Marking two decades of perhaps the most versatile, and most unconventional (for Ducati), motorcycle in the firm’s history is the “Multistrada 20th – Twenty Years of Evolutionary Exploration” exhibit. Held in its museum in Borgo Panigale, Bologna, Italy, the exhibit showcases the evolution of the Multistrada adventure-tourer from 2003 to 2023.
Primarily known for its sports bikes and racing machines, Ducati’s decision to launch the first Multistrada 1000DS in 2003 took many Ducatisti by surprise. No doubt, the Pierre Terblanche design of the very first Multistrada, like its 999 stablemate, was polarising.
This included the author, who, upon first presentation of the Multistrada 1000DS in Minerva Motors Singapore, remarked, “looks like it fell out of the ugly tree… and hit every branch on the way down.” Nevertheless, the Multistrada, through its four iterations through the years, has become a showcase of Ducati’s motorcycle engineering prowess.
The basic adventure-tourer shape of the Multistrada has remained much the same over the decades with the latest generation Multistrada V4 Rally now sporting a very aggressive and purposeful stance. Be that as it may, the Multistrada range from Ducati is now Ducati’s platform for its technological development.
Breaking convention when it entered the market, the Multistrada 1000DS came with a 17-inch front wheel, when most adventure-tourers, what we would today call “crossover” motorcycles, had an 18-inch hoop in front. Along with its 195 kg dry weight, the same as the Ducati 916, the 1000DS brought sportsbike insanity to the touring class.
While most could not cotton on to its looks, in certain markets riders took to it wholesale. After all, a sportsbike disguised as an adventure-touring motorcycle, with comfortable seat and riding position, what’s not to like?
The second generation of the Multistrada, the 1200, appeared in 2010. Reducing the Terblanche influence, the Multistrada 1200 showed Ducati’s intention in the new decade, one of aggressive riding and positive handling, along with the appearance of the “beak”.
Markets lapped it up, notably in Europe and Australia and till today retains a die-hard fan base. When the next generation of the Multistrada appeared in 2015, its third, technology was now coming to the fore-front with riding aids like cruise control and cornering ABS.
2010 marked a paradigm shift for the Multistrada, marking the shift from V-twin to V-four power. While the Desmodue twin which appeared in the first generation Multistrada was top technology for the time, it was eclipsed by the Testastretta 11° V-twin.
The appearance of the Granturismo V-four, derived from the Panigale superbike’s Stradale V-four, gave the Multistrada 170 hp and performance of a superbike. In its current incarnation, the Multistrada range comprises of the Multistrada V4 1260 with the pinnacle being the Multistrada V4 Rally, along with the Multistrada V2 and the very sporty Pikes Park variant with superbike tyre sizing and race-biased software.
Technology is cutting edge on the Multistrada V4, the first production motorcycle to carry front and rear radar allowing for adaptive cruise control. The Multistrada V4’s radar system also gives blind spot detection, a key safety feature we expect will trickle down the Ducati range.
The Sygic GPS app on the Multistrada V4 has a smartphone mirroring function, showing the rider navigation maps in real time on the 6.5-inch TFT-LCD screen while the rider’s smartphone itself is stored in a dedicated compartment.
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