Multistrada's

[Grumpy Goat]

I had a first gen Multistrada and loved it. Light, flickable and good for the open road. The only thing is was starting to hurt the body. That is why I bought the RS. I was missing the Multi experience so I thought I'd sell the RS and buy a used Multi. I sat on the 950 model and got off without a test ride. That thing is tall! ...

When I was in the market for the S1000XR (in 2015 following a dealer demo day test ride, an before ending up with the RS) I also sat on a Multistrada (the multi-line dealership sells both Ducati and BMW) and also found it tall (30" inseam). I also found the seat was curved so that my butt was cupped. I don't like seats like that and would not buy a bike with a well curved seat (yes I know you can buy aftermarket seats but that is not the point and I should not have to buy a seat right off the bat). Another thing that turned me away is a good comment by my salesman, that the costs to service and maintain Ducatis are more than BMWs. I thought that it was interesting that he should share that since as a salesman he / the dealership would make money either way.

Lot of changes to the Multistrada line since then. For one the seat does not appear to be as curved on some of the models but they still appear to be high (e.g. the V4S starts at 33.1" but try finding that on the useless website). Nice bikes but I can't see me buying one - cost vs benefit being the principal reason.