Joined
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18 Posts
Hi, folks.
I joined recently and put most of this in my intro post but figured it'll get more eyes in the actual MTS forum... :smile2:
I spent ~2 weeks riding a Multistrada 1260S Touring up the west coast of Norway in July/August this year, and I'm considering a switch from my FJR next year, but I have a couple of niggling concerns (see later). My wife and I were on the "Adventure North Cape" tour run by Edelweiss. The bike had only been used on 3 prior tours and had about 12,000k on the clock. New tyres, new oil, with the 3-piece luggage and engine bars added.
In 12 riding days we covered 4000km of some of Norway's most scenic roads, many of 'em twisty coastal Fjord-huggers, some of 'em fast sweepers, the occasional long straight and pretty varied road surfaces: from smooth new asphalt to rutted old more-pothole-than-road (like the north end of #87) and occasional gravel patches.
I had an SV1000 for a while years ago but now I usually ride 4-cylinder bikes (I have an FJR1300 & VFR800), so I wasn't quite tuned-in to engine characteristics or the right rev range for low speed riding and made it lug a bit too much for the first few days, before adjusting to the bike.
I loved the amazing pull-your-arms-off grunt and excellent comfort - I have a 30-31" inside leg and was easily flat-footing with the lowered seat (which was stock but comfy enough for >8-hr riding days), and the grip warmers and windshield did a great job. My wife found the passenger seat better than the FJR - more knee room and visibility as the seat's higher. My FJR is a heavy bike, which is my main downside to it, but I found the Multi to be more comparable to the VFR - not that I'm a racer boy, but to it me felt really light and flickable, easy to maneuver at low speed or on a squirrely surface. The FJR is soooo comfortable (I call it the Silver Sofa) and can eat miles effortlessly, but it's a barge in slow speed maneuvering.
The Multi performed awesomely on the twisties, with handling capabilities obviously well above my skill level. I could breeze past slow moving cars with no effort at all, and I'm pretty sure the anti-wheelie control and rev limiter both kicked in a couple of times when I was a bit too aggressive overtaking in 2nd gear early on. It cruised comfortably at highway speeds and I didn't notice too much vibration.
It rained a couple of days but was otherwise unseasonably warm at ~30c a lot of the time. I didn't notice excessive heat on my legs on the hot days, but it seemed to suck up and retain water, as it steamed like crazy every time we stopped and when we parked-up for a break on the worst rainy day it sent up clouds of the stuff and dropped so much water from the fairing onto the ground under the bike that I was worried we'd overheated and sprung a leak... Is that normal?
I got a handful of false neutrals, usually only on upshifts, even when changing assertively, not teasing the gearbox. Not sure if it's the quickshifter because I didn't use it much but on the first day I did, one time it failed to get into 6th from 5th three times in a row before I kicked it back down (using the clutch) to 4th and went back up using the clutch again. Kinda dangerous! :frown2:
I didn't have a problem finding neutral when parking it up, but it happened too many times when riding at highway speed for me not to be wondering if it's a wider problem or was just a thing on the specific bike we had... like maybe it's missing a software update or something...
Together, we probably weigh ~360lb in our bike clothes, so we're not the biggest but we're not tiny Italians, either. The bike was in Touring mode, and we had the suspension set to 2-up with bags (empty - they had a van for our luggage), and I ground the pegs a bit in the coastal twisties one day which was cool, but it bottomed out a few times on some of the bumpier surfaces. We were just going straight, but it gave us a few spine-jarring clunks - worse for her! It felt like it couldn't handle landing after launching over some bumps, or like the centrestand was whacking the road. We were riding in a group so just keeping pace, and no-one else (most on BMW 700/1200 GSs) complained as much... I dialed-up the stiffness on the rear after that, but the other roads on subsequent days weren't as bad.
So here's my thoughts:
The tour was a great way to have a real workout on the bike, and I'm deeply tempted to get one for myself, but it left a few questions I'm struggling with.
Any thoughts, folks?
