[munga]

Well i'ts oficial,
Honda are making no bones about it "We will be ST kings", make no mistake these guy's are fairly serious so much so that they have recognised the need for an Italian connection, why Italian you may say? this is a good question.

I simply adore Ducati, my ST and for what it stands for! now another good question is, now that Honda have spent a lot of time and attention in an area they invented, which incidentley have spent no real attention to for a great while ! do you think that Ducati will still sit on there hands? and continue to tell us that Sports touring is unviable? or do you think that they feel this is a viable ignition of the ST to reinvest?

 

[thelumox]

this is an interesting subject for me personally, because i'm toying with the idea of trading/selling my ST, and looking for a replacement. there's not that much out there that excites me. i think ducati considers the multi as their new ST bike, and i'm going to look at the new multi 1200 when it is available. my ST is rapidly approaching a mileage where i'd need to do some major maintenance (chain, sprockets, wheel bearings, valves, belts, steering head bearings), and i haven't decided if i'll do it and keep it, or trade for something new. i've done several valve services on the ST3s, and it's a PITA. i've also done one service on my testastretta powered S4R, and that is an easy job in comparison, so the new testa-powered multi 1200 does not intimidate me in that respect. one thing i like most about the ST series is the looks. IMO, no sport-touring bike available now has the asthetics of the ducati. combine the looks with the light weight and power, and it's hard to beat.

do i think ducati will build another ST? i have now idea, but an 1198 powered multi.....even if it's ugly, will be interesting to me.

 

[stryder]

...i think ducati considers the multi as their new ST bike,...

I think you're right about that. Didn't a Ducati exec say Ducati *had* a touring bike with side cases a couple of years ago inferring the Multi when asked about the demise of the ST line?

..an 1198 powered multi.....even if it's ugly, will be interesting to me.

When all Ducati has for a ST is the Multi, yes, it's intersting.

Well i'ts oficial,
Honda are making no bones about it "We will be ST kings", make no mistake these guy's are fairly serious so much so that they have recognised the need for an Italian connection, why Italian you may say? this is a good question.

I've heard the bike was designed by an Italian, but haven't heard who. Do you know off hand? Too bad their not making an "R" version in "Italian Red."

...now another good question is, now that Honda have spent a lot of time and attention in an area they invented,...

I think some propeller heads would take issue with that statemet.

...do you think that Ducati will still sit on there hands? and continue to tell us that Sports touring is unviable?...

Yes.

 

[Bill_Anderson]

do you think that Ducati will still sit on there hands? and continue to tell us that Sports touring is unviable?.....

I am always fond of telling that old joke about the motorcycle market.

Harley is the market.
The Japanese study the market and build what they feel someone will buy.
The Italians ignore the market, build whatever they feel like building, and hope someone will buy it.

 

[captaingumby]

I am always fond of telling that old joke about the motorcycle market.

Harley is the market.
The Japanese study the market and build what they feel someone will buy.
The Italians ignore the market, build whatever they feel like building, and hope someone will buy it.

When the head of Laverda was asked why his bikes were not like other manufactures bikes he said. "You don't like my bikes buy someone else's bikes." Sums up the Italian marketing strategy.

 

[munga]

Thelumox I also beleive that the multy 1200 is a very interesting mount, any Ducati is more interesting than a Japanese bike (and I have several Honda's), but none offer the passion and emotion of Ducati, and that's probably because they do ignore and build what it is they believe they should.
Now, Honda are creating a fair bit of fanfare, noise and have dumped a large wad of cashola in this excersize to design ,engineer and promote their new VFR ST,(refocusing and mastermining alot of interest in the ST sector) would it not be wise for Ducati try to ride on the back of this monster wave with a new ST( infact more than a wave , a "tsunami" I beleve) have you seen Honda's employes interviews in their add campaign (some lenths eh).
I guess even when they initially invented the ST VFR they did not make this much noise, I also gess that Duati should take this oppertunity to also reinvest in to the ST, because Honda can and will make a killing in their new mount so much so that they are going to produce 3 differing versions of the VRF1200, the first being the F.
So cummon Ducati give me something I can trade up to, and not down to.

