1200 Honest & Frank Advice Sought

Mine will be 3 in March next year and I have no intention of changing it for anything as it is the ideal solution to my motorcycling pleasure. The 1200s Multistrada has been an enormous seller for Ducati and IMO has had no more or less issues than the (air cooled) GS. You go onto any one make forum and you will read horror stories a plenty because people rarely comment when they have nothhng to complain about. There is no denying the Multi has had its fair share of faults, some have been dealt with by Ducati and some have not which does seem to be tied to the dealer as some are better than others. My bike is cared for but ridden 12 months of the year so it is not nor do I expect it to be immaculate and since disabling the exhaust valve a greater joy to ride. No matter what you choose to ride you always run a risk, just look at the JD Power surveys on cars to illustrate that but I choose to stick with it accepting that risk based on my experience over the last 16 years riding Ducati. Andy

 

The first generation ie Pre 13 models had lots of problems. I would be wary of one outside warranty. They seem to have fixed them with the 2nd generation. I have had both and it is like night and day. I would reccomend it so long as you go for the updated bike.

 

One Comment you read about the reviews of Multistrada, is it is the best all round bike you can buy, I agree with that comment.
I ride abroad, I load it up, set Sky Hook, it rides as if nothing is on there, It goes well, returns a reasonable fuel consumption, very light on the move and fun on Twisties, Cruises Comfortable at 90 +.
Change the screen to a pike peaks and you have a naked. The best all rounder atm on the market.
If You buy a new one you can get 3 years warranty, and I think most people with newer ones tend to have less problems. and Ducati certainly seem good with warranty issues. Ducati have done their best to bring down running costs on newer bikes and pretty well comparable to others.
I think some people change it after 3 years because they want a change, and possible to avoid the 15k service.

 

Yep I would. Long as it was new or very nearly new and corrosion hadn't taken hold. And keep well coated in ACF and was every ride in the winter!! It genuinely does everything and if I needed as ever day transport I would buy the pcp out and just keep adding a warranty each year, there are a few independent companies who offer them

 

Yes but make sure you get a 2013 onward model preferably with Skyhook. Mine is now 19 months old and done 24K miles and has had only one real problem with a broken gear selector spring. Fixed under Warranty.
Best All Round bike out there (at the moment!).

 

Yes, go for it. As far as I'm concerned the Multistrada is the best bike in the world!! Mine's 15 months old and has travelled 8000 miles around Europe two up with camping gear. It's also done 4000 uk miles. The only problem was when I was in Portugal and started running out of clutch. This was fixed in a couple of minutes by cracking open the clutch master cylinder bleed nipple and letting a small bubble of air out.

I'll be replacing mine in a couple of years, not because I have any warranty concerns but coz I will want the latest spec Mutley.

Kevin

 

I mentioned the touring attributes of the Mutley but forgot to mention the sporty side. I most probably spend most of my time in Touring mode, but when I fancy a bit more excitement I pop it into sport mode and it's as if I've jumped onto a different bike. Awesome.

One of the things I like to do is go down to Poole bike night with panniers and top box, then on the way back try and piss off the sporty bikes. They hate it when they get out dragged by something with panniers!!!

 

They are not opening the throttle hard enough then its a fab all rounder, but its not a sports bike. Although you can cover ground very fast and it will track ok too

 

You don't say whether you have tried riding one....? Speaking as someone who has in the past found a brief ride on a bike sufficient to persuade me "I simply must have one of these", or equally to destroy previously held belief that it was what I wanted, I'd say that a test ride is essential. Sadly I cannot comment from experience of the Multi !

I don't think it would make sense to expect the Multi to be as predictable and low in running costs as a big Japanese V-twin "Adventure bike" but there is no Japanese equivalent (a V-Strom or Varadero is not in the same performance league). As soon as you discount the Japanese competition (and BMW too, as you have), then there are only a few others to compare the Multi with anyway (KTM Adventure perhaps?).

 

I have a 2012 1200 Touring. I love it. It's the best bike I have ever owned. I have had it from new and it has now done 23,000 miles. It has had a few minor issues - faulty keyless fuel-cap, faulty heated grips and blown fork seals on both sides. My sense is that relatively few makes are faultless these days and I reckon my MTS has been better than most.

The only downsides I see are that the stock wind protection is a joke (cured by Hiss Flaps, Aztec spacers and a CalSci screen) and that the electronics will be expensive to fix outside warranty.

