Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/658612
VOL. 53 ISSUE 12 MARCH 29, 2016 P55 the electronic suspension because the benefits are clear. Now the algorithms are more mature. We can get any benefit they can provide to the motorcycle vehicle. So the choice of spring rates and damping forces and characteris- tics are just the final job of setup, of tuning of the suspension. It is made by means of testing. In this case we had to test in many different situations. The most extreme is using a motocross course. Q. Tell us more about the development of the Skyhook suspension. What's changed between when it first came out and now? Basically in the begin- ning, when we started Skyhook suspension in 2013, the components inside the fork were differ- ent. But also the algorithms were simpler. We had at that time debated the Sky- hook algorithm, which is mainly oriented to comfort. The primary purpose of Skyhook suspension is to guarantee the maximum riding comfort. Since the beginning we added some additional algorithms in order to take care of situ- ations like hard braking or hard acceleration, because Skyhook by itself cannot take care of this. Obviously by testing and improving, we improved all the algorithms inside the system and now we have an algorithm that can reveal the suspension's stroke. Accelerometers do not automatically measure the stroke. You have to calculate the stroke and you need an algorithm to do this. So we developed an algorithm to calculate the stroke starting from ac- celeration. And now we also have the IMU, Inertial Measure- ment Unit. So now we know also the lean angle of the motorcycle so we can develop additional algo- rithms that take this into account. So all this led to the current algorithm that is much more complicated than the original one with the Skyhook suspension from a few years back. Q. Has the Ducati Valve Timing system changed with the Enduro? No, DVT is exactly the same. The DVT compo- nents, the stroke of the timing, the device that can change timing, all the hard- ware is the same and also the basic software is the same. This is because DVT did not have any problems since its beginnings, but what we experience in the beginning of the standard Multistrada, DVT was not fully satisfactory for the rider. What was not accu- rate was the calibration of the anti-detonation system. The detonation prevention system was calibrated in a way that it was reducing too much the spark advance, even when reduced spark advance was not neces- sary because the engine actually was very far from a detonation condition. This calibration was worsening the situation, particularly in hot weather. Because of the system obviously taking account also the intake air temperature, there was an over estimation of how much the system had to reduce the spark advance in case of hot air. And so with the second step calibration, now we have a more accurate esti- mation of the requirement of the engine in terms of detonation protection. This update to the ECU is now also available to custom- ers who have a standard Multistrada. Q. Could we be seeing a 959 engine Multistrada Enduro or a smaller displacement Multistrada Enduro in the near future? A small Enduro in the moment is not in our plans. For us this Multistrada En- duro is a premium bike, for the premium segment. We do not want to decrease the characteristic of the bike with entry level (bikes). So for the next years for sure Multistrada Enduro will stay as it is, or even better. Slightly more rugged styling and colors make the Enduro a mean looking steed. The cockpit controls have always been nice on Multistradas and the Enduro is no different.