There’s no getting away from the fact that this is a big bike. The seat is an inch taller than the standard Multistrada’s and the bars 50mm higher. With its big 30-litre fuel tank it’s wide, too, so shorter riders will struggle to get both feet down at a standstill, especially off-road. It’s a bike for the taller rider, or a confident off-roader. But with its tuned semi-active Sachs suspension the Ducati irons out the road ahead and even riding over rocks, you’d swear you were on tarmac. Handling on the dirt is excellent and it’s actually pretty nimble on tricky sections. New spoked wheels (with a 19” front) are shod with dual purpose Pirelli Scorpion Trail II tyres and give lots of grip and confidence in all conditions. A comfortable riding position, excellent wind protection and goodies like heated grips and cruise control all add up to make the 1200 Enduro the perfect cross-continental companion.
The Enduro uses the same latest-generation 160bhp, 1198cc Testastretta engine as the 1200 S with the same power, torque, Desmodromic Variable Timing (DVT) and engine mapping. It has a higher exhaust for improved off-road ground clearance and three extra teeth on the rear sprocket for more instant acceleration. With its DVT the smooth motor doesn’t have any of that low rev ‘clatter’ normally associated with big Ducati twins. It delivers a healthy kick at the top end and a satisfying bark through its airbox, like a big single-cylinder motocross bike.
We’ve heard of no major problems with the standard Multistrada range, on which the 12200 Enduro is based on. Build quality and attention to detail is exceptional and service intervals are every 9300-miles with valve checks at double that.
There’s no question you get a hell of a lot of bike for the money and it will genuine do anything and go anywhere, better than its big off-road rivals. But you’d need to be very brave to really take your sixteen grand pride and joy off-road.
The 1200 is as loaded as you’d expect and comes with a colour dash display, a full electronics package, semi-active suspension, off-road pegs and levers, a centre stand…the list goes on. You can also add an Enduro, Touring, Sport or Urban Pack to customise you Ducati even more.