Ducati Multistrada S DVT

[Dave]

So I've had this back on the road for the last few weeks.

There's 9k km on it now.

It has some warranty work done but nothing major, fuel level sensor, cruise control disengage switch, front fender and the side stand.

Just a few more pics



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[Dave]

Nearly 18k km on it now. Not bad considering it's a weekend toy

I've had it for a bit more than a year.

I've been on and off about selling it a few times but can't bring myself to actually part with the thing.

In the year that I've owned it, it's been immensely reliable.

Running cost haven't been too bad.

€600 on servicing
€100 on oil between services
€1000 on tyres

I was a bit pissed off when I discovered this.


It's the back of the exhaust. There was a rivet holding a build plate in it, the exhaust spat the rivet out, looks like it swung and caught the tyre. The dealer that I bought it off are refusing to do anything about it as it is 2 weeks out of its warranty. Very annoying for what is now a €3k exhaust. I'm sure I'll get it sorted.

Trying to twist Ducati's arm into letting me buy an extended warranty for if, by bike is technically not eligible but it would be great to get the 5 year warranty that's offered on new bikes, it's a €1000, a no brainer.











https://youtu.be/6ySkbUi8Oy8



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[Dave]

I haven't updated this in a very long time.

It's been in the main dealers for the last 6 weeks trying to solve a misfire.

There's 25k km on it now, I covered 3200km on it in Greece back in April with 18 other bikes.

It was an amazing trip. We had the bikes shipped down in advance.

I flew into Athens where I go a taxi to the hotel to find my bike waiting.



I had it serviced before I left, new plugs, filters, a full service and some fresh rubber. It didn't need it but I wanted to do as a precautionary measure.

When I went to start it, it was dead.

After trying lots of options I contacts the local dealer who had a new battery in stock, so off I went.



I got it back up and running but found that it bogged under throttle when trying to use low down torque, so I had to ride it like a much smaller displacement machine, annoying but didn't want to ruin my holiday.

I posted some of these before but here's all the photos.

Trip of a lifetime, can't wait to do the next one.


IMG_2337.JPG





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[dergside]

Some stunning photography there......

[SmokyMo]

I seriously need to do a trip like that !!!! Awesome pictures.

[Dave]

The time is coming to put the bike back on the road.

When I got the bike back to Ireland I took it up to Milsport in the north to get it looked at, the changed the plugs, HT leads, fuel pump and a whole lot of other things and they couldn't resolve the bogging under throttle issue.

After three months I got a phone call telling me that they found the problem and that it was the HT lead, it had been changed twice but somehow it fell through the cracks.

They did let me use this for 6 weeks, Monster 1200 S, which was a lot of fun, 170 kg, 150hp and a quick shifter, so pin the throttle and just go up through the gears, the bike had a full race Termignoni system so popped and banged like crazy, it would also rev match on the down shift so just sounded ridiculous, absolutely loved this bike but it's not a tourer, 200km on it and you'd be sore.



I got the Multistrada picked up and delivered to a friend of mine in Wexford with a heated garage which is where it has sat since October. Hopefully it starts up without issue, it's been on a battery tender the last few months so there shouldn't be an issue.

I'll take the M5 off the road and use this as my daily from the start of April.

I'm doing my next trip in June covering Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and finally into Montenegro. Given how much fun I had in Greece, I cannot wait for this one, it should be epic, I'm going to be filming it too, so that should be interesting.

The bike has 26k km on it now, it'll probably be on about 30k by the time I head for Croatia, so I will likely carry out the major service (timing belt etc) and trade it in for a new one at the end of the season. Selling bikes in Ireland is a bit odd, when you approach the 40k km mark, they're very hard to shift.

[Dave]

Got back from the Balkans tour on Saturday evening.

I did this trip wondering if I was going to hang onto a bike, I've had such a shit time getting the bike maintained to the right standard.

Even before I left, it was running well but not 100% there was surging at WOT. I figured I'd do the tour and make a call on it when I got back.

22 bikes were trucked down to Split from Gorey, 4 pillions, so 26 people in total.

These tours are cool in that, if you want to take part in the scheduled tour you can, or you can make your own way and meet at a specified hotel at the end of the end, myself and three others chose the latter.

I met these guys in Greece, serious pilots, fast but safe and well judged in terms of conditions.

