DUCATI MULTISTRADA V4S (2021 - on) Review

Words by Simon Hargreaves

The new Ducati Multistrada V4 S is one of the most fabulously accomplished adventure bikes you can buy, loaded with an almost perfect blend of extreme performance, supreme comfort, market-leading practicality and unrivalled levels of technology.

• Latest news: Ducati load Panigale engine into Multistrada for RS model

Inserting the supremely potent Panigale V4 motor into a big, lofty all-rounder sounds like a recipe for a mis-matched disaster – but Ducati have pulled it off big time to create the Multistrada V4.

It stretches the definition of an all-rounder – the Multistrada isn’t just capable of riding on its eponymous 'many roads', it excels on them. From touring to track days to off-road to hammering round town, there will be few bikes can match the Ducati in any one discipline, let alone all of them.

The Ducati Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak joined the range in 2022 and is a performance oriented version with a 17in front wheel. Then, in 2023, a hardcore off road version called the Ducati Multistrada V4 Rally was launched to rival the BMW R150GS Adventure.

This bike replaced the Ducati Multistrada 1260S.

Ducati Multistrada V4 S on UK roads

First published on 25 January, 2021 by Michael Neeves

We know about the new engine and also that its steel trellis frame has made way for an aluminium monocoque, the riding position refined, electronics overhauled and that in November during its Italian world launch it impressed the hell out of us. But how will the Ducati Multistrada V4S fare on wet, one-degree MCN250 tarmac in mid-January?

We’re riding the ‘Full’ S spec, which costs £21,495 and is as loaded as it can be (the panniers it should come with weren’t available for our test). There are cheaper Performance, Travel, Travel and Radar packs and a Sport coming soon, but whichever way you dress it the Ducati is an expensive beast.

At a glance the new Multi doesn’t look that different from the old V-twin, until the anorak comes out and you notice the V4 badges, its new traffic-parting, cornering LED-encrusted beak, subtle restyling and the addition of more strakes, wings and scoops. It doesn’t take too many miles on its luxurious, heated saddle to realise the whole ethos has changed, too.

When it was released in 2010, the outgoing Ducati Panigale 1198 superbike-based Multistrada was the bike for those who craved the performance of the race reps they’d left behind. It was a genuinely comfortable superbike and such a hit it quickly influenced its two main rivals: BMW’s S1000XR and the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT.

Many would even hustle their Multis on track, indeed there’s a lap timer on the new 6.5in colour dash, but it doesn’t take long to spot the clues to the new direction, like that relatively lowly four-cylinder redline and the controversial move from a 17in to 19in front wheel.

Despite what some may think, the big wheel doesn’t take anythingaway from the sportiness. The V4 waltzes around our B-road loop with breath-taking poise and its dual-purpose Pirelli Scorpion Trail II tyres somehow find mind-boggling grip on cold and wet roads.

Just pick a line and the Multi follows. What’s most impressive is it does all this despite its physical size and huge (243kg) bulk - it would make a Yamaha Tracer 900 feel like a pocket bike by comparison. I’m six-foot and feel dwarfed by it.

That 19in front wheel will let you go off road, if you’re brave enough, but precludes the use of anything stickier than sports touring or dual-purpose rubber. That’s no biggie for the road, but it’s a statement of intent: the Multistrada V4 S is now a fully-fledged adventure bike, albeit heavily biased towards tarmac.

From its wide-barred riding position to its calm steering, juggernaut-like stability and monster grunt, it’s become rather BMW GS-like and that’s exactly the party Ducati wants to crash. It’s their take on the theme, of course, with its deep 916-like airbox roar, shiny paint, smart detailing and healthy dose of ‘emozione’.

The Ducati hasn’t gone soft, though. It makes 155bhp at the back wheel on our dyno, will loop in the lower gears without its anti-wheelie and on track would hit 160mph before you’d have time to say gosh. The engine doesn’t clatter at low revs like the old twin, it fuels like silk and there’s so much thrust you can get a serious wiggle-on without troubling the gears.

Electronic rider aids enjoy a new level of refinement, staying silent until you need them and the new dash and switchgear are class-leading in their elegance, usefulness and simplicity, once you’ve got your head around the tonne of information available at your fingertips (Ducati’s online tutorial videos are well worth watching).

Adaptive cruise control is a first for a road bike. It works like a normal system, but when the radar senses a moving vehicle ahead it throttles back to keep a constant distance. It can be handy but takes some of the fluidity out of riding and often locks on to slower motorway traffic when you don’t want it to. But the new blind spot detector is extremely useful, warning you of vehicles closing in.

There are a few ripples in the V4’s lake of tranquillity. There’s a lot of engine braking, which isn’t an issue on motorways or scratchy back roads, but the engine holds you back rolling on and off the throttle through flowing corners and forces you to use higher gears to maintain momentum and smoothness.