Thinking of an upgrade, I tried the 2014 Skyhook version for a week. IMHO it's a significantly inferior bike. The Sachs Skyhook electronics simply produce a harsh ride, vastly less comfortable than the Ohlins set-up on my bike. The twin-spark head eliminates precisely none of the low speed hunting/roughness of the single-spark head. The wind protection even more abysmal - so much so that I couldn't stand to ride the thing, even with Ultimate earplugs in.

My conclusion - extend the warranty and keep the 2012 bike until they won't extend it any further...

 

^^^^ which shows why you need to ride one. I couldn't disagree strongly enough with most of what was said above, but for Richardb thats what ownership is now v would be with the newer bike, not suitable

 

Agree with Bradders - that's why you have to try them.

 

Cant comment on the bike, but you need to get a good dealer, one who will do that bit extra to help you out if you do have problems

 

Ive ridden both the Skyhook and the original S Ohlins model and must say i prefer the latter, good job thats what i bought. The Skyhook to me felt a bit strange, not bad but not as planted as the Ohlins when dialled in, plus you can get the Ohlins SCU for peanuts (£240) so that gives you 'similar' active suspension but still with Ohlins and not sachs.

Its frankly ridiculous for anybody to say 'dont buy a pre skyhook' as theres liteally 1000's out there that are absolutely fine, theres also still plenty of Skyhooks with various problems so hardly a gaurantee you'll ride fault free.

Ducati 'catch' most things in terms of faulty parts, whether its clocks that need replacing or the odd sensor here and there, best bet is to simply get a bike and buy a 3rd party warranty, thats what i did and for the cost of £300 im fully covered, touch wood ive not had to use it yet so it could well be money wasted.

my bike isnt corroded and its a 2012, ok i replaced some bolts with stainless but that was hardly expensive and wasnt a requirement, i just like my bikes to look well kept.

Point is that any of the bikes could break down, the same as my mates KTM SMT decided to eat its engine just a month or so ago (2012 with 7000miles).

If you want super reliable then buy a Honda, thats not me taking the piss its just being relaistic. However if you want peace of mind just buy a 3rd party warranty and go buy a bike, then you have nothing to worry about apart from tyres, petrol and points on your license.

 

every bike is a 'risky purchase', some are just more boring than others.

What you need to do is search the forum for random threads of delight when people such as myself have arrived home after a blast out and got off the bike gobsmacked at how good it is, that'll settle your nerves

 

Disliked because...they are not so random threads

 

I've ticked no,
Don't get me wrong as has been said on here, the bike is amazing and in all honesty I don't hang around on mine, even with the wife on the back I've had the pegs scraping.
I've had to spend a few quid to get it ride able 2 up and I've done 11k on it since I got it new in December. I've toured Europe and Ireland 2 up. with very few problems. But now here's the but.
The materials and coatings on the bike are worse than my sons slightly older Keeway TX125 all £1800 worth new.
Granted I got the bike in the mid winter, I rode it from Preston to Barrow on a damp afternoon, the next day all excited I went out to carry on running it in, I got home that night and washed the bike only to find the chain was orange and a lot of the bolts and fixings had changed colour.
It alarmed me at this point because I paid out right £17k + for the bike and I had a horrible feeling it was only going to last a few months.
In the end I got a what can only be described as a small work shop built on the front of my house with heating in it.
I have to wash it in get this, PH neutral soap and dry it off with a leaf blower and shammy every time I wash it. I've started swapping out all the bolts like calliper bolts and faring fixings with stainless ones. it's been in under warranty 4 times now in 10 months and is due to go and get the hazard patch put on it once they bother there arse to code one, the heated grips have just gone I think the throttle cable might be on it's way out as it's getting jerky it's still waiting for a new rear number plate lenz, the bulb has been blown since April but I cant get it out because the cheap tab lock on it snapped off. There's spots in the lacquer on the side panels which they wont replace under warranty. the crash bars aren't central and have rubbed the paint off one of the side panels which I was told by the dealer they will sort it in a year or so under warranty along with the worn front brake pipe and cable cluster that fights every time I got out with the left front fork leg, the black powder coating is coming off the engine casing and and the front cylinder and cylinder head has gone from silver to dusty white/gray where it's oxidising away.
But like I say the bike is awesome it's like a supermoto on steroids if you can just get around that niggling in the back of your brain that the more you ride it the more you know your going to find another warranty claim. which for me is a 180 mile round trip just to get it looked at each time. I'm beginning to think the Dealer is getting a bit fed up with me. each time I report a new problem it takes longer and longer to get it sorted.

By all means get one but I wouldn't keep it longer than the warranty which if you by the extended one like I did is 3 years.

 

I'm with JCM on this, it's like living with a time bomb, it's a brilliant bike to ride but to own ?