2018 Ducati Multistrada 1260 First Ride Review
273.8 هزار بار بازدید -
7 سال پیش
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With more torque and more
With more torque and more tech than ever before, could the Multistrada 1260 be the perfect getaway bike?
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If you were going to rob a bank on a motorcycle, what would you choose? It needs to be fast, like any good getaway vehicle, and agile enough to evade Johnny Law. There might as well be comfort and amenities too, right? Bluetooth connectivity to contact your crew on the burner phone, plus cruise control so you maintain an inconspicuous speed while you make the call. Plus electronically adjustable suspension and ride modes for city, freeway, and back roads. You’re a bank robber, not an animal! And of course, you’ll need space for the stacks of money.
Allow me to suggest a Ducati Multistrada. It's fast, comfortable, dripping with technology, and there are approximately 10,000 new ones on the road each year, so you won't stand out in the wrong way. Since you'll be wealthy from your bold raid of First Merchants you might as well spring for the swankiest one to date: the 2018 Ducati Multistrada 1260 S Touring. Yes, I know, $22,395 is a pretty penny to spend—and we'll talk about why you might as well splurge on the S version rather than $18,695 for the base model—but you get an awful lot of motorcycle for the money.
The Tech, And What's New
You might be thinking that the new Multi 1260 looks a lot like the bike that debuted in 2010 with the 1,198cc 11° engine, and you'd be right. Aesthetics withstanding, since then the bike has been updated with Skyhook semi-active suspension (2013) and Desmodromic Variable Timing (2015) as well as many other small upgrades over the years—saddlebag latches, a color dash unit, and the like. The meaningful moves for the 2018 model involve inheriting the XDiavel's 1,262cc engine, a longer wheelbase, and updates to the color dash.
First, the powerplant, which caused a bit of a stir around here when it debuted the DVT valve system. Genius as it is, DVT didn't work perfectly right out of the gate, but in XDiavel form the engine grew to be monstrously torquey (thanks to 1.6mm of stroke added) and smoothed out considerably with evolution of the tuning. Ducati claim 18 percent more torque at 5,500 rpm, patching the dip in torque that plagued the Multi 1200 DVT mill.
The chassis updates involved lengthening the swingarm by 1.9 inches and adding a degree of rake (and 0.2 inch of trail), which adds up to a wheelbase that’s 2.2 inches longer—that’s a lot. The frame was also updated to hold the XDiavel powerplant, and while the Sachs fork and shock use the same external hardware, they are adjusted differently for the new setup. I asked why the wheelbase and rake stretch and what I heard was, “stability.” Apparently, Ducati felt it could make a bike just as agile but more stable when ridden fast with a passenger and full luggage. More on that later.
The dash is the same size but has a higher-resolution TFT screen and updated software to navigate the galaxy of options within—that includes everything from damping characteristics in the suspension to adjusting each of the electronic rider aids individually. Basically, instead of only offering a spread of settings from which to choose (1 through 8 for traction control, for example), there is guidance built in—select TC Level 2 and the bike tells you that’s best for performance on dry roads, where TC Level 7 is best for performance on wet roads. It’s all a little arbitrary, and dependent on rider skill, of course, but it’s a step toward people learning how the system is meant to operate. (For an example of how the menus look and work, see the video embedded below.)
Other changes and updates slung around the Multi 1260 include new heated grips, a “more reliable” keyless ignition (evidently the previous one was finicky), an up/down quickshifter option (standard on the S), and a tire-pressure monitoring system option. There’s also the Ducati Link App, which will allow owners to adjust settings from their phone, link with social media, track and share rides, win badges and points for logging miles, and keep track of service intervals—18,000 miles between valve adjustments, by the way, and 9,000 for basic service. The app is available starting in February of 2018.
Full story here: www.cycleworld.com/2018-ducati-multistrada-1260-s-…
This bike by the numbers:
Price as Tested: $22,595
Displacement: 1262cc
Claimed Wet Weight: 518 lb. (235 kg)
Fuel Capacity: 5.3 gal. (20L)
Seat Height: 33.3/32.5 in. (845/825mm)
Claimed Horsepower: 158 hp @ 9500 rpm
Claimed Torque: 95.1 lb.-ft. @ 7500 rpm
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7 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1396/09/23 منتشر شده
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