The Brembo Stylemas don’t have the power you’d expect, which is probably down to touring-spec brake pad material and the bike’s all-up weight. And although the Multistrada V4 S is supremely plush, spacious and quieter at speed than before, thanks to its new screen, the bars are a long reach.

On the longer stretches it was making me stoop uncomfortably unless I sat right forward. A 37mpg average and theoretical 179-mile tank range is a real disappointment, too.

Niggles aside, the Multi is a very special bike and one that becomes more impressive the more miles you pile on. It’s still an incredible performance bike, but now more civilised, refined and for those same sporty riders than loved the original, more grown up too.

Ducati’s new Multistrada V4 S crushes motorway miles like a full-blown tourer and scorches through B-roads in a way that belies its size and weight. It combines comfort, superbike speed, excitement, practicality and tech in one beautifully rounded Bologna ball of brilliance and to be able to genuinely enjoy a ride on such cold, wet roads speak volumes for its capability.

The new engine’s smoothness, grunt and superbike airbox roar is what makes the new Multi such a great road machine, but it now feels more like an adventure bike with its 19in front wheel, giving it a newfound sure-footedness.

Fuel range is poor for a tourer, the bar position might not be perfect for some and the V4’s strong engine braking can be an irritation on flowing roads. It isn’t cheap either.

That said, the new Multistrada V4 S is still hugely impressive. In truth even our MCN250 route isn’t far enough to appreciate a machine that genuinely gets better the longer you spend with it.

Watch our Ducati Multistrada V4 S video review here:

Ducati update the Multistrada V4 S for 2022

First published 24 February 2022 by Dan Sutherland

Ducati have updated their Multistrada V4 range for 2022, adding a new 'Iceberg White' paint job and a range of electronic updates.

The Bologna firm have sold almost 10,000 Multi V4s since its arrival in 2021 and plan to expand on this figure with updates to the electronic suspension, infotainment system, and accessories catalogue. The glossy new black and white colour scheme will be available for the S model only from March 2022.

Elsewhere, the semi-active electronic suspension gets a new feature called 'minimum preload.' This allows you to reduce the bike’s ride height – making it easier to manage at slow speeds and around town.

This is activated with a long press of the suspension mode button on the dash and automatically goes again once the bike reaches 71mph. That said, it can also be manually deactivated by pressing the same mode button again.

The rider-to-bike infotainment system has also been updated to become more functional. Both updates will come as standard for 2022 machines and will be installed free of charge for existing V4 S owners – with riders notified of availability via the MyDucati App.

To make your bike more personal, there’s also some new optional extras. For shorter riders, there’s a lowered suspension kit, which alters the fork springs, shock springs and side stand - reducing the standard 840mm seat height by 20mm.

From April 2022, a set of aluminium side panniers and top case, designed in collaboration with Givi, will also be available. These provide 76 litres of side pannier storage and 41 litres up top.

The key to the Multi V4’s handling dynamic starts, oddly enough, with the engine. Because it’s substantially more compact and mass centralised than the V-twin it replaces – shorter front to rear, shorter top to bottom and only slightly wider – it means Ducati can place it optimally in the chassis (which is itself all-new). This means although the engine is higher in the frame for better ground clearance off-road, the centre of gravity is lower for a more steady, sports-touring handling feel.

The smaller engine also means the front wheel can go up to 19in from 17in for better off-road performance and a lighter, more agile steering, and yet the steering angle can also be reduced because there’s more clearance for the front cylinder bank. At the back, the shorter motor allows a longer swingarm in a shorter wheelbase, giving greater leverage control over the shock and giving better ride quality and better pitch dynamics.

A stiffer, 4kg lighter aluminium monocoque frame replaces the old steel trellis. A double-sided swingarm replaces the old single-sided arm, because it has to take either cast or wire spoke wheels. Coupled with the next generation of semi-active suspension, this means the new Multi has an unrivalled combination of ride quality and handling stability. It feels immediately more stable and less fidgety and active than the lively 1260 V-twin, which was constantly chattering and nattering away to the rider with its agitated steering, like an excited puppy.

The new Ducati Multistrada is smooth, sophisticated and rides like buttermilk in comparison, sliding impressively up bumps instead of arguing with them, refusing to engage with dips and potholes. It’s a serene and hugely impressive performance.

An all-new V4 using the 200bhp+ Stradale unit from the Ducati Panigale V4 and Ducati Streetfighter V4 as a start point. It retains the Twin Pulse firing order and interval for V-twin feel and sound (like two small V-twins firing in quick succession), the backwards-spinning crank for more agility and better stability, and rear cylinder cut at standstill for better heat management. But everything else is different.

