Italian Twin Pasodoble

What feels like an age ago in November 2014 I started a love affair with the Ducati Multistrada when I visited Ducati Johannesburg while being up there (or down, if you want to get technical) for some training.

Obviously I didn’t have my gear there at the time and the best I could do was sit on and look at it. But upon my return to Cape Town I started down the path of inquiry as I was convinced this would be my next bike.

This is that very same bike…

Demos weren’t as readily available in Cape Town as there isn’t a real dealership here but more of a satellite office so I was put on the waiting list for trying one out.

Then during the same span of time Ducati announced the “all new” Multistrada with the world first Skyhook dynamically adjustable suspension. Not wanting an “old” bike I decided to wait for that to eventually arrive and ride.

Of course as luck would have it by the time that happened Ducati again announced the “all new” Multistrada that would now get the world first DVT engine and once again I delayed the test ride waiting on the new bike to arrive.

They say things come in threes and they aren’t often wrong, so yet again when the DVT version finally arrived, Ducati had also just announced the new XDiavel which I wanted to ride back to back with the Multistrada…so again we waited.

So, a year and a half later after first sitting on the bloody thing I finally pickled to Superbike Solutions in Somerset West the other weekend with a riding friend in tow to have a go on what had by now become a Unicorn.

Credit where it’s due, many of the better photos like the one above are his, not mine.

After a bit of drama with the bikes not coming back on time from the previous riders who had them, we finally set off towards Hells Hoogte (Hell’s Height) pass just outside Stellenbosch, myself on the Multistrada S and my mate on the regular XDiavel.

Immediately I asked the sales guy if the bike had been specially lowered as I just felt so much more sure-footed than I remember from the first time I sat on it in Johannesburg and especially compared to the recently ridden BMW S1000XR it seemed very accommodating towards my short legs. He advised it was the standard seat, but on the lowest setting, which is a very nice to have.

The startup procedure is very interesting and feels almost like a computer that needs to “boot” in multiple stages before it eventually tells you it’s ready to go. Definitely not just a case of pushing and holding the button until it fires. Quick push of the button and my memory fails but I think it then pretty much sorts itself out after that.

It’s keyless by default and this is where the Audi ownership shows as the key is near identical to those on Audi and VW cars but maybe just a little bit less rectangular. Still don’t quite know the point as I needed to then hide the key in my pocket and carefully check that the zip is closed so that it doesn’t bugger off mid ride.

Already it was apparent that the forward set foot pegs on the XDiavel was causing consternation for the other party, but more on that later, as we finally set off on the road. Immediately the size of the Multistrada made itself known but at the same time an odd thing also happened in that it’s centre of gravity is such that it basically keeps itself upright longer than any other bike I can remember making super slow speed manoeuvres between cars while lane splitting superbly simple.Where I was of a mind not to take any chances lane splitting the bike immediately encouraged me to go for it without any concern as it was just so simple to move the mighty beast around between what felt like small vehicle around me.

Until I had to stop at the first traffic light and there was an almighty banshee squeal coming from the front brakes and moments later a similar yet different wail from the clutch as I pulled that in…strange since it’s hydraulic and there is no cable to make a noise .

Now by their very nature bikes and cars make funny noises and my own Triumph whistles from rear brake at parking lot speeds, but when I’m on the Ferrari of motorcycles I sort of expect those things not to happen. Here I am with a 1/4 of a million Rand of Italian exotica under my ass and feeling embarrassed about it while the lady next to me in traffic is looking perplexed.

I wish I had ridden the non-DVT version of the bike so I could make a fair comparison, but it certainly felt like it was working compared to the BMW XR which had no bottom end torque whatsoever. You don’t need to rev the crap out of it to get somewhere, but at the same time it also makes the very same 160hp as the BMW seem almost boring as you climb the revs as it’s delivered in a very flat manner. Great for everyday, maybe not so great for the fun times when you want to feel it pull your arms out of their sockets.

For such an expensive bike the engine also feels very unrefined and I don’t want to say unreliable in a mechanical context but more as a matter of consistency. I kind of expect that if I revved it the same way ten times in a row that one or two of those times the engine would falter or even choke completely. It just doesn’t deliver the same confidence and inspiration every time and it also vibrates and shakes the crap out of itself.

Wind protection seemed almost too good with the screen in the top position and so I dropped it quite easily with one hand while riding to take that breathless feeling away. I’m used to naked bikes so don’t pay much attention to these things but there is a fair amount of leg protection as well and it being a chilly morning I can’t say I noticed the cold air over my legs at all throughout the test ride.

