2015 DUCATI MULTISTRADA 1200S
FIRST RIDE
P66
needed—notably under hard
use of the now truly outstanding
brake system. The Multistrada
features larger 330mm front
discs shared with the Panigale
Superbike, gripped by powerful
Brembo Monobloc M504 four-
piston radial calipers overseen
by Bosch's 9.1ME Cornering
ABS system.
I would imagine that even fully
loaded with a passenger and
luggage, the Multistrada has
serious reserves of stopping
power, made fully accessible
by the Bosch ABS. It certainly
stopped hugely impressively
from high speed with just me
aboard, especially braking
downhill into a hairpin bend,
where the semi-active fully
adjustable front Sachs 48mm
fork and shock controlled by the
upgraded DSS Skyhook system
kept the Multistrada 1200S per-
fectly balanced; poised, even.
That's helped by the all-new
chassis layout, which sees the
engine sitting 20mm higher to
give better ground clearance
over rough terrain for increased
off-road suitability, with the fuel
tank now sitting a little higher
and further forward. This helps
load up the front tire better via
a combination of increased
forward weight bias and forward
weight transfer under hard brak-
ing—but at the cost of Ducati
being forced to delete the useful
storage locker in the right front
side of the fairing. This means
there's no longer any space to
store freeway tickets, a mo-
bile phone and especially the
electronic key for the hands-free
ignition that the Multistrada 1200
is now equipped with. This lack
of readily accessible storage is a
real inconvenience, and should
have been addressed somehow
on a touring bike like this one.
The all-new Multistrada has a
slimmer fuel tank whose un-
changed 5.3-gallon capacity,
combined with that slightly better
economy, should allow a range
of 170 miles from a full tank.
Accessory bags available as an
option add to the bike's prac-
No better way
to explore
the Italian
countryside
than on a pair
of sport-touring
Ducs.
