My review of the 14 Ducati Multistrada vs 15 BMW R1200 GS

[Matty589]

I tried the 1190 on a blazingly hot day the summer before last. I was put off right away by that rear cylinder right under the seat doing a personable impression of making meatballs
Nice bike but it didn't really do it for me. If I spent more time in the twisties and wanted a bike with ballistic top end I would have gone for it as it was better then the rest of the competition. For me the GS/GSA are not just averagely good for everyone but thrilling to ride, and head and shoulders the best, for me. As always, YMMV

 

[Troppo]

To the OP - you are brave filtering in Sydney....I also have a GSLC based there, and the bars are just too wide to filter on about 50% of Sydney goat tracks....

 

[Troppo]

Two mates have 1190s. Nice bike, but not as good as the GSLC (14) for an all rounder.

IMHO.

Rode my GS from Sydney to Melbourne and return. Down over the alps scratching, and back droning along the Hume Freeway (think M1 with about 5% of the traffic...).

The mighty GS did it all.

 

[Voz]

To the OP - you are brave filtering in Sydney....I also have a GSLC based there, and the bars are just too wide to filter on about 50% of Sydney goat tracks....

Haha, too true. I avoid Parramatta Rd, Pacific Hwy and parts of Victoria Rd, the rest that I frequent are passable. I have Rox 50mm risers so I sail over car mirrors, get stuck on vans and 4WD sometimes.

The GS is surprisingly good for filtering, you have to have your wits about you though as it can get down to a few cm at times. Wakes me up in the morning!

 

[WindyChuffer]

The OP wrote:

"What is important to me is being able to flat foot the bike"

and

"sure footed flat footing"

What the heck does this mean?

 

[Nutty]

The OP wrote:

"What is important to me is being able to flat foot the bike"

and

"sure footed flat footing"

What the heck does this mean?

They are sayings that people that aren't as tall as you have to use.

 

[WindyChuffer]

Nah. It's a confidence thing. No need whatsover to be able to get more than one foot on tip toes down.....

 

[Blackal]

Nah. It's a confidence thing. No need whatsover to be able to get more than one foot on tip toes down.....

Nope - you can't exert the same pressure with just tips of toes.........

Perhaps you are confusing it with Ballet-Dancing............

Al

 

[cookie]

Nope - you can't exert the same pressure with just tips of toes.........

Perhaps you are confusing it with Ballet-Dancing............

Al

yes. try pushing back out from the kerb on tip toes.

 

[stephen.stallebrass]

Damn that's an ugly front end

Different strokes for different folks but damn that Ducati Multistrada front end is ugly. If the designer was going for a cartoon looking bird face with big beady eyes and a beak with massive nostrils then congrats - mission accomplished!

 

[roundincircles]

Donny Darko was the model in the designers eyes.

 

[cookie]

paint looks fab though.

 

[Fluffmeister]

I seriously don't get this 'shaft' thing?

Andres

I'm not so sure of why people get hung up on it either. My old Tiger 1050 did a 3k mile trip around Europe back in 2010 including getting ragged around 10 laps of the Nurbrugring and the chain never needed adjusting over the whole trip, the Scottoiler looked after the lubing for me.

Same trip one of the guys with us, who was not to gifted in the maintenance department, had a problem with the chain on his Firestorm ( a few links had siezed) so we got a new chain from a place in Prague, fitted it for him and away we went.

I appreciate the lack of faffing with a shaft, but boy it will be expensive when it goes wrong. I've only had to replace 1 chain on the 2001 ZX12R, if they are lubed right and adjusted correctly, miles and miles of trouble free riding.

I quite like the multistrada, but I'm thinking of a Stelvio myself in the not so distant future as my 2014 LC left switchgear has packed in, so off to the dealers soon. I love the bike in principle, but it's the 4th time it's been back for bit's n pieces of warranty work.

 

[WindyChuffer]

yes. try pushing back out from the kerb on tip toes.

Well you push it back before getting on it.