Stopping in from of all the other traffic at a light, the XDiavel lost somewhere behind me, I decided now was the time to give it horns and as the light went green I dropped the clutch in a reasonable fashion but whacked the throttle and suddenly I saw orange lights appear in my peripheral vision and looking down at them I realised that the front wheel was reaching for the sky and this was obviously the wheelie control doing exactly what it was meant to.

Outside of the lights it was a very calm non-event so the technology works and lets you have some fun without letting you kill yourself. I saw it was in Touring mode and switched it to Sport so I could do it again…and of course I then failed miserably as every wheelie in my life seems to only ever happen accidentally and never on command.

Knowing the road ahead I expected some speed cameras and so I decided to try the cruise control. Unlike the other bikes I rode recently this one works exactly like the system on every car I’ve ever driven with Cruise Control. You first switch it on (or off) and then you have a +/- button and a Set/Resume button. It’s simple and straight forward and there is no guessing what does what. The on/off toggle prevents you from any surprises and the system just works.

I don’t know if I’m lob-sided or my minor scoliosis isn’t so minor any more but I always thought my notion to lean left when going hands free was just because the bike wasn’t under throttle, but even with cruise control I still keep veering left even if I’m leaning myself completely over in the opposite direction. Definitely never going to be one of those stunt riders, that’s for sure.

The seat gives you some options to move around and find what works for you, without leaving you completely unsupported. It’s something I partly liked about the XR holding you firmly in place, but I can see the appeal of being able to change your riding position when you like to.

The mirrors are excellent showing you everything you need to see and offering lots of adjustment without any major vibration. They are large but also not stupidly so that they get in the way. The hand guards also do a great job and I bet you would hardly need the heated grips with them on, or might not need super winter gloves, at least not in our climate anyway.

Once we hit the Hells Hoogte pass and I could start leaning it over I felt very much the same wallowing in corners that I did with the XR but unlike that bike I didn’t feel unsafe. It might very well be a case of typical behaviour for bikes that are so tall and on softer suspension and just not something I’m used to.

It leans over on its ear quite happily and feels utterly weightless while doing so. In general the bike never really gives its 235kg away and always feels light and nimble, even at parking lot speeds. The brakes are perfect, if I don’t remember them that means they weren’t lacking in any way or so over the top that I’m still trying to put my face back on after it got peeled off.

It’s hard to say if the Skyhook dynamic suspension made any major difference here as I didn’t have a regular version to compare it against and I don’t know the roads that well, but overall it’s a very comfortable ride and nowhere did I hit a bump going “ouch” in my helmet. If anything, it might even be too soft for most people, but that could probably be adjusted a little with the custom modes that I didn’t mess with.

I expected the screen to be a problem, but even in this bright daylight I don’t recall even once having trouble to see what was going on and it felt no different to any regular system. I might even go so far as to say that the reflection on my own clocks where I see myself is more distracting than the sun would be on this LCD based system.

There isn’t really much to fault the bike on, except the price. It just doesn’t feel like it’s worth more than any other bike and in many ways it feels lesser even if it was in the same price bracket. It seems like you are literally paying for the exotic factor and not much else. If the prices were all the same and out of the bikes with similar feature sets I tested recently I still end up feeling the BMW R1200RS is the best, while ironically being the cheapest. Sure the XR is the direct competition for the Multistrada, but the RS suits me better than both. If money wasn’t a factor and I was forced between the XR and Multistrada then I would have the Italian…except for one big reason I’ll get back to later.

So while I was having a jolly good time on the Multistrada my buddy was absolutely miserable on the XDiavel.

I think if I hadn’t stopped to swop when I did, he might have hunted me down or just parked it and set it on fire next to the road.

A lot of that has to do with people not knowing what to expect. If you haven’t ridden a cruiser with forward controls before this bike is going to be a shock to your system,. Even if you have ridden a cruiser with forward controls before, this is still going to give you an electric jolt.

This is not a cruiser, at least not like any other that has come before. Like I’ve explained it to others it’s a cruiser in the back with its fat 240-section rear tyre and low comfortable seat, but it’s a superbike in the front with its monstrous engine and crazy sport bike handling.

Sitting on the thing I would imagine is very similar to sitting in a jet fighter plane. You sit very low compared to everything else, while your legs are straight in front of you. It actually feels like your legs are pointing up compared to most other forward control bikes I’ve ridden.

Then the bars are wide but also don’t sweep back quite as much as I expected, but unlike the regular Diavel this one is actually comfortable. Closest thing I can compare it to is the lovechild of a Yamaha V-Max and the Harley Davidson Nightrod Special, but more comfortable than the Nightrod which makes you feel like a double folded pancake.

