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/779724
2017 DUCATI MULTISTRADA 950 FULL TEST P78 noticeably more agile than its bigger-engined sibling. Same thing goes for up front, where the 19-inch wheel gives lighter if slightly slower steering than the 1200's 17-incher, which isn't at all such a bad thing in terms of all-around stability, with the lever- age from that wide handlebar ever ready to come into play. As on the other Multistrada variants there are four different accessory packages available for the 950, besides the DSP that's included as standard. The Touring Pack (as on the white bike I rode) has a center stand and twin hard luggage panniers, although the left one of these has limited room because of the side-mounted exhaust silencer. Sport has a freer-flowing Termignoni silencer that's still Euro4 compliant, plus a few billet-alloy goodies. Then there's an Enduro Pack with an al- loy sump guard, twin supplemen- tary LED lights, steel footrests and tank-protecting crash bars, plus a metal radiator protection mesh that was fitted on its own to our test bikes to combat the many lava pebbles littering the road in places. Finally, the Urban pack has a topbox and clip-on tank bag incorporating a receptacle for your iPhone, as well as a power extension cable with a USB port. There's also a spacious storage area under the passenger seat. While unsuitable for serious off-roading, where its lack of ground clearance would always be an issue, the Multistrada 950 will be a great ride on gravel or hard-packed dirt roads, where those Pirelli Scorpion tires will be ideal equipment as well as giving great grip on Fuerteventura's black asphalt. That made lapping the island's superb roads in great 82° weather aboard the Multi 950 a good test of the bike's han- dling, which it passed with flying colors, carving its way through countless mountain hairpins and wide-open 120 mph stretches of open road with complete aplomb. This is an extremely capable, ultra-comfortable all- round motorcycle that's so very satisfying to ride, with accessible performance and great reserves of torque—it's much more in every way than a downsized, down- scale, down-priced middleweight model. The 937cc engine has a smooth and linear delivery of both power and torque, and the compliant but quite softly sprung suspension delivers excellent ride quality and heaps of comfort. It's arguably a better real-world bike than the more powerful but also more demanding and ever so slightly intimidating 1200, for the 950 motor has a sweeter power delivery and I never felt during my day's ride that it was Ducati has introduced something much more than "just" a smaller- engined Multistrada— this 950 version is a standalone real- world motorcycle done right.