Staff Bikes: Ducati Multistrada - It continues to impress

If you’re going on a long trip then the first thing you need is a motorcycle that’s capable of covering big miles in comfort with luggage on board. That’s the Multistrada 1200S then.

The next thing you need is a decent set of tyres that will grip in the bends but do plenty of motorways miles.

Before a trip to the Jerez round of MotoGP with MCN’s sub editor Mark Holmes taking my Ducati Multistrada 1200S for a feature, we fitted Michelin’s Pilot Road 3 tyres.

They’re sold on their outstanding grip in the wet and are claimed to stop as much as five metres faster in the wet than a Michelin Pilot Road 2.

They were fitted following the tyre’s UK launch at Bedford Autodrome and a few damp patches on the way into work the next day gave me instant confidence in their grip.

The Multistrada 1200S Sport may have traction control but it’s also got more torque than a Ducati 999R and that means when it’s wet you need a decent tyre. The Michelins certainly seem up to that job and are simply incredible when it’s wet.

And in the dry after almost two thousand motorway miles they’ve hardly squared off and look virtually new.

As the miles pile on the Multistrada continues to impress. It is ultra comfortable and the engine continues to stagger me every time I fire it up.

You never go wanting for power and there’s always grunt when you need it, the Multistrada 1200S truly is a staggeringly good bike.

In fact Mark Holmes who rode the bike to Jerez still keeps trying to steal the keys as it blew him away with the way it rode, handled and covered ground so quickly.

Further reading:
Ducati Multistrada blog

Multistrada11 blog11