often have a pillion so adjustments are often needed then I would skyhook If most of your riding is one up and not with tonnes of kit, I personally would go ohlins but match it with getting it set up properly for you. They will also advise you on settings for your rare 2 up and pillion settings Only you ride your bike so it must be your choice only
For what this is worth I had BMW version of skyhook on my XR and it was good, i could press a button and it would change the damping etc etc. However it can only do this or that, I.E hard or soft fast damping/compression etc ( this is simplistic but you get the idea) there is nothing in-between, no infinite adjustment, to take into account weight of rider etc etc so I now have Ohlins on my Hypermotard and have had it set up and tuned for me and IMO it is a better feel than the active stuff All that said if i were 2 up touring the Skyhook stuff is unbeatable if limited
Skyhook will be better in 80% of cases as whatever you do with conventional suspension it's a compromise. It had to be. It's fixed at that point in time. Although some may well refer that, and most (me included) don't have the feel to spot much difference. And that's it's point. It narrows that compromise given the circumstances that the bike/rider are in at that moment in time. Not when it's set up. Not for perfect smooth roads. Not for bumpy B roads. But all of them. In theory and it seems most practice too
Surely not quite that simple. World's best suspension manually set up for riding style by an expert or a semi-active lower quality suspension that is set for generic riding styles. Endless debate but I would say 80/20 the other way and I've had both. The difference for me that swung it was the expert set-up of the Ohlins for £99 that took the handling to a totally different level.
Why do you say lower quality ? I totally agree with @bradders. If you have your "Standard" set up perfectly, it can only be set up for a single parameter therefore by definition it cannot be perfect outside that parameter, set it up for road and its no good on track and vice versa. Whereas a suspension which is adjusting "successfully" over a number of parametrrs has to be better a greater amount of the time ?
I borrowed a new 1200S Multi with Skyhook / DVT etc. a couple of weeks back and wasn't unimpressed by it but also wasn't awestruck. My reference points are my own 2009 BMW R1200GS and my mate's 2016 BMW S1000XR. I was expecting more from the Multi. It was fast and didn't freak me out, but isn't sportsbike solid and I would say that comparing the three I'd rate the XR as the most sporty and fun. After 300 miles I wasn't sad to hand back the Multi and haven't missed it since. It felt like a bigger and more powerful Scrambler to me. The suspension was no better than that on my GS and I've stopped pining for one. Even in that "if it was my only bike" realm, I'd either have my GS or the XR. The Multi felt too highly strung for a tourer, too slow for a superbike and too boingy for going scratching on. I had a right good fiddle with the suspension and didn't really find a setting that suited me. It had some properly shoddy welding and bracketry too. For nudging £20k I thought it was a bit rich, coupled with the absence of quick-shifter, intrusive exhaust noise and already-scratched TFT I found myself getting weary of it pretty quickly. Horses for courses, I'm glad Ducati build it and there're a lot of fans on here. Just not for me, and Skyhook wasn't the transformative factor I'd expected. Kind of wanted to love it as there is a 2014 Skyhook in my local dealer that I'd been eyeing up.
Trying to remain impartial and not input to this debate again, but just to inject one thing. Do you think the ohlins fitted to the PP is the same quality to a pair of road and track forks bought from ohlins? Cause the answer is no, the ohlins fitted to bikes as stock is no where near the quality of suspension bought independently, and that fact came direct from an ohlins rep at a bike show, so your world's best suspension, I question ??
Agree on the OEM vs. R&T aspect... They're not the same product. Still perhaps a decent set-up for the road, after some rider-specific springing / tweaking by someone with knowledge, experience and some good quality oil though? Out of the box they're not going to be a universal fit with race performance. At best they'll be a reasonable compromise for the target audience riders.
Not being solely Ducati loyal and currently looking at a couple of Ktm bikes, but would like to point out, bike only had 300 miles on it and they are way better with 3000, and also, having discussed lately, the pre-load needs a spanner to make it suit. Just saying........
Could well be the case, those are fair observations. I hadn't considered the first and didn't know about the latter.
Nah, he's right. OEM Ohlins are not the same product as R&T Ohlins. Build quality isn't inferior but specification is set by the manufacturer, and cost is a factor that drives that specification. This often means reduced specification for OEM compared to R&T, and reduced product performance. Welcome to dismiss it as further tosh, no skin off my nose. If you're not well-versed in suspension technology then find your local specialist or go to MCT or KAIS or similar and have them spring it for your weight and set it up with good quality oil. It'll work well enough and OEM Ohlins have all the visual cues and sparkle of R&T. There's no reason to be unhappy. They're nice bouncy-bits.
Stick 40k worth of MGP forks and suspension on it you want. Skyhook (and ktm and BMW variants probably) will still be better in 90% of occasions. Because you can still only set it up for a 'perfect' set up in one parameter or as a compromise so it works most places. I'm not an intelligent nor technical man, but that seems obvious even to me.
I don't think you can compare the GS suspension to (normal) as such bikes, that's not to say it's inferior but it is different. I have an RT and I quite like the way it rides, a nice softish ride on the road, which doesn't dive under braking, but I don't think I'd like to take one on the track. And as for the XR, I've ridden my mates a few times now and have found that to be a bit harsh on the road but I wouldn't mind taking that on the track. But with the Multi S, if I had to have a long road ride and at the end of it chuck it around a track, I know which one I'd rather be on.
