Multistrada V4 Details & Info
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Ugh, what a lazy intro video that was to launch their adv bike. For 25 mins, they spent way more than half of it droning on & on about H-D history, their legacy, black & white clips from 1930s, yadda yadda yadda. Clearly shows they are more enamored with their past than look FORWARD as a true competitor in this market. What a waste of marketing budget to launch the bike that could potentially save their company.
LMAO! There’s that!
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As a red-blooded American who eats apple pie, makes me sad for the drain that this American company called Harley-Davidson is circling around... reminds me of what I witnessed at Kodak back in the day before digital. Fat, overpaid executives relishing their past glory days of film instead of innovating toward the future. Harley seems to be similarly dying an inevitable long slow death... sad.
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659 Posts
Lucky for us military guys (active, vets) we have USAA. THE best insurance company with most competitive rates.
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659 Posts
Per my last post on this bike launch, I REALLY WANT to like H-D, but it just looks like a fat pig in slop enjoying a meal before the slaughter. Both the company and its latest Pan Am bike. I was actually interested in the LiveWire but it's still far behind other electric competition (pricing, performance , etc.). H-D seems to be working really hard to NOT earn my business and loyalty.
Well their marketing is lacking but that bike is a huge step in the right direction. It’s not at all what they’ve been making so they are heading in the right direction there.
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@Revilok I was anxious to learn about the specs, but I had to watch the videos first. I think it is great that HD has designed a liquid cooled engine with 150 hp. I like most everything about the Panamerica from what I can glean except the muffler sticks out like a sore thumb. The weight is less than the MS V4. I could not tell if it has cruise control or anything about fuel economy.
That is fairly significant. I know GM has extended the useful range of hydraulic lifters over the years, maybe HD borrowed some tech from them? Or maybe they're getting that kind of power without breaching 8k RPM. Either way, that's not a minor achievement.
"In terms of ergonomics, the Pan Am offers a typical adventure bike setting with an unladen saddle height of 34.2 inches in the low setting and 35.2 inches in the high setting. On the 1250 Special, the unladen seat height is set at 33.4 inches in the low setting and 34.4 inches in the high one."
OK, the bike looks like a step in the right direction, but I think those seat heights are a huge swing and a miss. There goes a portion of the potential market who are women and/or shorter and/or are like me - getting older, weaker in the legs, and a little more confident being able to touch down and flat foot a bike on Mother Earth at stop lights.
And good luck trying to convince low slung motorcycle riders (you know, like existing Harley owners!!!) to swing a leg over this giraffe after getting off their 29.1 inch ride height machines. There goes another portion of the potential market.
Take note of how Yamaha lowered the seat height on its 2021 Tracer 9 GT, and Ducati lowered the seat height on its 2021 Multistrada V4. That's smart marketing.
Having owned a couple of Harleys, I'm sure they will offer an optional Screaming Eagle low seat option for $$$ from their accessories catalogue. That's not smart marketing. I no longer plan to even check this bike. Too bad.
OK, the bike looks like a step in the right direction, but I think those seat heights are a huge swing and a miss. There goes a portion of the potential market who are women and/or shorter and/or are like me - getting older, weaker in the legs, and a little more confident being able to touch down and flat foot a bike on Mother Earth at stop lights.
And good luck trying to convince low slung motorcycle riders (you know, like existing Harley owners!!!) to swing a leg over this giraffe after getting off their 29.1 inch ride height machines. There goes another portion of the potential market.
Take note of how Yamaha lowered the seat height on its 2021 Tracer 9 GT, and Ducati lowered the seat height on its 2021 Multistrada V4. That's smart marketing.
Having owned a couple of Harleys, I'm sure they will offer an optional Screaming Eagle low seat option for $$$ from their accessories catalogue. That's not smart marketing. I no longer plan to even check this bike. Too bad.
I have had the same feeling with them more times than I can count. I've never not been disappointed when I've test ridden a Harley, and I've test ridden a boat load of them. The basic problem always comes down to the fact that I cannot stand forward controls, and since Harley is utterly obsessed with low seat heights, all of their cruiser models that are available with mids make you look and feel like a monkey humping a football. Plus the ergos of the controls themselves are awful, pegs half hidden by the primary on one side, underneath the exhaust on the other. Just sitting here remembering the Roadster 1200 I test rode last year makes me aggravated. What a piece of shit.
I know where I'm going to be the first time these bikes are available for test rides. Because some of them will try, and it'll look like a fat kid trying to get back into the boat.
