I think the dedicated Ducati owner probably likes trellis frames and big vee twin engines, and they like the history. That's why Ducati sales rise but only increase at a very slow rate. To fund R&D and their motor sport teams as well as please their owners they need to have a more broad range attracting new buyers to the marque. It's quite plain that without a shift they will not be able to continue. They struggle to make the V2 engines compliant with new ever tighter regulations, they have had to continue to run ever larger engines to compete not only in racing but on the road too. They just simply cannot continue as an old fashioned motorcycle manufacturer. They simply do not have the choice to remain small, quaint and quirky. Being a niche maker is not viable. Competing with Yamaha, Suzuki, BMW and Kawasaki with with one arm tied behind their back just wont cut it. I think the older person, which Ducati owners tend to be, (most have grey hair or little to no hair at all), have seen the best, years of Ducati. They have to look towards the next generation of motorcylists. I'm certain that their marketing guru's are already working on that. They just cannot rely on selling the same existing mature customers yet another bike, they need to encourage a new breed of customer. Personally I know of several new to Ducati customers lured by the new V4 sportsbikes. I well remember my old man bemoaning the change in cars, he wasn't going to buy one of the new fangled things that no longer had a separate chassis and bolt on wings. He was just the same when they introduced fuel injection and electronic ignition and he could no longer change the points and condenser. However I'm certain that if you try a new V4 MS you could just be surprised.
Speaking entirely for myself; I was looking forward to what the V4 Multistrada could have been. Having ridden the V4 Panigale only heightened that anticipation. To say I was disappointed in the result is an understatement. I have no doubt that the engine is a peach, I for one don't need stratospheric BHP figures, 170 would be plenty and I love V4s having owned four VFRs in the past. However, the package as a whole does not a lot for me and at the high asking price it would need to tick a lot of boxes. Will sit on the wall and wait and see what they come up with in a couple of years, my 1260 Mutley will do at least until then. I'm sure that they'll sell what they can produce, quite possibly to owners new to the brand. so it will probably have the desired result for the bean counters.
Personally I think Ducati have achieved the move from their iconic twin cylinder engines to the V4’s extremely well. The new V4 engine at 170hp I’m sure is ample for the road and the service intervals make it sound like an extremely reliable package. But whoever came up with the idea of putting it into a £20k off roader needs their head examined. Especially an ugly off roader.
Not £20K, advertisement in the latest MCN, £15,643.00 seems like a lot of bike for that money, I know that hasn't got all the bells and whistles on seems like good value to me?
It is interesting reading all these posts. I've gone the other way with the V4 multi. I currently have a V4S pani. I wanted a companion bike that allowed me to do longer touring trips, but still at a more aggressive pace. The only two bikes I was looking at were the 1290 SDGT and the H2 SX SE+. I had ruled out the H2 as it was not enough of a departure from the pani for long distance comfort. I had never even considered any of the adventure bike options as they tended to be less power than I wanted for sport touring, and had compromised too many aspects to get their off-road capability. Now, reading about the new v4s multi, I am actually considering it compared to the super duke GT. The new multi has at least the minimum power I would be looking for. It will probably handle well enough to ride at an aggressive street pace, especially if a tire manufacturer comes out with stickier rubber in a 19". I really wanted another SSA bike, but it would not be a deal breaker for me. I feel it is sporty and powerful enough to satisfy the paved mountain touring I want to do, but opens up options for trips where the roads are not as good, like Alaska, etc. It seems like I am in the minority of giving up a bit of pavement performance (no where near the compromise of a 1250GS) to gain a bit of bad road and gravel access. It's still going to be a tough choice for me, as the 1290GT really is better for the 90% of riding I do, but V4 multi has given me something serious to think about.
First impressions seem to be good with the journo's, even with the 19" front wheel. Maybe we are wrong ??
The problem I have always found with taking decent street tires on gravel roads is that 90% of the time it leads to puncture's, yes having a bike set up like the multi is making it tempting to tackle dirt roads but you must have at the least a more dirt oriented tire and for the small amount dirt roads I would do its far to bigger compromise for me
Every video review I have watched has covered the 19” front wheel and it NOT negatively affecting performance of the bike. As if the riders could not tell it was a 19” vs the previous 17”. I’ve also messaged with someone in the moto business who test rode it a few months ago and spoke well of its on-road capabilities. My assumption is that this bike is so well balanced and capable that only the very best riders in the world will really push it beyond its performance envelope. The vast majority of us V4 riders/buyers will simply enjoy the very latest in Ducati innovation and on-road performance while this bike also expands in capabilities off-road.
My plan would be to order it with the spoke wheels and 50/50 or whatever adventure tires they come with and buy a separate set of alloy wheels with the best rubber i can find for them. Riding around home and adventure trips would have the spoke wheels, I would swap rims for any mountain carving trips. I only typically do two longer pavement trips a year, so not a lot of swapping required.