The Ducati Multistrada’s V4 is big bored by 55cc from 1103cc to 1158cc, but retuned to make 170bhp at 10,500rpm instead of over 200bhp at 12,750rpm. Torque is 92lbft at 8750rpm; on par with the Streetfighter’s 90lbft, but at much lower revs. So this is, effectively, compressing the V4’s power and torque curves into a shorter rev range, losing the top end but adding a stack of midrange shove.

Compared to the out-going 1262cc V-twin, the V4 is 12bhp up, but makes slightly less peak torque – and after the effects of gearing are taken into account, and the differences in engine feel, the Multi V4 feels just as substantially powerful on the road, but with more smoothness and flexibility. It will trickle along in top gear at tickover without drivetrain lash more common on big V-twins, and has none of the lurching shudder when it’s pinned.

Instead, the V-four delivers the perfect mix of V-twin charisma matched with inline four performance, driving forward with a deceptive midrange bulge, but without an inline four’s screaming top end. It’s a wonderful, intoxicating engine to use, fast or slow.

For the first time since 1978 on a big Ducati, the Multi V4 runs with valve springs instead of Desmo valve gear – it’s cheaper to assemble, lighter, puts less stress on the valve train, and increase service intervals. Ducati are happy to trade a bit of tradition and heritage in return.

The Multitrada is Ducati’s technology flagship with a typically Italian flair to its design and detailing. Every user component, from pegs to levers, switchgear to software functions, is considered with convenience and ease of use in mind, as well as quality.

Ducati also consider durability as a cornerstone of their brand value – which is why the Multi V4 comes with a 9000-mile oil change interval, and 37,000 miles between major valve clearance services. On top of that, the ease of servicing is improved too, with a quick-release air filter needing no bodywork removal, and the switch to valve springs instead of Desmo valve gear reduces workshop time, and labour costs.

Watch: Ducati Multistrada V4 S on the 2021 MCN Fleet

Ducati say their intended rival for the new Multistrada is BMW’s R1250GS, which is an odd thing to say at first because the rival that springs immediately to mind when you see a 170bhp motor in a tall rounder chassis with tons of gadgets and continent-crushing capacity is BMW’s S1000XR – a bike against which the Multi V4 is most obviously similar.

But comparing the V4 to the GS shows how Ducati have sought to expand the Multi’s role. Previously, if you wanted a big-bore Ducati adventure bike you bought the Enduro. Now, you buy the Multi V4 and spec it to Enduro spec with wire wheels and knobblies. It’s the same bike, apart from that, as the model you’d have with cast wheels and happily take to a track day. Or, put another way, imagine putting wire wheels and knobblies on an S1000XR.

So on the face of it, the new Multi V4 is, depending on what shoes it puts on, designed to be as capable off-road as a GS, and as capable on road as an XR. Which is the very definition of a Multi-Strada...

Its other main rival is the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT.

Insurance is likely to be similar to the outgoing Multistrada 1260, and the V4 has no additional security measures beyond, on the V4 S model, keyless ignition.

Service costs have been reduced (see above), but increased fuel consumption over the 1260 V-twin will more than compensate. Ducati claim the four drinks fuel at 43mpg compared to the 1260’s 54mpg; it has more power and twice as many cylinders and throttle bodies.

To compensate, Ducati have increased tank size from 20 litres to 22 litres. But that’s a 10 per cent increase in volume and a 20 per cent increase in consumption – a theoretical 1260 tank range is 240 miles; the V4’s is just over 200. But that’s on paper; in the real world, the V-twin averages around 170 miles (some owners get much more, some less, depends on riding style).

The Multi V4 indicates 38mpg – which means a tank will last 180 miles, if it uses all its fuel and runs out opposite a pump. In reality, you’ll be looking to fill up at around 150 miles.

Ducati won’t say if there are plans to build a 30-litre adventure V4; the range is designed as per the 950 Multistradas – you basically spec the kind of the Multi you want online; which model, which Packs and which accessories; say, a V4 S Sport in Enduro-spec, with wire spoke wheels, Pirelli Scorpion Rally tyres, crash bars, etc – and the factory assembles it just for you.

Ducati Multistrada V4 S vs BMW R1250GS

First published on 25 Faebruary, 2021 by Michael Neeves

With a V4 tuned for real-world grunt and cheaper servicing, dual purpose tyres and a shift from a 17in front to 19in, the 2021 Multistrada V4 S has moved away from its superbike roots and into adventure territory.

It’s all sorts of clever mechanically, electronically and as we discovered at its launch and around our MCN250 route, it impresses more the longer you spend aboard. After a long day’s riding, you’ll be gagging for more.

