Good looking adventure bike if you want an adventure bike but where is the total road going version for riders who want to stay on the tarmac, a special version similar to 1260 pikes peak, maybe a little more road power to separate it from the rest of the range with the additional carbon bling etc, a speciale version maybe???????
Royal Enfield aren't niche anymore, second best selling middleweight bike in the UK this year I had read somewhere?
Whilst Ducati doing this would materially satisfy the very apparent need expressed here, making it a blinged up version with all the toys, carbon etc, like a Pikes Peak, would create a £25k bike. Rather than having a relatively affordable base model or maybe even just an S and a S-Sport. Personally I think Ducati have significantly misjudged the appeal and market of the Multistrada concept. Sure, most GSs never see anything other than tarmac but to try and create a bike that will just drop into that market sector and take sales away from BMW, which is where the V4 Mutley is targeted, is a massively tall order.
£25k would be about right, and that's what I expect to pay for one when and if they release it. Look how much you can spec a lot of bikes up to, and they'll all get close. I think I've spent around £23k on mine, so not far off!
I've had 4 Multi's and will not be buying this one. The factory it seems are out of step with their core customer base for the Multistrada. Like most, I use mine for sports touring and occassional trackday with no interest in ever taking it off road (i've not met anyone who does). This bike is not going to tempt other loyal customers away from the GS or KTM but will drive plenty towards those brands. The Multi has always been an alternative to the GS because of its sportier and more exciting leanings. Removing its sportier nature and image just makes it another GS clone and we have a market flooded by them. As others have mentioned; its an XR or SD GT as the only real option left for us.....it's a great shame the engine will be excellent. The V4 Supersport would be an excellent bike but even if that does happen, we're not going to see it for at least 2 years. By that time most of us will have spent our money elsewhere. If the talk of receivership at Glasgow is true then there could be plenty of smaller dealerships to follow. It's very sad....how can such a successful & respected brand get it all so wrong?
If anything is niche its a Ducati, Royal Enfield sell more bikes in India in a month than Ducati sell worldwide in a year. RE also have double the turnover !!
Tbf 95% of Gs aren’t used offroad either, it’s a long distance muncher that offers an easy riding style, high road position and easy luggage hauling. That will still be the multi, it’s just a question of what impact the skinny rear and large front have on the handling.
The V4 looks dull and bland and more like a Triumph ADV bike, not desirable or stylish. Being down on torque and fuel consumption doesn't help either. If this was parked next to a Pikes Peak 1260 and you could have the keys to either......which one would you choose?
I'm amazed how much more carbon is pumped out and fuel used in Euro5! Isn't the punt to use less and less??!!
I think that since the VW group (Audi, owners of Ducati) got fined massively for overestimating fuel consumption figures and underestimating CO2 emission figures, they now air on the side of caution, like the baker's dozen of old!!
The Pikes Peak! When I bought a Ducati Multistrada I didn't buy just a motorcycle. If i wanted just a motorcycle i could have saved tons of cash and bought something cheaper. Or kept the Yamaha Tracer 900 I had. Neither did I buy a means of transportation. If it was just transportation there are more sensible solutions out there. No, what i bought was a Ducati. A DUCATI! The red nightmare every other motorcyclist fears they'll see in their mirrors. I bought the idea that that red Multi with its kinda "Don't F**K with me" stance would give me a special feeling. Stradlle it, hit the button and see that color display wake up, hit start and feel the twin rumble to life? Pulling my helmet on, in my head I'm halfways up Pikes Peak or around Silverstone dragging my pegs, pulling wheelies.....haven't even left my driveway. Thats the FEELING i want! That is what i am buying when getting a Ducati. The concept of the most bad-ass bikes on the planet. And that there is only a few privileged of us that get to own one. The new V4 just doesn't give me that,
True words mate. I know exactly what you mean.... When I'm wobbling round mid pack in a novice group track day on the Multi - in my head I'm Chaz davies or Scott Redding sticking it to Johnathon Rea. It makes you feel awesome. The ugly, fat V4 just aint gonna do that! End of......
This may sound strange but I think I’ll wait until I’ve seen one in the flesh and then ridden it before I throw my toys out the pram and run off crying to my nearest BMW/KTM dealer?
It’s not necessarily a question of, is the bike good or not? It’s unlikely to be anything other than incredibly competent. This thread is built, in the main, on everyone’s emotive view of the bike. And Ducati should be concerned by that, because of all the brands available, Ducati tends to be one that attracts those kind of responses.
