Which ever bike you choose you are in for a real treat. I've toured Slovenia and Croatia and they really are the dogs danglies for biking roads. One particular coastal stretch in Croatia should be on every bikers wish list - turn upon sweeping turn, just brilliant with views to match. As for the bike, I'm off touring two up to Italy for a couple of weeks very shortly. It'll be my wife's first ever trip on the multi. I'll let you know what she thinks when we get back. She is used to K1600GT quality so it'll be interesting to see how my new girl compares. I'd Deffo like to do that Croatia coast road on a multi though, it's exactly the kind of road it was made for!
I've finally found time to check out the tour operators website and it appears that the Multistrada on offer is the DVT Ducati Multistrada 1200
I had a string of BMWs - K12S, K12GT, K13GT, K16GT. Then went to the Multi GT 2 years ago and it was my wife's decision!! We have just changed it for the new DVT and she rates the multi as the most comfortable of all the bikes we have had. 6 weeks after getting the first multi we went to Dubrovnik - 4000 miles in 16 days and it passed the test with flying colours. Fantastic bike to ride and for pillions. We do use a top box which she finds comfortable (often goes to sleep on the back on motorways!!)
Tell me Chris, Does the bride have a 'knack' for getting on and off the DVT with the top box fitted? My wife has only been on one bike before with top box, a FJR 1300. I used the side-stand to tilt the bike whilst she put left hand on my left shoulder, left foot onto peg, then stepped through the gap between me and the top box. I'm concerned about the stresses on the DVT side-stand... Neither of us are getting younger and any tips on how to climb on a taller bike are greatly appreciated :Oldman: ! ps I once had a Yamaha XTZ750 Super Tenere, ex GF yanked me and the bike clean over at a fuel station in Wales (just filled with over 20kg of fuel!). It wouldn't lift back up because the bike was so top-heavy (wheels off floor), we slid it into a petrol pump to hold it still... Sold the bike a week later and got a TDM
I sit astride the bike with it upright. Mary grabs onto me and the top box and steps on the foot peg. She puts her leg through the gap getting on, but getting off she lifts her leg over the top box. I think the pillion is the same height as on the GT I had before but cannot say for certain.
Not the best of days for doing test rides. I'm currently at Riders Cardiff waiting for the rain to abate a bit and my leathers and gloves to dry out a little.
I don't know if this helps, but my wife has done about 100,000 miles on Yamaha FJRs and she thinks the MS (1200 Gran Turismo) more comfortable. However, she is quite short at 5'2 and getting on and off is not so easy (for her, anyway). We actually did a test ride hiring out of Burlington, VT USA for 5 days - that's why I bought one.
I was surprised and impressed by the GS. Having ridden it, I don't really see it as a competitor to the Multi. It really doesn't have the same upright full-on distance sports bike pretensions - the S 1000 XR is the BMW rival in that class. But as a long distance tourer the GS certainly has something about it. I'm going to try the GS Adventure next as that is the bike that the Mrs has paid for (the Multi and bog-standard GS are both cheaper options).
Make sure on the GS: Dynamic mode on, ESA set to solo+luggage. This is a setting ive found works best for solo riding. The riding modes and ESA make a noticeable difference.