I submitted a customer complaint form on Ducati’s site and outlined my issues with the media system and lack of Apple Maps even though Bosch My Spin seems to support Apple Maps. This is the response I received today:
==============================================================
Thank you for contacting Ducati North America. I reached out to Ducati Motor Holding in Italy with your concerns regarding your new 2021 Multistrada V4 S and was informed that updates for the dash and Ducati Connect app will be made available in March 2021 to address the concerns that you described. Please keep in contact with your authorized Ducati dealership service department to ensure that these updates are applied to your motorcycle when they become available. Thank you for being a Ducati customer and please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Eric Meulenberg
Customer Service Manager
Ducati North America
1292 Reamwood Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 USA
888-391-5446
www.ducati.com
==============================================================
Thank you for contacting Ducati North America. I reached out to Ducati Motor Holding in Italy with your concerns regarding your new 2021 Multistrada V4 S and was informed that updates for the dash and Ducati Connect app will be made available in March 2021 to address the concerns that you described. Please keep in contact with your authorized Ducati dealership service department to ensure that these updates are applied to your motorcycle when they become available. Thank you for being a Ducati customer and please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Eric Meulenberg
Customer Service Manager
Ducati North America
1292 Reamwood Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 USA
888-391-5446
www.ducati.com
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Awesome. Thanks for keeping us all informed. 👍👍
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659 Posts
Here’s a pretty well balanced review/update from an owner with 2,600 miles on his Multistrada V4S:
Yeah this is definitely not true, they are like double what I’m paying other places. Insanity
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Really? Never seen that for auto insurance having shopped around before. And I do know they are great about paying full claims having two cars damaged by teen drivers (well, the SAME teen driver causing the SAME damage to two different cars😫)
Will shop around for moto insurance to see what I find with USAA vs others.
USAA customer service is great but they are not automatically the cheapest by any stretch. But sometimes you get what you pay for
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311 Posts
USAA doesn't cover motorcycles, they farm that out to Progressive unfortunately.
Read up on the specs of the Harley, it will surprise you. Also, I've sat on the prototype and it was comfortable. For me the Pan Am and the KTM SA are the best seating positions but the KTM is too tall for me, my feet swing in the air like a kid on a barstool. Yes, the seat height is still tall for the average person coming from a cruiser, but the have adapative ride height which intrigues me. The entire bike intrigues me.
Yes, it's ugly, but so is the V4S, it went from an angry hawk look to a bloated sparrow look, and the PA is still better looking than the confused offspring of a cow and a duck that is a GS. The KTM went from looking like a rally bike to an insect. I really wish bike manufacturers would go back to more classic designs, but maybe I'm just old and grouchy.
The only two bikes in the segment that interest me currently is the Pan America and the V4S. I don't like the looks of either really, and they both make plenty of power, and neither will be the hooligan my 2011 Multi was. But both of them look like they have flat, non forward tilting seats for upright seating, and both have seats I can reach the ground with. I'll definitely test ride them both.
Read up on the specs of the Harley, it will surprise you. Also, I've sat on the prototype and it was comfortable. For me the Pan Am and the KTM SA are the best seating positions but the KTM is too tall for me, my feet swing in the air like a kid on a barstool. Yes, the seat height is still tall for the average person coming from a cruiser, but the have adapative ride height which intrigues me. The entire bike intrigues me.
Yes, it's ugly, but so is the V4S, it went from an angry hawk look to a bloated sparrow look, and the PA is still better looking than the confused offspring of a cow and a duck that is a GS. The KTM went from looking like a rally bike to an insect. I really wish bike manufacturers would go back to more classic designs, but maybe I'm just old and grouchy.
The only two bikes in the segment that interest me currently is the Pan America and the V4S. I don't like the looks of either really, and they both make plenty of power, and neither will be the hooligan my 2011 Multi was. But both of them look like they have flat, non forward tilting seats for upright seating, and both have seats I can reach the ground with. I'll definitely test ride them both.
Yeah the HD PA is ugly as it can get. the V4 also is fugly but I’d say the HD looks worse to me for sure.
Honda had motors almost 40 years ago with 10k redlines and hydraulic adjusters. Fairly simple and straightforward system too.
The PA has a redline at 9500rpm. I know the old Revolution engine that was in the VRod very well and aside from it being very heavy it was a great performing and reliable engine. I hope this new version is as reliable and really I don't see why it won't be. As far as the looks of the V4 and the PA go I really like both and I could see me riding either one. The V4S to me is more like a modern sports car look and the PA is like my old 69' Ford Bronco with a 5" lift and steel tubing bumpers made to go off road. That's just my take though....
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