www.motorcyclenews.com

12 NEW BIKES

DUCATI

WORLD FIRST TEST

‘Move over BMW GS, KTM Super Adventure and the rest – there’s a new kid in town’

MA

RC

O C

AM

PE

LL

I

DUCATIMULTISTRADA 1200 ENDURO

#MCNwednesday

13 BUYING & SELLING SPORT March 23 2016FEATURES GARAGETHIS WEEK NEW BIKES

‘Such a blindingly obvious idea it’s amazing they didn’t build it years ago’

High-speed S-bends on a 19in front? That’s no problem on the impressive Enduro

Continued over

Mile upon mile of damp, slippery fire-trail wiggles like a giant, lazy worm across a warm, soggy landscape. The last tar-mac is an hour’s ride ago.

Since then we’ve been slithering over the rough surface, rear tyre spray-ing a moist plume of gravel and dirt into the Mediterranean air, 19in front gliding securely over the track. This is a masterful display of control from the big V-twin, flattering its nervous rider when the going gets tricky with fantastic chassis balance and wel-come electronic traction and braking management. But it also lets off-road experts do their thing and have fun accessing the engine performance.

And Ducati’s new Multistrada 1200 Enduro is just as compelling later in the day on the relative safety of Sardinia’s grippy coastal blacktop. It’s secure, stable and slings itself through corners with an entirely chuck-able competence belying its long-travel springs. But then the Enduro is built around the standard Multistrada, and that’s a hell of a starting point because it’s one of the most versatile bikes on the road. With its flexible, variable-valve timed motor making 160bhp and spreading torque about like butter, yet with a luxury tech-spec that would put head offices in Silicon Valley to shame, the 1200 S is both staggeringly rapid in the bends and incredibly comfortable over any distance.

But although the existing 1200 S has Enduro mode, it isn’t fooling anyone. It’s only brilliant while it’s on a rela-tively solid surface. Until now.

The 1200 Enduro is Ducati’s first adventure bike with true off-road potential. But as soon as you ride the Enduro, the concept becomes such a blindingly obvious idea that it’s amaz-ing they didn’t build it years ago.

The first thing an off-road bike needs is long-travel suspension to cope with bumps and ruts. The 1200 S already has that, but the Enduro gets 30mm longer springs for its semi-active Sachs forks and shock, and revised Skyhook damping software re-calibrated to suit the weight and chassis dynamic. Wire rims replace cast spokes – heavier, but stronger over bumps – with an all-important 19in front opening up

options for better trail rubber and mak-ing steering on the loose stuff less hap-hazard than the 17in hoop on the 1200 S. A double-sided swingarm replaces the Multi’s single-sider – it’s stronger for a given weight – and gives a longer wheelbase. Further geometry tweaks and a damper calm the front end.

After that, the Enduro gets a selection of practical dirt details: flexible steel brake and gear levers instead of brittle aluminium (a nice touch is the spring-loaded reversible rear brake lever, to set at different heights for off-road use), higher bars for a standing-up riding style and off-road control, a longer front beak to keep mud spray down, and a narrower, deeper seat for better bodyweight positioning.

Now you can contemplate riding a Ducati on a round-the-world trip as easily as thinking of a BMW or a KTM etc. And to back it up, Ducati are keen to stress they have a global network of

766 dealers and service centres ready to scoop up your battered Enduro and make it good again should you throw it off a cliff in the middle of nowhere.

Of course, Ducati wouldn’t admit this but the customers who elect to go on year-long adventures are really unpaid ambassadors. For every Multistrada Enduro outside a hotel in Bamako, there’ll be hundreds outside hotels in Yorkshire, Norfolk, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall, whose owners have been inspired and empowered to have their own, more modest adventures.

And this is the Enduro’s real target market – which is why it also comes with a 30-litre tank (with aluminium knee panels for standing-up wear and tear) for 250 miles between stops; tank range is the first thing many potential owners will check in the spec panel and it’s a major consideration on a flagship adventure bike (41.5mpg average on the ride gives a theoretical 270 miles).

Potential owners will also be grateful

YEARS OF DUCATIANNIVERSARY

SPECIAL

By Simon Hargreaves

MCN CONTRIBUTOR

Double-sided swingarm for greater strength Sprung and adjustable brake pedal is classy 870mm seat gives commanding view, and good comfort Get spec’d up for round-the-world adventure

www.motorcyclenews.com

14 NEW BIKES

With specially tuned semi-active

Sachs suspension giving 200mm

of wheel travel front and rear (30mm

more than the 1200 S), the Enduro’s

Skyhook algorithm is adapted for

off-road performance. The Ducati

also adds a steering damper, to

keep the 19in front wheel

pointing straight.

Suspension

1

A redesigned off-road seat is

a non-adjustable 870mm, an inch

higher than the 1200 S on its max

setting – a lower (and taller) seat

is optional. Bars are 50mm higher

for better off-road control (with

repositioned mirrors), and steel

pegs are off-road style with

removable rubber inserts.

Riding position

2

Like BMW’s R1200 GSA and

KTM’s 1290 Super Adventure (but

not Triumph’s Tiger Explorer), the

Enduro has a 30 litre tank and a 270-

mile range. Brake and gear levers are

made from flexible steel instead of

brittle aluminium. The footpegs

have serrated treads and

removable rubber

inserts.

