The GS has a fair bit of buffeting as well. I'm loving it but I must admit I think in most situations a bike with a proper fairing would be much better, it's just a shame they are even less cool that the GS!
I've got a MultiStrada 2014 with 35k on the clock and I don't use it for anything but touring, mainly UK, Ireland France & Spain, but just back from the Alps in September. Plus points are that the riding position is good, seat comfortable for solo & passenger, tank range adequate and it is certainly the best handling tourer I've ever ridden. Never noticed the wind noise much, but my current helmet is very quiet. I bought the one with full luggage set of panniers and top box, as I usually have a passenger. They are good and voluminous, but perhaps a little flimsy and a little wide for filtering. Needs practice to operate the catches, too - awkward. The bad side is that I don't find it all that reliable (to be fair, the garage says that I've been unlucky) and I've hardly done one trip without some sort of problem, so I'm going back (a bit reluctantly) to tour specific-bikes shortly. The MS is very unpleasant in traffic & towns - doesn't like it at all, as too high geared. Doesn't seem to do good miles for tyres & chain, but you'll be used to that.
That's a shame as a GS is about the best touring bike there is really... Multi is very good, but chain maintenance on tour is a bother you don't have with a shaft drive, the bike carries its weight a bit higher and reliability on a Multi seems hit and miss, my 2015 DVT was a miss, the 2017 is a hit. The Multi dives on the brakes more than the GS, isn't as stable at high speed but seems better on petrol, definitely sportier feeling and actually is more than capable of grinding out the miles when needed. BMWs are great, S1000XR or R1XX0GS, Multi isn't a poor relation but don't buy into the "sportsbike on stilts" spiel. Anything 130mph+ gets hairy but they're dead entertaining. @chizel looked like he had a ton of fun on tour on his Scrambler and they're ace in bendy bit, don't dismiss his suggestion...
Bmw shafted me for 2 grand and cared not one bit, so regardless of how good anything they bring out is I won’t be back near them. Scrambler isn’t my thing. Chain maintenance isn’t something that bothers me, I do it on the v4 so doubt it would be a bother on a multi, the small amount of tools etc needed would be in the panniers anyway. Appreciate you taking the time to give advice tho, thanks Not made my mind up on anything yet apart from not bmw Daz
I'm considering popping down to the Alps for a coffee on the GS this weekend ! I went to Cornwall for a pasty last weekend and Wales to check the weather the weekend before that!! These machines are hilarious enablers. You can wake up and do stupid stuff everytime you have a day or two free. I think one of the biggest advantages of a proper touring bike is that it doesn't really matter what the weather is like. Even in torrential rain you can still get a good lick on in the twisties and cover the distance without risking your neck. On a racebike you sacrifice this for bigger smiles in the good conditions but I don't think that many people really use the abilities of a racebike on the road anyhow.
I test rode an 850gs and an 850gsa on wednesday The gs with a small screen had quite a bit of buffeting, the gsa with a slightly bigger and adjustable screen had some buffeting but a lot less. I’ve asked to try a bike with the adjustable bracket and a touring screen to see if that works. interestingly if i stood up on the bike the buffeting went completely steve
Thats something I've been told actually. My bike is the normal GS because I wanted the steeper road geometry and smaller weight than the Adventure GS but a few people have said that the Adventure is better for wind buffeting. Also you can fit wind brackets on the tank of the Adventure which is supposed to help a lot but I dont have the room on the smaller tank.
Well that idea was short lived, was all for buying a multi S yesterday then they tell me Ducati have stopped the touring pack deal and replaced it with a biketrac deal. Buying a bike for touring so the touring pack was one of the things that made it more attractive, to be told, extra £1000 please on a pack that was free a couple of weeks ago ended any thoughts of buying a multi. The search continues Daz
Buy a nearly new one with all the gear. Panniers, top box heated grips c stand etc. You can pick them up with next to no miles. Problem sorted.
I didn’t recognise you! New avatar, textiles, a GS instead of a sports bike and the hair? What happened to the hair? You’ll be doing road legal speeds next and looking forward to your pension. All too sensible, too sensible by half!
Great bike for touring if you can put up with the buffeting, at over 6ft tall i've tried various screens but none cure the problem.