Swift, stylish and comfortable, the once raucous Multistrada is now more sophisticated and has its sights set on adventure domination… and there’s none more dominant than BMW’s R1250GS.

Both have the kind of meaty midrange thrust that makes an overtake a mere centimetre of throttle away and the Multi’s new ‘Grantursino’ V4 engine acts and even sounds like a big V-twin, thanks its twin-pulse firing order.

It doesn’t rev to the moon and back like the racier, slightly smaller-cubed Panigale/Streetfighter ‘Stradale’ desmo V4s, but its crank spins backwards like a MotoGP bike’s, to keep a lid on understeer, wheelies and backing in.

The GS’s grunt comes from its variable valve timing ‘ShiftCam’ system and gives the flat twin unbridled eagerness from walking pace to its 9000rpm redline (just 1000rpm shy of the Ducati’s). The Multi’s engine is less vibey, but with its extra cubes and fewer pistons the BMW is more urgent on the throttle.

The BMW’s screen is quieter at speed and its wheel adjuster is easy to use, but not as elegant as the Ducati’s one-finger mechanism. Bars are closer to the rider on the GS, making it kinder on your back and its heated grips are hotter.

At 70mph it’s revving at just 4000rpm in top, compared to the Ducati’s more fidgety 4600rpm and the constant tugging from the Multi’s strong engine braking can become tiresome on flowing A roads.

So for long distance serenity the BMW just edges it, but what about the Ducati’s radar-controlled cruise control? Well, there’s nothing quite like your right wrist when it comes to blending and flowing in motorway traffic and the same is possible with a deft twiddle of the BMW’s cruise control switch. The Multistrada’s (always) adaptive system takes all that finesse away.

Even with its newfound adventure focus the lofty Multistrada doesn’t hang around. The 168bhp Ducati is ultimately quicker than the 134bhp GS if you ride it very hard and thanks to its stiffer chassis, shorter travel suspension and grippy Pirelli Scorpion Trail II tyres it’s more stable through corners. Does having a 19in front wheel instead of the old 17in ever hold it back? No.

The Ducati would leave a GS in its wake in a straight-up race, but at normal road speeds the BMW is more engaging. Its flat twin has more poke off the corners than you can shake a Charley and Ewan at and it always feels more urgent and ready to go. Its raw, racy exhaust note is about as far away from the GS’s pipe-and-slippers beginnings as you can get, too.

The verdict

Ducati might have entered BMW’s territory, but the GS doesn’t take it lying down. The Multistrada V4 S is full of tech, raw straight-line speed, huge stability through corners and outright flair.

But the Beemer melts away the miles more easily with a more comfortable bar position, less windblast, hotter grips and a less intrusive cruise control system. The GS is more engaging on back roads thanks to extra punch and fluidity from its boxer engine, has stronger brakes and more effortless handling. It’s more vibey than the mellifluous V4, but you’ll never tire of its deep, cracking exhaust note.

The sky’s the limit when it comes equipment, but generally the BMW is cheaper to buy at equivalent spec and better on fuel… but the Ducati is cheaper to service. They yo-yo in our affections every inch of the way, but the BMW just edges it.

That said, if you’ve always fancied the idea of a GS but want something a bit different… a bit more Italian, the new V4 S is the bike for you.

The Multi V4 range comes in three basic specs; V4, V4 S and V4 S Sport. All three have the same engine, core electronics (traction, cornering ABS, rider modes) and frame, but the S and S Sport come with semi-active suspension, a larger 6.5in TFT dash (5in on the base model) and uprated electronics spec (adds quickshifter, cornering headlights, hill hold, anti-weave control, keyless ignition) and uprated brakes. The V4 S Sport adds an Akrapovic can and carbon hugger. The V4 S and Sport come with a USB port and two 12v sockets.

All three are even more upgradable with a host of the usual accessories, including the aforementioned wire wheels, heated grips, crash bars, centrestand, luggage options (including panniers with an anti-wobble, lateral movement).

And the Multi V4 is the first bike to offer radar-assisted cruise control and radar-assisted blind spot detection. Two sensors on the nose and tail of the bike scan forwards and backwards up to 160m (the front radar range can be controlled via up and down buttons on the left switchgear).

The cruise control uses the information to gently alter the speed of the bike, so when it detects a vehicle in front on the motorway it gradually decelerates to match the vehicle’s speed and maintain the specified distance, then accelerates gently back up when the object has moved. At no time does the bike 'take control' or do anything untoward. You can’t exactly switch off and have a snooze – instead, it’s just to avoid having to constantly disengage cruise control when you come up behind a slightly slower vehicle in front. In use, it’s very effective.

The blind spot detection simply spots a vehicle approaching from behind and alerts the rider with a soft amber light set into the mirror. It’s not annoying and is genuinely useful.