 

[cookie]

Well you push it back before getting on it.

it's not like i hadn't thought of that, but sometimes it's not convenient.

 

[Voz]

The OP wrote:

"What is important to me is being able to flat foot the bike"

and

"sure footed flat footing"

What the heck does this mean?

I presume it has now been well explained, perhaps a bit of inappropriate grammar. The point being that when I sit on a bike if I my feet are firmly planted on the ground, not on tippy toes, then I feel very confident of not falling over when I come to a stop.

Not sure how many of you have fallen over due to bad footing when coming to a stop but it has been twice for me thus far and I do not want to repeat this.

 

[WindyChuffer]

Hey Viz - that's deffo a confidence / hours on Bike thing. Sure it's easier being able to get both feet on the ground but less essential the more experience you have on the bike. The WC has lower saddle than the Hexhead. For me the Hexhead was tippy toes only with full preload on which was fun in London but manageable

 

[pistole]

agree that flat footing is not a pre-requisite to learning how to ride a bike confidently. Ideally , you should be able to ride , come to a stop with one leg out and hold the bike up with that one leg , confidently.

with alot of dirtbikes , they're so tall that you'd struggle with even getting near tip-toe ... with one leg ....

as for the 1190 / GS : locally (asia) , KTM are still very poor in the dealership/support/parts departments , compared to BMW. This is , to me , not acceptable when you're selling bikes at this price range (the big ktm is not cheaper than the GS/GSA).

thats why , I have ended up with two KTM dirtbikes and one GS. KTM's dirtbikes are brilliant , so I buy them. KTM's big bikes are not supported well , so I don't buy them. BMW is well supported , so gets bought.

the shaft/chain thing : shaft is nice. Shaft on a single sided swingarm is brilliant. Chain .... well my dirtbikes have chains and they work too. But premium bike ? Shaft everytime.

 

[WindyChuffer]

agree that flat footing is not a pre-requisite to learning how to ride a bike confidently. Ideally , you should be able to ride , come to a stop with one leg out and hold the bike up with that one leg , confidently.

with alot of dirtbikes , they're so tall that you'd struggle with even getting near tip-toe ... with one leg ....

as for the 1190 / GS : locally (asia) , KTM are still very poor in the dealership/support/parts departments , compared to BMW. This is , to me , not acceptable when you're selling bikes at this price range (the big ktm is not cheaper than the GS/GSA).

thats why , I have ended up with two KTM dirtbikes and one GS. KTM's dirtbikes are brilliant , so I buy them. KTM's big bikes are not supported well , so I don't buy them. BMW is well supported , so gets bought.

the shaft/chain thing : shaft is nice. Shaft on a single sided swingarm is brilliant. Chain .... well my dirtbikes have chains and they work too. But premium bike ? Shaft everytime.

Well summarised Pistole.

In addition, it amazes me that many folks don't know this:

- Want to stop with right leg down? Turn bars to left when coming to a stop. Bike drops to right in controĺled way. And vice versa. With anticipation and reading the road, the need for flat footing is removed as bike is going in direction you have chosen.
- Leg not long enough? Shuffle butt cheeks over to chosen side, yielding en extra inch or so.

Go do some off road riding / training and you soon learn to deal with this

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Well summarised Pistole.

In addition, it amazes me that many folks don't know this:

- Want to stop with right leg down? Turn bars to left when coming to a stop. Bike drops to right in controĺled way. And vice versa. With anticipation and reading the road, the need for flat footing is removed as bike is going in direction you have chosen.
- Leg not long enough? Shuffle butt cheeks over to chosen side, yielding en extra inch or so.

Go do some off road riding / training and you soon learn to deal with this

A good theory...

It all fails though, when you have full luggage & yer missus on the back - adding 60-90 kg to the bike's weight & making it impossible to shift as much as you'd like because of the pillion

Try holding a GS with just one leg, whilst your pillion mounts & dismounts

That's just shot a big hole in your 'theory'

You'd wish for longer legs, then