We arrived late on Saturday, hit the hotel at about 11pm.

Sunday morning was prepping the bikes, I had brought the full luggage, panniers and top box, I had my laptop with me as I needed to do some video editing so had to keep the top box, but found that I could pack light enough to ditch the panniers, so I left them in the truck.

We took a ride down the Celina river for lunch and explored the Palace of Diocletian in the evening following dinner.







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[Dave]

First official day was Monday, so off we went from Split to Plitvice.

With regards to the bike, I was worried I would have trouble similar to Greece, checked the bike on Saturday evening as soon as I arrived and it started without any errors or nonsense. I had brought some tools just in case but I had no issue with the bike.

I had put Michelin Pilot Road 5's on the bike 2 months beforehand, the bike had been serviced 5k km beforehand so it didn't need anything. Last year I serviced it and had a load of work done but this time, I knew it was working fine so I decided I wouldn't poke the bear.

Anyway, off we went to Split, first impressions of Croatia, great biking country, road surfaces are fine with plenty of grip and none stops curvy roads, the Ducati devoured the bends, for the first time in months, I was properly dialled into the bike and just enjoying the experience.

We went cross country really technical sections of road. The Ducati devoured it, everyone else in our group was on a R1200GS BMW and with their 19" front wheel don't change direction like the Multistrada with its 17" wheel. I had so much more pace than the BMW's, my silly motorcycle choice was starting to be vindicated

We hit Plitvice. Checked in, a few beers, dinner and bed.

Tuesday we explored the lakes.





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[Dave]

Wednesday, it was time to cross the border into Bosnia, we were heading east, our destination, Banja Luka.

We were invited to a barbecue at a local bike club, MK ISTOK, this was arranged by a local who had met the guide on his travels ten years previously. What a savage night, pints were €2.50, needless to say I was not in a good state in the morning.

[Dave]

The following morning was tough. I climbed on the Ducati and quietly reminded myself not to crash the bike.

Today we were heading from Banja Luka to Mostar.

Bosnia is quite something, you're reminded of the tragic history of the country, we encountered a lot of shelled houses, areas riddled with bullet holes. At one stage we were going cross country, and in the middle of nowhere, we encountered this military base, Bosnian, serious amount of hardware, gives you a really uneasy feeling. I wasn't hanging around to introduce myself.

It started to rain, bad news when you're on the beaten track, as we were heading to Mostar.

The road surface was polished and slippery, I took it quite easy, had to crawl as I could feel the bike squirming for grip in corners.
I really enjoy riding in the rain on the right surface, you have to be smooth, fortunately the surface changed to lovely black grippy tarmac.

It's now raining heavily, Peter, part of our small group is leading, we take a short cut down this dust road, this is not Ducati road, my handlebars are too low to stand up straight and my suspension is too hard for any real off roading. I have no crash bars, we cover 20km down this dust road, in the pissing rain, sliding all over the place, I couldn't tell a puddle from a pot hole, now cursing my 17" wheel, I plough on behind the 4 BMW's who are flying down the road.

We hit tarmac after what felt like an eternity, we make our lunch stop, and we're there first, I thought we had lost a ton of time, turns out our shortcut had knocked 50km off our journey. We couldn't help but laugh.

We stop for lunch. Afterwards we do the final run for Mostar.

All 22 bikes were now in convoy, I was towards the front as I had made pace before the rain. I could see the tour guide working his way through the pack, Derek is his name, marvellous rider.

I see him overtake the two guys behind me, motion for him to pass me, he waves and shows me a thumbs up, I got the message. Happy with the traction, I pushed on.

Myself and Derek separated from the pack and I had one of the best days of biking I've ever had, you had to be so careful for slip, white lines were a sure fire way of coming down, you couldn't cross them on power, you had to enter the overtaking lane, put the power down in a straight line. It was completely exhilarating.

Derek was on an Africa Twin Adventure Sport, I had a 50hp advantage and he was my number plate, serious rider. We reach the end of the twisties, he pulls up beside me puts his hand out for a high five, I had to laugh.

He pulls over for the rest of the group, soaked, I push on for Mostar.

Hit the hotel, shower, beer, dinner. I decide to wonder around Mostar for the evening. Friday we take in a 100km loop around Mostar, grab some lunch by this fab spring.






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