2017 Ducati Multistrada 950 Preview
Sport-touring from Ducati becomes more manageable
If you missed Ducati’s live-streaming event from Milan this morning, you missed a lot. According to CEO Claudio Domenicali, 402,000 Ducati fans saw the new model presentation on Facebook this morning. We expected most of the new models that were introduced; one we didn’t really is the new Multistrada 950.
This one Domenicali described as the Swiss Army Knife Ducati. It uses a 937cc Testastretta 11-degree motor instead of the 1200cc unit in the current Multi. The 937 claims 113 horsepower at 9000 rpm, with a very flat torque curve said to produce 80% of its 71 lb-ft peak all the way from 3500 to 9500 rpm. Valve-check intervals are now scheduled every 18,000 miles.
Along with that smaller engine comes a reduction in weight to about 500 pounds when gassed up, around 11 pounds less than claimed for the base 1200 Multi. The Multistrada 1200 S we loved in 2015 tipped the scales at 567 pounds when equipped with its saddlebags. The Multi 1200 Enduro we recently tested scaled in at 647 pounds.
Seat height for the new 950 is 33 inches, with 20mm lower and 20mm taller options available.
An inverted 48mm fork gives 6.7 inches of fully adjustable travel. A Sachs shock connects the swingarm to the left subframe: Spring preload is adjustable (via a knob-operated hydraulic press), as is hydraulic compression and rebound damping. The spring is progressive; rear suspension travel is also 6.7 inches.
Otherwise, it’s standard Multistrada, with a 19-inch front wheel and a new grab rail out back that can take either standard plastic saddlebags or aluminum panniers as needed for the task at hand. As with the 1200 Multi, four packages of accessories are available: Touring, Urban, Sport and Enduro:
- Touring Pack: Side panniers and centerstand.
- Sport Pack: Type-approved Ducati Performance exhaust by Termignoni (complies with EU homologation standards), billet aluminum frame plugs, billet aluminum front brake fluid reservoir plug.
- Urban Pack: Top case, tank bag with tank lock and USB hub to charge electronic devices.
- Enduro Pack: Supplementary LED lights, Ducati Performance components by Touratech: engine crash bars, aluminum radiator guard, aluminum sump guard, broader kickstand base and off- road rider pegs.
Those four packages fit in nicely with the four riding modes you can select using the all-new switchgear. Which doesn’t appear to include Cruise Control, in spite of this one being a full ride-by-wire bike. Dang.
The Ducati Safety Pack includes the latest Bosch 9.1 MP ABS with three-level adjustment and eight-level Ducati Traction Control. These safety systems apply different intervention levels depending on the selected Riding Mode.
Instrumentation is LCD, the taillight is LED, the brakes are Brembo M4.32 monoblocks squeezing 320mm discs – all fine components designed to get the job done while slightly reducing costs and allowing a few more thousand people to gain access to the Multi.
More by John Burns
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Wow, this looks a big step closer to the perfect all-rounder.
there are quite a few online sources quoting a wet weight figure of 500lb for this bike, though MOrons are saying 470lb fully gassed up, can you confirm which is correct? That kind of makes a big difference, if it's really that light its potentially a really versatile machine indeed compared to the 1200s from Ducati and BMW and makes the reduced power pretty insignificant