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CRUISE MISSILES(Left) Engine sounds busy but muffled (Above)Tablet sized LCD dash is easy to read (Below)If you can use a TV remote you can master thisDucati Multistrada 1200 S TouringThe most technically advanced road bike Ducati have ever built just got even smarterONCE, YOU HAD to adapt yourself to get the best from aDucati. Not the new Multistrada. It’s more multi-layered,multi-faceted and multi-talented than before, and can bealtered – with an essential instruction manual – to be anybike you want it to be, ridden any way you want to ride it.A wireless key starts the 1200 S, provided its signal isn’tblocked by, say, a mobile phone in the same pocket. You press an‘on’ button to arm the bike, then the start button to fire it up.It doesn’t sound quite the way a Ducati is supposed to. Theexhaust thud is definitely 90° V-twin, but quiet and civilised.The LCD dash is tablet-sized. Thankfully stuff like speed, revsand gear position are obvious. Backlit switchgear is night-friendly,mirrors are exceptional and the screen is one-hand adjustable.Menus are navigable with a few minutes’ working out the buttonorder: settings for traction control, anti-wheelie, semi-activesuspension damping and preload, and four one-touch globalmodes for all of them (Sport, Touring, Enduro and Urban, eachtailoring power, traction, ABS and suspension). And cruise control.There’s even Bluetooth connectivity, and an app for that. Asmartphone doubles as a datalogger and the bike can even acceptcalls and control music playback on your phone.But, frustratingly, there’s a software glitch: the twin trip metersreset every time the ignition is switched off. It’s not a biggie andDucati have promised a software upgrade. But you can’t helpthinking… is this really what motorcycling has become?Thankfully electrons don’t weigh much and the Multistrada islight and slender. Ergonomics are excellent – wide, deep, heightadjustableseat you sit ‘in’, narrow waist, wide bars and muchlegroom. Hips are a few inches closer to headstock than rivals. TheMultistrada is an engaging, active ride even on motorways. It’sconstantly on the move, alive in the hands, so you never nod off.But it’s comfy and a day in the saddle promises no aches.And, as per the previous Multistrada, there’s a ton ofperformance. With 142bhp (same as the old bike) and a widespread of torque (slightly less linear than the old bike), the Ducatihas buckets of muscle. Throttle control is perfect, gearchangestight and precise, and 85mph cruising speed is a lazy 5000rpm intop, sipping a miserly high-40s mpg, giving a near 200-mile range.The Multistrada’s 1198cc Testastretta V-twin is a user-friendly,devastatingly powerful yet efficient engine.Which is the point of Desmodromic Variable Timing (DVT). TheMultistrada is the first bike to have constantly variable valvetiming on both exhaust and intake, activated via ECU-controlledcoaxial adjusters on the end of each camshaft. They vary the valveoverlap period (the time when exhaust and intake are open at thesame time), effectively retuning the engine in real time for fuelefficiency at small throttle openings and low revs, and highperformance at wide open throttle and higher revs. It also givesthe ECU control over combustion, harmonising power strokes andeliminating Ducati’s juddering drivetrain snatch from low revs.And DVT really does it. The bike is no more powerful or flexiblethan the old one but it’s cleaner (meets Euro IV emissions regs),more frugal and smoother. It’s easily the most civilised big Ducatiengine ever, for better or worse (possibly, if you’re a Ducati purist).The electronic suspension has evolved too, now with lean anglesensors. It works; the new bike is more connected than the firstgeneration semi-active Multistrada. It’s devilishly agile, diving intothe tightest corners with front tyre nailed to the tarmac,thundering out with orange traction/anti-wheelie light lit up like aBelisha beacon. Weight transfer under braking is still noticeable onlong travel suspension, but it’s less pronounced and feedback isexemplary. And they’re demon brakes, now with cornering ABS.This particular Multi’ is on Bike’s long-term test fleet, and is a1200 S Touring which means it’s the base semi-active model(£15,731 on the road) plus a factory-fitted package of centrestand,panniers (not shown) and heated grips (£750). That’s a full price of£16,481, which is a lot of money. But the Multistrada is a lot ofmotorbike, even if it’s also the ‘least’ Ducati ever.55
