Multistrada V4

[betoney]

Congratulations on the new bike, VERY NICE!!! 👍

[PhotoAl]

Hummm you say it followed you home but appears you rode it home 🙂

 

Congrats on a nice bike.  Know what you mean above 100.  Love my Tracer and don't need the speed but the ZX6R 636 I had was quick and was quicker than the Tracer GT as the speeds get higher.  I guess 10 more HP and lot less frontal area make a difference.  Tech on the bike would be great, would love to be able to set the wheel height and let the bike control it.  Some folks are really good at it - I'm not one of those haha.

[koth442]

Congrats!!

[keithu]

12 hours ago, kilo3 said:

Dang that's sharp! Then I looked at MSRP, I'll go hug my tracer now.😁

Yeah, they don't give them away. I got a 0.99% interest rate from Ducati though, which takes a bit of the sting off in this climate of high inflation and rising interest rates. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself. 😜

[keithu]

10 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

Tech on the bike would be great, would love to be able to set the wheel height and let the bike control it. 

Yeah, I suck at wheelies too so I'm pretty interested in this. Gotta get through this break-in period.

[petshark]

41 minutes ago, keithu said:

Yeah, they don't give them away. I got a 0.99% interest rate from Ducati though, which takes a bit of the sting off in this climate of high inflation and rising interest rates. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself. 😜

Congratulations!! Very nice upgrade. After reading the entire thread.. FWIW I have a friend who owns a 2012 pikes peak and he says that he has had no issues worth mentioning after 10 years of hard riding. He said that Ducati still suffers from a bad name while they are actually really well made these days. 

And great deal on the interest. 1% is like they are giving you money, inflation is a real thing.

Edited February 2, 2022 by petshark

[roadrash83]

She's a beauty, glad you got her in FAST RED👍 Not that she'd be slow in any color🙂

[1moreroad]

@keithu You've had it a month. Updates? Some of us need to live vicariously. 

[keithu]

On 3/3/2022 at 10:38 AM, 1moreroad said:

@keithu You've had it a month. Updates? Some of us need to live vicariously. 

I have about 800 miles on it so far. Some observations in no particular order:

* The Multistrada is quite a bit more pleasant at low speeds and in traffic than the FJ-09, mainly due to excellent throttle response and tuning. On-off throttle transitions are butter smooth, like a well tuned carbureted bike. I know this isn't the most exciting thing, but it makes the Ducati a much nicer commuter.

* More exciting is the horsepower. Rip off the velvet glove that makes it so smooth around town and it hits hard, rocketing forward in any gear. I shift less for passing, and as the speedo crests 100mph the Multistrada feels like it's just hitting it's stride. I purposely avoided owning a bike like this for years, and I'm going to have to be careful. The V4 sounds wonderful; I'm not a fan of loud aftermarket exhausts, but I'll bet this motor is joyous when uncorked.

* Air flow is much smoother, but the stock windscreen was too short for me. I installed a taller screen from CalSci and the cockpit is now a great place to sit even in foul weather.

* Most of the electronics are great. I hate adaptive cruise in most cars but it works very well on the Ducati. Performance is consistent, and it quickly accelerates back up to speed when I change lanes.

* The heated grips are not as hot as the Yamaha OEM heated grips, and the control button is in a horrible position. It's on the right grip and can't easily be reached while holding the throttle.

* I should not have complained so much about the FJ-09 bodywork. Ducati only uses three different fastener types compared to Yamaha's six, but the interlocking panel puzzle is a nightmare.

* Fuel economy is bad, mid- to low-30s mpg. It's about the same as my wife's Hyundai i30. Aux fuel will be mandatory for LD riding. Big stroke of luck on this topic: the fuel tank is saddle shaped with a 1/4" ID rubber crossover hose connecting the two low points of the tank. I'll be able to T into this line to gravity feed from an aux tank, so I don't have to go through the stress of drilling the $$$$ OEM tank for a bulkhead fitting. So nice.

* I haven't owned a bike with something other than a 17" front wheel since the Clinton administration. The 19" front is taking a little bit to get used to, but it's not bad. The skyhook suspension works great and I have no problem pushing the front.

[betoney]

7 hours ago, keithu said:

* I should not have complained so much about the FJ-09 bodywork. Ducati only uses three different fastener types compared to Yamaha's six, but the interlocking panel puzzle is a nightmare.

I'm finding the same thing with my newly acquired VFR, the FJ/Tracer is a breeze to perform maintenance on in comparison.

[koth442]

20 hours ago, keithu said:

* Air flow is much smoother, but the stock windscreen was too short for me. I installed a taller screen from CalSci and the cockpit is now a great place to sit even in foul weather.

A well designed fairing plus a well designed windscreen makes for a great riding experience! 

[CRFan250]

Congrats!  I owned a 2018 Multi and it was one of the best motorcycles I ever owned and the handling was amazing.  I love the new V4.  Best part is the valves are not desmo and the adjustment intervals are 37K miles!

[keithu]

On 3/7/2022 at 7:43 AM, CRFan250 said:

Best part is the valves are not desmo and the adjustment intervals are 37K miles!

The long service intervals are a plus. But I'm already sure I won't try to do the valve service myself, and I shudder to think what it will cost. I had the Ducati dealer do the 600 mile service and it cost more than my first motorcycle. 🤪

[2and3cylinders]

Are you keeping your FJ?!

[keithu]

On 4/1/2022 at 11:34 AM, 2and3cylinders said:

Are you keeping your FJ?!

Probably not. For above five minutes my wife expressed some interest in riding it, but she has since retracted those statements. So I'll probably put it for sale here in the next week or two.