2017 DUCATI MULTISTRADA 950
FULL TEST
P72
Okay, you say, "but 260cc
isn't such a big deal: this is
barely a three-quarter scale
downsize from the all-bells-and-
whistles 1200 Multi." Well, yes,
but please believe me when I tell
you that, in spite of the distinc-
tive beaky family styling shared
with its bigger, older brother,
Ducati's new 950 model comes
across as a very different bike,
and, what's more, it could be
quite a bit more appealing to
those who don't want to have to
worry about surfing the multitude
of electronic programs or cope
with the extra hit of performance
included in the bigger 160 horse-
power DVT motor's package.
Call it Ducati's equivalent of the
almost identically priced, heavier
but more powerful three-cylinder
Triumph Tiger Sport, a real-world
moto totale that you can use
for the daily commute, to take
your wife to the shops, to ride
on a Sunday morning run and
still keep up with the sportbikes,
or to fit luggage and go touring
two-up— a bike to be generally
enjoyed for its sheer usability,
that sees sporting prowess mar-
ried to everyday convenience.
And that's quite apart from the
Multistrada 950's price saving
over the 1200. It's even frac-
tionally cheaper than Honda's
Africa Twin. Ducati's priced this
new model pretty competitively,
plus service intervals have been
reduced to 9000 miles with
valve clearance inspection every
18,000 miles.
This new junior Multistrada
employs the same 94 x 67.5mm
engine dimensions as in the
current Hypermotard, but with a
redesigned oil system, new des-
modromic cylinder heads with
revised porting which deliver a
compression ratio reduced to
12.6:1 from 13.1:1, smaller 53mm
cylindrical (not elliptical) throttle
bodies, and a Bosch ECU with
revamped fueling in each of
the four riding modes delivered
by the RBW digital throttle. Of
these, Sport and Touring en-
tail the 937cc motor's full 113
horsepower output produced at
9000 rpm, same as the Hyper-
motard, but each with a different
degree of urgency, whereas
The 937cc version of the
Testastretta 11° desmo V-twin motor,
shared with the Hypermotard,
produces 113 bhp at 9000 rpm with
a wide spread of apower.
