Vibraty?
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I do not think so. If anything, 1200 is smoother than older air cooled bikes. There is some pleasant seat vibration around 7K, but you do not spend too much time there.
D.
D.
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It's a completely different feeling bike than the Hyper. The Multistrada is a very relaxed bike at 130 mph, where my Hyper is nervous as hell. At lower speeds, one thinks and the Hyper turns, not as much so on the Multi. I'm not sure what you're describing, but both bikes are amazing in their own ways.
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I noticed more vibration than I was expecting.
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Mine is quite smooth at cruising speeds and really any speed above 3200 RPM or so. Not quite as smooth as my last Aprilia, but not enough vibration to comment on either. My mirrors stay smooth at most engine speeds although they do blur as RPMs increase but it's easy to just shift up a gear and drop the revs down again. Most urban highway work finds me in 4th gear, sometimes 5th and even at extra legal road speeds, things seem plenty relaxed enough. I suppose each bike is a little different. What are you comparing it to?
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Definitely an order of magnitude more vibration than any inline 4. When I get on my Gixxer after riding the Multi for a while, it blows me away how smooth the Gixxer feels. I guess it's all relative, so my guess is there's nothing wrong but worth asking the dealer if you're unsure.
I imagine the smaller Hypers are much smoother than the 1198/1200 simply because of piston mass differences. What size Hyper are you riding?
I imagine the smaller Hypers are much smoother than the 1198/1200 simply because of piston mass differences. What size Hyper are you riding?
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Lots of vibrations compared to an inline 4. Pretty good for a V twin...
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I kinda liked it...oh! you weren't talking to me...sorry...
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Now the sheepskin makes sense.I kinda liked it...oh! you weren't talking to me...sorry...
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Hi Chuck!A '93 900ss, a couple KTM LC8's...
How many miles on your bike, Lew? The only other "New" Ducati I've ever ridden was my '04 749 and that bike ran smoother and shifted way better at twenty thousand miles than it did when new.
BTW, my KLR vibrates more...
I have a thousand miles on my bike and it has loosened up just a bit, but as I think I said, everyone's different. Having ridden since 1964 and been accustomed to what really "manly vibratory action" is like, there's barely a modern motorcycle I ride that feels unacceptably vibey to me. Maybe a KLR would change my tune
The last four cylinder bike I had was a K1200RS, and that was sewing machine smooth (if a Singer on steroids) by comparison to the MTS; no Ducati I have ever ridden could compare to it. My GS had fewer primary vibes (than the Duc), but had the expected rocking couple from the offset pistons and the torque reaction (of course). It was smoother than my MS12T overall, but not enough to comment on, a different feel entirely. My counterbalanced Aprilia (Rotax Caponord) is distinctly smoother (and much more like a Ducati, but less fun to ride), however, I'd say my old Mille was fairly comparable in general feel although it was piped and chipped and made way more noise (hence also perceived vibes) , but I'll say my Ducati falls well within my range of acceptable. As you say, I do expect it to run even better as it breaks in.
I have not shot for a fast break in. If I had to select, I'd actually prefer "a little smoother" to "a little faster," but break in rituals are somewhat religious in nature, huh? . Mine burns no oil, runs well and I do expect it to smooth out and run even stronger with more with miles, but new as it is, I find it comfortable, no tingles and can ride it all day without feeling beat up. It doesn't leave a trail of parts behind itself
(you had to be here in the sixties to understand what that was like) and at this (early) point I consider vibration to be a non event. If it gets better....GREAT!
I wouldn't buy a big, (relatively light flywheel) high performance twin like this expecting it to match a counterbalanced four, but there's no problem here, and the vibes it does have seem low in frequency, not buzzy. I think "frequency" counts as much as "amplitude" in how I read a bike's smoothness. Maybe mine is just a good one in this regard. It doesn't strike me as particularly strong running compared to the demos I rode, but they all had more miles than my bike. My bike is in no way slow, now.
I have not owned a new Japanese four banger since 1982, so my experience with counterbalanced Japanese fours is non-existent. I'm sure they are smoother, especially in the normal working range, however, a 90 degree twin is in inherint good balance; it is a function of the design and firing order.
I just don't read most Ducatis as having a vibe problem, but each person needs to judge for themselves.
