MTS1200 - How do you like it now?
Blondebaerde:
Got mine in June, about 7K miles on the odo, now parked in my cozy garage for the season.
2,500 miles were a fast tour in September: 1,100 superslab and the remainder going fast as feasible in northern New Mexico and Arizona (until busted by AZ cops north of Flagstaff). The first 4,500 miles were a mix of urban, freeway commuting, and occasional sport rides.
Oh, one more thing about the 2,500 mile trip: quite a few miles were in 100+ degree F heat. Hours on end, near Needles and Vegas. Most of the rest was 80 degrees and higher. Keeping a mindful eye on the temp readout, the Multi didn't seem to mind and didn't blow excessive hot air (I wore a cool vest, most of the time, which works wonders).
This (remains) a fantastic motorcycle. I'm on the original rubber, though it will need to be replaced within 1K miles or sooner. I come from a Blackbird, so "needed" (ahem!) a motorcycle with a lot of squirt that could cruise 80-110mph without serious strain. The Multi handles that with total aplomb, plus carries all my shti, plus has plugs for the heated vest, plus handles almost as good as a serious sportbike thanks to Mr. Ohlins, plus etc. etc.
I cannot say enough good things about a bike that carries goods, w/upright riding position, a lot of engine, and great handling. Blast up to Mt. St. Helens video, below (youtube, 720p): I am the bike ahead of the filmer. The filmer rode a KTM 990 Adventure. Lead bike is my buddy the AMA racer on his raucous Yamaha 250X Supermoto. That I kept a good pace on wonky, treacherous pavement en route to Mt. St. Helens speaks volumes about the Multi's engine and suspension. We ditched two buddies on sportbikes, en route, because the undulating pavement kept them off-balance in a bad way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ3a5H1SBz0
Would agree with another guy on-thread that the GS is somewhat "down" on power, suspension, and panache to the Duck. But, BMW probably remains a better off-road bike, in my opinion. I would proudly ride a decked-out GS, however, and thought it a close second choice to the Ducati. Depends on what you want out of an "Adventure" bike.
Pushbutton warfare, aka The Riding Modes, comes in handy again and again. This is "nice to have" vs. "need to have," but makes a noticeable difference. I commonly switch from Touring to Sport, or Touring to Urban, often during a sport ride or commute. 75% or more of my time is in Touring, with stock settings, though I may play with the settings maps in 2011 since they're fully adjustable.
Tightening the chain took just a few minutes. The procedure is rather weird, but makes sense once you walk it through (set bike in Urban mode, do not put on centerstand, loosen pinch bolts, use special tool to move things around in a direction counter to intuition, use checking device to eyeball tension, done!)
I have no problems with the stock seat, but use a simple gel pad for any planned trip over 300 miles. YMMV.
I have a Touratech soft case that fits great on the rear. Haven't tried a hard case, though that would probably be quite nice for extended tours.
The centerstand does not bother me, though it bothers just about every other owner. The bag seal issue needs to be addressed. Mine does not surge much, though this too needs to be addressed. I assume Ducati will deal with some or all of these "common" teething issues. I can't find much else to complain about, as-yet. Some rather strange glitches cleared themselves up (tendency to sometimes stall on hard braking, mystery neutrals). Other glitches are trivial and will work themselves out as kaizen (continuous improvement) over time.
ADVrider in Seattle has various aftermarket parts, mostly targeted for offroad. I might pickup some crash bars.
Oh, and a pleasant surprise: this is a great rain motorcycle! The upright riding position, wide bars, and 'Urban' mode (to tame the power, wheelspin, and ABS engagement) make it less drama-filled than one might expect.
'Nuff said. Buy one; the new Multi is a home run on their first try of a totally new model. (This from a guy who swore he'd never own another Ducati, after dealing with a POS 1990 Ducati 851 for almost three years in the 1990s.) I am personally partial to the S Touring, damn the cost: I challenge anyone to suggest Ohlins isn't worth an extra four grand.
evilted:
Nice write-up. I noticed the stall under hard braking to a complete stop too once. Supposedly, I have a fairly recent map flashed on mine.
Selling my WR250X last year was a mistake, but it took me about 6 months to figure that out. :)
Quote from: Blondebaerde on November 24, 2010, 12:30:44 PM
Got mine in June, about 7K miles on the odo, now parked in my cozy garage for the season.
Mr Sunshine:
Quote from: evilted on November 24, 2010, 02:31:30 PM
Nice write-up. I noticed the stall under hard braking to a complete stop too once. Supposedly, I have a fairly recent map flashed on mine.
Mine did that a couple of times and it stopped after fiddling with the air bleed screws. I also have a set of FatDucs on it which really have helped that last little bit.
evilted:
Thanks for the info. I checked out the FatDuc site, and it sounds like that would be just the thing to cure the Hypermotard of it's poor off-idle throttle response. The Multi experiences it too, but it's lots less bad. I might order one anyway.
Quote from: Mr Sunshine on November 25, 2010, 10:20:19 AM
Mine did that a couple of times and it stopped after fiddling with the air bleed screws. I also have a set of FatDucs on it which really have helped that last little bit.
Busa@11K:
What's the issue I'm starting to hear about the rear brakes going super soft and essentially not working?
Almost sounds like the master cylinder if failing and not building up hydraulic pressure. Even heard of guys getting a new master cylinder installed and the rear brakes worked fine for awhile then went bad again. :headscratch:
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