Oucati Multistrada
By ROD CHAPMAN
PHOTOS By DOUBLE RED
S
ometimes it takes me quite a
while to make up my mind about
a new bike when sampling it for the
first time, and in a press launch situation - where you're often riding in a
large group with a set itinerary - you
can sometimes walk away at the end
of the day and still be left confused
about whether you're particularly
enamored with the motorcycle on
offer or not.
Not so with Ducati's Multistrada - I
was on a high almost from the very
outset of slinging a leg over it, and as
I type this report - days after the bike
press launch on the Italian island of
Sardinia - the grin has only just
faded.
This bike is good. Seriously good and seriously good fun, and so unlike
any other Ducati ever produced, you
can't help but be impressed with the
end result Ducati's designers and
engineers have achieved in what really is previously unexplored territory
for the Bologna-based marque.
And the motive behind the
machine is astoundingly simple director of Ducati design Pierre
Terblanche simply wanted to build a
bike that was fun to ride across the
34
MAY 7, 2003'
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