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Coming from a VFR 800 (V4) to the Duc I expected more vibration...and I got it..of course. BUT...I am not a believer in those who say 'it's big 1200 twin...that's it'. Of course, without any (easy) way of measuring vibration, it becomes very subjective. BUT...I was told by several really knowedgable people that these two big engines (and yes, that is what you should often think of this as) really often are not running well together...so a good TUNE will help. But of course there is not much you can tune on this beast! So....as regular readers will know...I went down the ECU reflash and PCV route...and now have a bike that is 100% smoother than it was! And yes...people who complain about the 'vibratory' mirrors...same thing. Hated the mirrors....but now they are fine up till well over 100mph. I have no issues with the vibtation now...but it was a long hard 'ride' to get it there.
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Interesting points you make regarding "two 600cc engines not always working well together" and the need for tuning/balancing. This makes sense to me, but it is a shame that this cannot be easily achieved by all the smarty pants computers on board
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why should i think of it like two 600cc engines that may or may not work well together? it's not like they're independent cylinders, they're mechanically connected....
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Nickpilot has a very valid point.
The crank is connected but the cylinder heads are independent and have independent fuelling (and by fuelling I mean fuel and air). It is like a bicycly where the cranks are powered by fuel explosions in each cylinder rether than 2 legs.
For best peformance the cylinders need to fire at exactly the correct time and apply the same "push". One cylinder can be well tuned while the other is well out and it will run like a bad of spanners. Speak to someone who had a carbed Japanese V-Twin like a Suzuki TL. They were notorious for being equipped with the same jet for the front and rear cylinder and they ran badly. They had to be tuned with the correct jet as the rear cylinder ran hotter and had different air volumes being fed in.
In fuel injected bikes, it is thought of as best practice to have separate and tuneable EFI and ignition maps so each cylinder can be tuned for best performance and perform best together.
The crank is connected but the cylinder heads are independent and have independent fuelling (and by fuelling I mean fuel and air). It is like a bicycly where the cranks are powered by fuel explosions in each cylinder rether than 2 legs.
For best peformance the cylinders need to fire at exactly the correct time and apply the same "push". One cylinder can be well tuned while the other is well out and it will run like a bad of spanners. Speak to someone who had a carbed Japanese V-Twin like a Suzuki TL. They were notorious for being equipped with the same jet for the front and rear cylinder and they ran badly. They had to be tuned with the correct jet as the rear cylinder ran hotter and had different air volumes being fed in.
In fuel injected bikes, it is thought of as best practice to have separate and tuneable EFI and ignition maps so each cylinder can be tuned for best performance and perform best together.
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Curvesurfer...I think you have your answer. It seems (from those who spend their time with these engines on their dynos) that you end up with very different fueling, horiz and vert, on this engine to get it running 'right'. Don't ask me exactly why...I am sure there are some experts who can say....but all I am saying I had heard that from many places...and when I finally got my ECU reflashed (and open loop) and had a good man spend hours on the dyno 'tuining' the PCV....I got a different bike back. In the absence of measuting the vibrations...the mirrors are a good indicator I think. I thought they were usless when I got the bike...now....they are fine! Also I have had two 'loaner' MTS's when mine has been in for work...well I'm not going to say 'rubbish' but mine is significanlty smoother.
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Thanks for all of the replies and discussion. Your posts have been helpful.
To answer some questions: I ride a 2008 1100 standard Hyper. Stock exhaust.
So, I was/am comparing the MTS to my bike. For whatever reason (in my own make-believe moto fantasy world), I expected the MTS to be smoother than the Hyper on the highway, but my experiencence was the opposite.
After reading your posts, I see my expectation was sort of cattywampus, also, I think the demo bike I was on probably needs a valve adjustment and/or tune-up.
The vibratiness was not bad or "buzzy," it was just unexpected and it confused me; it was a head-scratcher. I was thinking bigger displacement would equal a smoother ride, but, the fact that the MTS is a v-twin screws with that equation, is that right?
To answer some questions: I ride a 2008 1100 standard Hyper. Stock exhaust.
So, I was/am comparing the MTS to my bike. For whatever reason (in my own make-believe moto fantasy world
), I expected the MTS to be smoother than the Hyper on the highway, but my experiencence was the opposite. After reading your posts, I see my expectation was sort of cattywampus
, also, I think the demo bike I was on probably needs a valve adjustment and/or tune-up. The vibratiness was not bad or "buzzy," it was just unexpected and it confused me; it was a head-scratcher. I was thinking bigger displacement would equal a smoother ride, but, the fact that the MTS is a v-twin screws with that equation, is that right?
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