CRUISE MISSILES(Left) Gone is the previous bike’s ‘Cyclops’stacked lights (Above) Comparatively simpleclocks (Below) Quality fit and finish aboundsKawasaki Versys 1000Less tech, but a heck of a lot less money – the new Versys can fight its corner, and then someWHEN KAWASAKI ANNOUNCED an upgrade of 2012’soriginal Versys 1000 the most anyone expected was astyling tweak and a few extra gadgets. Which is whyevery second spent with 2015’s Versys 1000 comes as awelcome surprise…First off, the new Kawasaki looks sleek and modernwith conventional lights and dynamic styling. It’s not striking, butit doesn’t look like a ripped-out fridge.However, the Versys’ electronic sophistication is several leaguesbelow the BM or Ducati. You have to start it with a key, of allthings. And when it comes to pushing buttons, there are fewer tochoose from. You can swap engine modes between full (F) power,or low (L) power (smoother throttle response, 25% less poke). Youcan also choose between three levels of traction control intrusionor, at standstill, turn it off. But there’s no gyro sensor detectinglean angle and the modes aren’t integrated. A new Bosch ABSsystem delivers a smoother action, but it’s also not modulated bylean angle. The LCD clocks have a fuel gauge, fuel range, airtemperature and the usual mileages, but the gear position indicatoris a factory accessory. The screen is adjustable but uses two knurledknobs rather than a fancy mechanism. There’s no cruise control,heated grips (extra), 12v socket (extra) or electronic suspension.But here’s the thing, the Kawasaki isn’t the worse for it. Theextra bits that matter to most of us – heated grips, gear positionindicator, power sockets, luggage – are all available as accessories.Cruise control would be nice and a BMW-style quickshifter wouldbe fun, but these aren’t deal breakers.And then there are the things the Versys does better than theother two. Important things. Its mirrors are the best – blur-free andmassive. There’s a riding position that, for six-foot me, is betterthan the BMW and the Ducati. The bars aren’t as wide, which isless tiresome. Body position is balanced and the footpegs are lowerso there’s more legroom (and less ground clearance, but scrapinghero blobs is fun, right?). The screen might be clumsy to adjust,but it’s the most effective here. And the tank is a healthy 21 litres,so at 47mpg there’s a range of well over 200 miles. And acentrestand comes as standard, too.The Versys’ 1043cc inline-four motor is based on the 140bhpunit in the Z1000SX and Z1000, retuned for 114bhp. Yes it’sunderpowered compared with the 160bhp XR and 142bhp Ducati.Yes… and also no. It hasn’t the midrange shove of the BMW anddoesn’t bang like the Multistrada. But it’s got enough beef toboogie at a proper lick and it’s so much smoother than the otherpair. At 85mph in top the Versys is properly tall geared, pulling ahorizontal 5000rpm. For an inline four with a 10,000rpm redline,that’s just out of bed. And it’s creamy, a stark contrast to the highrevvingBMW which is uncomfortably frantic in comparison.So now you’re sitting there enjoying the fact you can still feelyour extremities, when a corner approaches. This will sort the menfrom the boys; the semi-active springs from the passive…And yet, while the Ducati out-steers the Versys and the BMWout-does it in terms of pure roadholding, the revised softer settingson the adjustable Versys forks and shock cope well. Unlike the firstVersys they feel plush and refined, and cope with the Kawasaki’s15kg weight deficit. Really tramp on and you feel the springssquirm in protest – and if you took all three to a track the Versys,despite its Bridgestone T30 tyres, would be the first to get out ofshape. But out on the road there’s very little in it.Which can’t be said for the price. The base model Versys costs£9885 on the road. Add some of the frills the other twoaccessorised bikes come with – heated grips, panniers with inners,12v socket, gear indicator – and you’re talking £10,964. Buy theGrand Tourer version of the Versys, which has the above plus a topbox, fog lights, engine protectors and hand guards, and the total is£11,235. That’s four grand cheaper than the XR Sport SE withadded panniers, and getting on for five and half grand cheaperthan a Multistrada Touring. You could buy an awful lot of petrol,tyres and nights in posh European hotels for that.56
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