 

[DucmanST3]

Middle of October I had the chance to go to the east coast and visit my brother. Naturally he hooked me up for some riding. My choices were his nearly new Guzzi Norge, beautiful bike with all the bells and whistles and the Italian flavour or his 10 year old Triumph Sprint, well used with 50k miles. I opted for the Sprint, better to low side the old bike I thought than his baby.
The Tr was built like the proverbial brick shit house and felt like it, kinda carried the weight high. Oh well. Have to tell you I loved it. Power delivery was smooth in any gear. It didn't cough and fart in city traffic urging me to hit the highway, just smooth. He had uprated the brakes with 'busa six pot calipers, plenty of whoa there. We hit the twisty stuff in Connecticut and I let the bike stretch its legs, nice, smooth and by and large comfy though the Corbin seat took a little getting used to as the pad was a little far back for me. Point here is, though the bike was as far from sexy, red and Italian, lacked the sound of the desmo and the "it" factor...the old beast did everything really well. Come on Ducati, time for a better ST, but I suppose they will just throw more motor at it.

 

[motersikelist]

I owned a '99 Triumph Sprint ST until replacing it with the Ducati. From experience the Sprint's suspension and brakes are lacking, it's too heavy and it's a PITA to maintain. Parts where expensive and upgrades unavailable. The performance of the triple, transmission and clutch were flawless. In the end it is not a Ducati ST(x) and would be my second choice.

Honda will make the VFR "all things to everyone" and miss the mark. Ducati will continue to make bikes for well defined markets.

 

[stryder]

...Ducati will continue to make bikes for well defined markets.

Except for the well defined ST market.

 

[motersikelist]

Except for the well defined ST market.

Sad but true. As the name implies, Multi Strada must be the "all things to everyone" Ducati.

 

[Turbo]

Sad but true. As the name implies, Multi Strada must be the "all things to everyone" Ducati.

As far as I'm concerned, the new Multistrada 1200 is more than a replacement for the Ducati ST line. It has everything I want from a Sport Tourer and some. I won't shed a single tear when I switch from my ST4s to the Multi 1200 next year.

 

[RedST]

The hail-Mary that we can hope for is if the Multi is successful, that its platform might become the basis of a real nextgen ST.

Fix the front suspension, fix the tail, add a real fairing, 170hp, beakectomy, HID lights, nice exhaust, better more streamlined seat, 20K Km service intervals, and electronically adjustible suspension.

Ducati, are you listening? That's how you'd get my money.

 

[il_randy]

So the new strada is a nice looking bike and I bet it is fantastic to ride! Motorcycle choice for most of us is 20% on logic and 80% emotion, and for me the new 1200 gets the logical votes - well most of em, but it gets none of my emotional votes, those votes all belong to the ST. Now if I was planning on ride in a 3rd world country or to Alaska I might have to reconsider the Strada 1200.

I'm not sure I will feel the need to replace my ST ever, I will likely just add more bikes to the collection and who knows perhaps a Multistrada 1200 could some day be one of them but I think I'd be looking at the Monster and the 1198 first.

Having said that I sure can't wait to test drive one.

 

[stryder]

Information is getting out there:

http://www.multistrada.ducati.com/jspmulti/concept.jsp

Actually, I'm starting to warm up a bit to it, but not for the looks. Just for the concept, as it appears to be "loaded" wit high tech features. Something I really don't want, but I can and will applaude the effort.

http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/eicma2009-ducati-multistrada-1200-motorcycle---omg.htm

 

[TAftonomos]

The hail-Mary that we can hope for is if the Multi is successful, that its platform might become the basis of a real nextgen ST.

Fix the front suspension, fix the tail, add a real fairing, 170hp, beakectomy, HID lights, nice exhaust, better more streamlined seat, 20K Km service intervals, and electronically adjustible suspension.

Ducati, are you listening? That's how you'd get my money.

Damn, you just made a new ST for me too. Too bad you spec'd it out for $35K from Ducati at the same time

Will a testa motor fit in a 2v multi chassis perhaps? I want/get the more power, but I'm not interested in having electronically adjustable suspension, 4 different engine "modes". The ABS and TC control I'd take though...

