Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

Been busy today test riding a couple of bikes. First this one:





Then this one:





Both bike totally different from my current S1000RR.

What were your observations, Jon?

And i mean the bikes and not 'Ye Olde naked Man'

Yes tell us more.

Ducati Multistrada 1200S Granturismo V BMW R1200 GS TE

OK, I had been looking at a Multistrada at the Manchester bike show and agreed to go for a test ride. But also decided to ride the GS as a comparison. Agreed with the salesman to ride the GS first then come and see him at Ducati.
Arrived at BMW 8:30 this morning.
Set of for a ride, first things I noticed was the lack of dive on the forks under braking, which takes a bit of getting used to. The brakes don't seem to be doing much so I kept squeezing harder, then realised that they were slowing me rapidly and the back end was going light. The other thing was the feel of the engine when stationary, but this was expected and nothing like as bad as I thought. Through the town and into the twisties. What I noticed was how good the wind protection was and checking the speedo (which was quite difficult to read) I was going far faster than I thought.
This bike has fantastic low down grunt, but for me first gear mas much lower than Im used to, that and the redline being 9k revs I kept hitting the rev limiter. (Also happened when I changed down instead of up as the gears are the opposite way to mine.)
The on to a tight and twisty B road I know quite well. All I can say is wow this bike is so fast to go from right to left lean and back again. Total shock.
It has the electronic suspension and switching from road to dynamic was really noticeable.
Another big shock was the fantastic sound track from the exhaust.
Dropped bike off at the dealers and rode the few miles to Ducati.
Their test bike was the Granturismo version, (top of the range apart from the Pikes Peak.)
On arriving bumped into 4 of my mates, one of which was picking up his brad new Multi. The others were on 2 Multis and a 1199 R.
Decided to ride up to Settle with them.
Liked the keyless ignition idea. Thats good will stop me parking up at bike haunts and leaving the keys in the ignition
First impression on the Multi. Lots more vibes than the GS, mostly through the seat. Second, the centre stand was in the effing way of my foot. Not good
Few miles up the motorway and then fast flowing A roads. Wind protection nowhere near as good as the GS. Bonus the speedo is digital and massive so I can read it easily .
Off now onto some twistie roads, Skyride suspension set to the 'sportiest' mode (not as easy to do on the fly as the GS. Another disappointment.
Higher rev limiter and a bit more top end power were a plus.
Then another disappointment, this bike is nowhere near as steady and well balanced as the GS in the bends. Major surprise. It was flickable, and fast side to side though.
Plus point for the Duc, the higher rev limit meant I only hit the limiter a couple of times. And by this time was getting more used to conventional shit so less mistakes.

En of the day I was disappointed as I really want to own a Ducati at some point, especially as I have agreed to go to World Ducati Week with the guys I rode with today. However the GS is overall a far better bike and however much I would like a Ducati there is no way I could pick this over the GS.

Cracking write up God'.
You say about the Duke having more top end, but you were also impressed by the GS's bottom end grunt. Do I take it that the GS had more usable bottom end than the Duke.?

thanks for the review,. was a good read and interesting.

Hi StM, what I meant was that you have to change up on the GS sooner than the Multi as its a bit lower gearing and redlines at 9k revs rather than the 11-12k on the Multi, plus the GS has a lower top speed (i didnt test these but), the GS runs out at 130ish and the Multi is good for 160 iirc.

Have you considered a trying a Diavel or a Hypermotard, Godzilla?

I've been out on on the Diavel today and its nothing like you expect.

Sounds like you had a good couple of rides there mate... I missed the Ducati open day today as going to donny tomorrow, but going to try and get a multi test ride on Saturday next weekend.

One thing I'm curious about.. You mention that the GS had a lack of front end dive under breaking, are you relating that to experience with sports bikes or just what you expected it should do ??

Duke, I cant stand the Diavel, and not keen on the Hyper either.

D6Nutz, the forks on the GS are not normal forks, they are the Telelever ones, the hardly dive a all far less than normal forks.

That's a cracking write up Godzilla, I was as surprised as you appeared to be about the Mutley, that bike being lined up in my sights as possibly my next bike purchase, I've tried the Tiger 800, Explorer 1200 and the KTM SM990 and tbh I couldn't live with any of them for differing reasons, so I've put off testing the Duc as I didn't want to fall in love (or hate) before I had the money to spare to buy one. Gobsmacked by your report on the Beemer - however as BMW fall into the same area with Mrs Gee as HD's that isn't even a possibility.

Hmm its surprising how you can fall out with someones Mrs without even meeting them lol.

Have a ride on the Multi Deegee, its by no means a bad bike. In fact if someone were to give one to me I would be overjoyed. Its just I really wanted to like it, but for me the BMW was just the better bike.
I was out with some others who loved their Multis, mind you they were Ducatisiti fan boys who wouldn't buy a bike with a different badge. I've never really understood that as I have no real badge loyalty. In fact I didn't want the BMW to be best for me to avoid that sort of thinking.

I think you need time to get used to a Multi (or any bike of that style) as its a very different ride to a sportsbike. It certainly took me a little while.

It would be a very dull world if we all liked the same things. I love my V twins and the feel the engines give and doubt i could buy anything else now.

I've owned 4 V-twins, 3 IL4's and one triple.

duke63 wrote:I think you need time to get used to a Multi (or any bike of that style) as its a very different ride to a sportsbike. It certainly took me a little while.

I agree, but the GS is far different than the Multi so you would assume that it would take even longer to get used to.

If you want a Ducati for the pleasure of owning and riding one, i would be very tempted to go for one of the older bikes, Jon.

Really interesting that Godzilla. You wouldn't buy a GS now you've tried one?

C00kiemonster wrote:Really interesting that Godzilla. You wouldn't buy a GS now you've tried one?

C00kie, out of those 2 the GS is 99% the one I would buy.

Fwiw I wouldn't consider trying to get my knee down on the road, well not a normal road anyway.
The roads have potholes & lumps everywhere. You can come across spilt diesel, muppets at standstill round a blind bend & cars on your side of the road.
Any of the above can be terminal, so I try to save my enthusiastic riding for the track.

StMarks wrote:Fwiw I wouldn't consider trying to get my knee down on the road, well not a normal road anyway.
The roads have potholes & lumps everywhere. You can come across spilt diesel, muppets at standstill round a blind bend & cars on your side of the road.
Any of the above can be terminal, so I try to save my enthusiastic riding for the track.

Was this meant to be in a different thread?

Meanwhile back on topic lol