I joined recently and put most of this in my intro post but figured it'll get more eyes in the actual MTS forum... :smile2:
I spent ~2 weeks riding a Multistrada 1260S Touring up the west coast of Norway in July/August this year, and I'm considering a switch from my FJR next year, but I have a couple of niggling concerns (see later). My wife and I were on the "Adventure North Cape" tour run by Edelweiss. The bike had only been used on 3 prior tours and had about 12,000k on the clock. New tyres, new oil, with the 3-piece luggage and engine bars added.
In 12 riding days we covered 4000km of some of Norway's most scenic roads, many of 'em twisty coastal Fjord-huggers, some of 'em fast sweepers, the occasional long straight and pretty varied road surfaces: from smooth new asphalt to rutted old more-pothole-than-road (like the north end of #87) and occasional gravel patches.
I had an SV1000 for a while years ago but now I usually ride 4-cylinder bikes (I have an FJR1300 & VFR800), so I wasn't quite tuned-in to engine characteristics or the right rev range for low speed riding and made it lug a bit too much for the first few days, before adjusting to the bike.
I loved the amazing pull-your-arms-off grunt and excellent comfort - I have a 30-31" inside leg and was easily flat-footing with the lowered seat (which was stock but comfy enough for >8-hr riding days), and the grip warmers and windshield did a great job. My wife found the passenger seat better than the FJR - more knee room and visibility as the seat's higher. My FJR is a heavy bike, which is my main downside to it, but I found the Multi to be more comparable to the VFR - not that I'm a racer boy, but to it me felt really light and flickable, easy to maneuver at low speed or on a squirrely surface. The FJR is soooo comfortable (I call it the Silver Sofa) and can eat miles effortlessly, but it's a barge in slow speed maneuvering.
The Multi performed awesomely on the twisties, with handling capabilities obviously well above my skill level. I could breeze past slow moving cars with no effort at all, and I'm pretty sure the anti-wheelie control and rev limiter both kicked in a couple of times when I was a bit too aggressive overtaking in 2nd gear early on. It cruised comfortably at highway speeds and I didn't notice too much vibration.
It rained a couple of days but was otherwise unseasonably warm at ~30c a lot of the time. I didn't notice excessive heat on my legs on the hot days, but it seemed to suck up and retain water, as it steamed like crazy every time we stopped and when we parked-up for a break on the worst rainy day it sent up clouds of the stuff and dropped so much water from the fairing onto the ground under the bike that I was worried we'd overheated and sprung a leak... Is that normal?
I got a handful of false neutrals, usually only on upshifts, even when changing assertively, not teasing the gearbox. Not sure if it's the quickshifter because I didn't use it much but on the first day I did, one time it failed to get into 6th from 5th three times in a row before I kicked it back down (using the clutch) to 4th and went back up using the clutch again. Kinda dangerous! :frown2:
I didn't have a problem finding neutral when parking it up, but it happened too many times when riding at highway speed for me not to be wondering if it's a wider problem or was just a thing on the specific bike we had... like maybe it's missing a software update or something...
Together, we probably weigh ~360lb in our bike clothes, so we're not the biggest but we're not tiny Italians, either. The bike was in Touring mode, and we had the suspension set to 2-up with bags (empty - they had a van for our luggage), and I ground the pegs a bit in the coastal twisties one day which was cool, but it bottomed out a few times on some of the bumpier surfaces. We were just going straight, but it gave us a few spine-jarring clunks - worse for her! It felt like it couldn't handle landing after launching over some bumps, or like the centrestand was whacking the road. We were riding in a group so just keeping pace, and no-one else (most on BMW 700/1200 GSs) complained as much... I dialed-up the stiffness on the rear after that, but the other roads on subsequent days weren't as bad.
So here's my thoughts:
- I loved the bright dash and menu system; the cruise control; the weight, ergonomics and comfort; the handling and power; the sound and feel. Well, the bike, really! The upsides of this bike are intoxicating... :laugh:
- The FJR screams like a banshee when you crank it, but this beast roars like a lion. :grin2:
- Is the radiator steam & gushing water from the fairing when it rains normal? :wink2:
- About the false neutrals - was this bike-specific or is it a widespread issue? :frown2:
- About the suspension for 2-up touring - was this a one-off issue or is it a bit weak? :surprise:
The tour was a great way to have a real workout on the bike, and I'm deeply tempted to get one for myself, but it left a few questions I'm struggling with.
Any thoughts, folks?