 

[RedST]

Damn, you just made a new ST for me too. Too bad you spec'd it out for $35K from Ducati at the same time

Will a testa motor fit in a 2v multi chassis perhaps? I want/get the more power, but I'm not interested in having electronically adjustable suspension, 4 different engine "modes". The ABS and TC control I'd take though...

DucCutters has a Multi that they put a TS into. Not a simple mod by any means.

Check out the thread, Multistretta.

Or, just go there: http://www.duccutters.com/KevinAckermans-Multistretta.tpl

And why would a ST derived from the MS1200 with the above specs be 35K? The only additions would be the HID lights and the more powerful TS from the 1198 (with longer svc. intervals, ok so maybe the TS 11° necessitates less power). Everything else would be par for a new bike anyway. So maybe 25K tops. But even so a K1300S with all of the options just crosses 20K. With a TS motor and longer service times, it's worth the extra 5K you wouldn't be spending for maintenance.

 

[Turbo]

So the new strada is a nice looking bike and I bet it is fantastic to ride! Motorcycle choice for most of us is 20% on logic and 80% emotion, and for me the new 1200 gets the logical votes - well most of em, but it gets none of my emotional votes, those votes all belong to the ST. Now if I was planning on ride in a 3rd world country or to Alaska I might have to reconsider the Strada 1200.

I'm not sure I will feel the need to replace my ST ever, I will likely just add more bikes to the collection and who knows perhaps a Multistrada 1200 could some day be one of them but I think I'd be looking at the Monster and the 1198 first.

Having said that I sure can't wait to test drive one.

Have you ever ridden a Multi 1100 for any length of time and I don't mean on a test ride? The original Multi doesn't grab that 80% emotion vote when you look at it, but I assure you, when you spend some time with it, it wins that 80% back in terms of grins!

I found myself 'bonding' with my Multi 1100s last year so much that I never wanted to ride my ST4s again! I was more 'emotionally' invested in my Multi 1100s than I ever was with my ST4s and I thought there could never be a better bike than my ST4s. I've ridden 80K miles on my ST4s, but it took less than 2K miles on a Multi to make me see the light. I ended up riding 15K miles on my Multi in 10 months until it sadly came to a premature end!

All I want to say is as a devout ST rider, don't dismiss the Multi too quickly. I too wasn't enamored by the original Multi when it released. I dismissed its looks and convinced myself it wasn't the right bike for me. Then my ST4s developed an engine bearing issue that needed a lot of repair. I was offered a good deal on a 2007 Multi 1100s and I decided to buy it to keep me on the road while my ST4s was being repaired. It's a very different bike to an ST and at first, having put so many miles on an ST, I didn't like the Multi that much! Then, I learned how it handled, I was blinded by the light and the rest is history!

I suspect the new Multistrada 1200 will be an evolutionary step forward from the Multi 1100. I can't wait to get my hands on one.

 

[TAftonomos]

What did you like about the 2v multi compared to your st4s??

 

[Turbo]

What did you like about the 2v multi compared to your st4s??

Personally, I really don't care if the engine is 2v or 4v, air-cooled or water-cooled. All that matters to me is how the overall bike handles and rides. My opinions are based purely on handling and how much I enjoy the ride.

Both bikes have their pros and cons. The ST4s is a much heavier bike with more power, more straight-line stability and more protection. The Multi is light and agile and handles WAY better than the ST4s in the tight twisties.

You can 'squirt' an ST4s down the straights and through the sweepers, but as the curves get tighter, the ST takes more work and effort to hold the line. The Multi is no slouch on the straights and through the sweepers either, but when the curves get tighter, the Multi is a breeze to handle! Maintaining 'the line' is not so important on a Multi. It's light and agile enough to let you change your line at will!

Overall, you can ride a faster 'pace' on a Multi than you can on an ST. Bikes like the ST4s have more power and a faster top speed, but the Multi can maintain its speed and handling though all kinds of roads and road conditions. The bottom line is I always had a bigger grin on my face after riding the Multi than I do riding the ST4s.

 

[RedST]

Ducati Survey

I would suggest that folks take the time to fill out the survey that Ducati has put up for the MS1200.

http://ducatixss.mag-news.it/startsurveyms1200.do?lang=en_EN

They know that this bike is controversial, and I would expect that Ducatisti will make their preferences heard.