Tank and controls

4

Featuring the same exhaustive

list of electronics as the 1200 S, the

Enduro features Sport, Street, Urban

and Enduro modes for various engine

power, traction control, cornering

ABS and wheelie settings, plus

cruise control, hill hold start,

Bluetooth hands-free and

multi-colour TFT

clocks

Electronics

3

MULTISTRADA ENDURO IN DETAIL

#MCNwednesday

15 March 23 2016

VERDICTGenuine off-road ability meets

all-day techy-touring, and

without any meaningful loss of

cornering prowess on the tarmac.

Move over BMW GS, KTM Super

Adventure and the rest; there’s a

new kid in town.

WE LIKE

WE DON’T LIKE

■ New sense of purpose; the Enduro

really does do it all

■ It’s more expensive than the

BMW... but that’s about it!

TECH SPEC

Price £16,826 (base), £17,026

Engine 1198cc, liquid-cooled,

4-stroke, 8-valve 90°

V-twin with VVT

Power 160bhp @ 9500rpm

Torque 100.3 ftlb @ 7500rpm

Electronics Four rider modes, eight

stage TC and anti-wheelie, cornering ABS, hill hold,

semi-active suspension, cruise control, cornering

lights, backlit switchgear, hands-free Bluetooth

multimedia

Weight 254kg (kerb)

Capacity 30 litres

Seat height 870mm (850/890mm)

Frame Tubular steel trellis

On sale Available to order now

2016 DUCATI MULTISTRADA 1200 ENDURO

The Ducati’s full colour LCD screen is detailed yet clear and easy to navigate

19in and 17in wire rims make

more sense off road than the road

version’s cast 17in wheels, adding

strength (and weight) but allowing a

wider range of off-road rubber. Pirelli

Scorpion Trail IIs are standard,

but the more technical Pirelli

Scorpion Rally is an option.

Wheels & tyres

6

The Enduro uses the same

160bhp, 1198cc Testastretta as the

1200 S: same power, same torque,

same variable valve timing, same

engine mapping, but with a higher

exhaust for really big puddles. The

rear sprocket has three more

teeth, making the motor feel

more responsive.

Engine

5

1979

The greatest British Grand Prix ever?

Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene’s thrilling showdown at Silverstone

The greattesttBriitish Grand Prix ever?

Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene’s thrilliing showdown at Silverstone

We were there too

Bennetts

Bennetts.co.uk 0330 018 5945

Trusted by riders for over 85 years

Motorcycle insurance specialist

Excellent customer service

Outstanding value

Image supplied by Bauer Media

Ducati haven’t skimped elsewhere – the Enduro is no cut-down road bike. It has the same 160bhp, 1198cc 90° Testastretta V-twin as the 1200 S – the same power, same torque, same variable valve tim-ing system to deliver optimum drive from tickover to its 9500rpm peak. They haven’t trimmed the electronics either; the Enduro features the same incredible list of technology as the 1200 S – four riding modes that change engine power, throttle response, trac-tion control, wheelie control, engine braking, cornering ABS and semi-active suspension all at once, at the press of a button. The Enduro also gets cornering headlights, cruise control, backlit switches, Bluetooth multimedia integration and, for the first time, hill hold control – where the bike senses it’s on a hill and applies a brake so you can hold the clutch in without rolling backwards. Heated grips are still only an option, but a centrestand is standard.

And the key finding from a day of 50 miles off road and 100 on tarmac, is Ducati have hit the target. The Enduro is no less long-distance than the S, despite its off-road ergonomics. The bars are high and wide, great for levering the bike from side-to-side through bends. And the extra ride quality from the lanky springs reduces road noise even more than before, giving the new bike a composed, coasting feel over most road surfaces. In terms of ride dynamic it’s closer to the active, aggressive KTM Super Adventure, and more gangly and involving than the mellifluous, touring waft of the BMW R1200 GSA.

Ducati have also given it one of the

most popular home-tuning mods, with three extra teeth on the rear sprocket so it feels more feisty in every gear.

As with the road-based 1200 S, the Enduro comes in four ‘packs’: Touring, Sport, Urban and, er, Enduro. But the various options of massive Touratech panniers (Touring), Touratech topbox (Urban), titanium Termignoni (Sport) or even crashbars, grilles and chain guard (Enduro) are all designed as a starting point; you can create your ideal Multistrada Enduro from there using the wide range of accessories.

So whether you cross continents by road or by trail, the Ducati Multistrada Enduro is a serious consideration. And about bloody time.

WHERE THE MULTISTRADA ENDURO FITS IN

BMW R1200GS

ADVENTURE

£12,100-£15,140

Class leader for over a

decade, and rightfully

so. Refined, practical,

total comfort and

peerless high-tech

handling and equipment

delivers faultless long-

distance ability. Plenty

of performance, but

down on outright power

compared to rivals.

TRIUMPH TIGER

EXPLORER XRT

£15,000

New for 2016, the refined

and revamped Triumph

Tiger Explorer, in top-

of-the-range XRT guise,

delivers equivalent

technology (traction

control, cornering

ABS and semi-active

suspension) as the

competition. But only

sports a 20-litre tank.

KTM 1290 SUPER

ADVENTURE

£16,199

With 15 years of Dakar

wins, KTM bring an

off-road aggression to

the super-adventure

class, with a similar

level of technology and

equipment but with a

claimed 160bhp and a

get-up-and-go attitude

that’s either fun, or

distracting.