Hyperstrada 939 is 810 mm seat height and can be made lower with a low seat. Quite a bit lower than multistrada. ( older Hyperstrada 821 was a bit higher but you could also get a lowered version)
Too tall and too heavy - the seat is higher than the standard 1200 and it's only about 5kg lighter :disappointed:
Likes: Seat looks comfy Black belly pan, pillion footrest hangers Exhaust Frame colour (separates it from the 1200) Double swing arm (ditto) Dislikes: 19" front wheel Black beak Double swing arm (prefer the looks of the single) Would I buy one? No. If you're gonna have one, have a f@ck off great big one!
Cannot see the point of the model it's to big, heavy and expensive may as well buy the basic 1200 Multistrada and fit a low seat For some reason Ducati think everyone is 6ft plus with a 30in plus inside leg measure most people will never take one of tarmac all we are looking for is the style and comfort of a Multistrada is a revamped hyperstrada with its 810 seat height
The new Africa Twin seems better value. Took one for an hour's blat on bumpy B roads and was impressed. Wouldn't want to go 2 up with panniers on it though. They should have fitted the baby Pani motor in to the baby Mutley. Now off to have a baby Farley's rusk with hot milk!
Quite liked the Africa Twin - it definitely felt much more useable on poorer surfaces (fire roads and the like). But that 21" front wheel didn't inspire confidence on the road, and it seemed a tad underpowered in comparison with the Multi. It felt well put together and (probably) reasonably reliable (although I understand there have been a few niggles with things like heated grips etc). But I would agree that its probably better value than the baby multi.
Ducati follows a trend here, like the KTM 1050, new KTM 800, AT, MT09 etc. The 950 engine is better mannered than the DVT, both in linearity of throttle response and health at high revs. The 950 should replace the 1200DVT, and the top Multi should have a proper engine : the Superquadro. The DVT engine plant, could go detuned, to the scrambler and monster lines. The DVT system will be put away in the near future, since it is mostly a marketing trick. (Note that KTM doesn't have a DVT, and all their V2s behave much much better)
Variable valve timing was first introduced in a standard road car in 1980 (by Alfa-Romeo). Over the past 36 years, every manufacturer of cars in the world (plus trucks, marine engines, etc) has adopted some form of timing, lift and/or dwell control for its engines' valves. It means valve timing has joined ignition timing and fuel injection as things which are controlled electronically by engine management systems and which therefore can be altered in software. This is an essential tool in achieving improvements in power, fuel consumption, and emissions. There is no way in the world any of these companies is going to go back to the old fixed cams. Bike manufacturers have been rather slow to catch up. Kudos to Ducati for being in the forefront - mainly thanks to Volkswagen. The current DVT system is pretty good, but it will no doubt be superseded by still more advanced types in due course. The suggestion that DVT "will be put away" is highly implausible.
Sorry, I didn't put it right. By "will be put away" I didn't mean the technology but the marketing hype. It should give the preDVT high end and be smoother at low rpm. It is smoother down low, but lacks the punch of the plain testastretta. To produce the results Ducati claims it should change the cam lobe height as well. That is done by Honda's vtec, and there you have two engines in one plant. * Fuelling is what they should work on. Rexxer (aftermarket maps) does miracles in both the testastretta and DVT. Better fuelling is what they should focus on, and not marketing's catchy DVT (sounds bad too, like the disease)
The DVT system has the potential to allow a smooth, tractable, economical engine at low RPM yet the performance of an 1198 at the top end. The modes and maps which Ducati have supplied so far seem to be conservative, no doubt because it is a new system in its infancy. I expect we shall see the full potential of DVT exploited in years to come.