I felt a little bit short in the leg reaching the foot controls but when mentioning this to the sales guy he showed me that there were in fact four different positions for the foot pegs and they were on the third setting now so it could come two clicks closer to me. If I were to own one I would definitely move it closer, so if you do test ride one and you find this is your problem then it’s easy to fix and not a deal breaker.

Seeing press shots of the bike beforehand I figured that tiny little screen would be a problem, but with this kind of minimalist approach it didn’t bother me at all. The electronic and startup procedures are pretty much the same as on the Multistrada with the same riding modes and cruise control options, except for the Enduro mode obviously.

The two bikes are identical from an engine and drive train point of view, except that the XDiavel make a little less horsepower in favour of more torque.

I didn’t realise the non-S had the Launch Control option as well and so I never looked for it until almost all the way back and then I couldn’t figure it out quickly enough to make use of it. There is seemingly a special routine to be followed to make it work.

Jumping straight onto the XDiavel at the end of a twisty road I was thrown into the deep end immediately. It feels insane because your feet are way up there in front and so you can’t really use your legs to corner but pinch them to the tank instead. The net result is that you now end up cornering with your elbows…and it feels like superhero stuff.

The first time you dip this thing into a corner it’s like passing through a wormhole or stargate or some such because it is just that bizarre a notion, but then you realise that you haven’t died, it has gone around the corner…and it’s just done it better than the Multistrada you rode a few minutes ago. That’s when the cheshire cat smile appears on your face and you want to do it over and over again.

I know the term “it turns like it’s on rails” is overused so I’ll rather say this is more like a Scalextric system that just goes where it was meant to go with you pull the trigger. It makes no sense to my brain and years of riding experience, but it just works. The lean angles are pure insanity and even when you aren’t riding it to the edge it just feels much more extreme and exhilarating because you are sitting so low and close to the ground.

The engine itself works very well in this package and I can’t say I had any complaints there, but I had a very hard time with the clutch, it just feeds in way too far from the bar and is a little bit like an on/off switch and not progressive at all. Each and every time I stopped through the test ride it was a mission to get away and it didn’t become natural at any point.

The forward set controls are tricky at inclines especially as you can’t really hold the bike with the foot brake and keep the bike up with the other as being so low means you have no leverage and your balance is throw way off by the right foot hanging in the sky. So I opted for the front brake with the fingers, throttle with the palm  configuration which is tried and trusted.

Seating wise it’s very comfortable for the rider except for the oddity of a metal Ducati/XDiavel logo plate thing that is stuck right under your ass in the lowest part of the seat. This is one of those silly form over function things where the rain is ultimately going to accumulate there and you’ll have a wet bum before you even hit the rainy rode home. Put I guess the target market here is fairly fair weather inclined so I shouldn’t be surprised there. I didn’t have an Italian supermodel handy to test the passenger seating and I doubt anything else would fit. My Buell took this to the extreme but the XDiavel seems like it was designed for a man who is begging for his significant other to use the good excuse that there isn’t space for her on the back, so he can ultimately go alone like he intended in the first place.

XDiavel is a thing to behold and I realised many won’t like it, but for me personally it’s a beautiful bike. I didn’t get to see the more shiny S variant but I’m sure that would be a feast for the sense. It won some or other design aware recently and I can’t say I’m at all surprised. It’s futuristic while at the same time being classic, but it’s also not retro and trying to look old. You know if I didn’t know better I would have thought it’s an electric bike as it has that same sort of modern Tesla feel to it.

I loved it, every minute of riding it was a fantastic experience and it was easy to overlook the little things by the sheer brilliance of everything else. Would I buy one? Right now it doesn’t fit the bill as an everyday bike for me, largely for the complete lack of luggage options makes it a bad value proposition to me personally. That and the price would keep me away, but if you can afford it without cringing and you don’t ride every day or don’t mind a backpack it might be perfect for you. In a few years when I have some spare change I could definitely see one as a second bike in my garage.

Both Ducatis sound better off the bike when someone else is riding them, than when you are actually on them yourself. The engine is just a utilitarian lump at the end of the day, but the ultimate deal breaker on both bikes that I simply couldn’t ignore is that they were both on fire.

At first I thought it was just the Multistrada but as I was riding back the XDiavel was even worse with the heat through the seat being so bad that the heat rash had me itching. And this was a pretty cool winter’s day, can you imagine how it would be in the summer?

Combine the extreme and literal seat of the pant heat with the crazy money that these two bikes are selling for and the fact that I just didn’t feel that special riding them the overall experience has left me yearning for a german.

It makes me wonder if I am ever lucky enough to drive both an Audi R8 and Lamborghini Gallardo if I’ll walk away with the same impression that the Lambo is just overpriced Italian exotica while the german Audi is the better car, even with the identical underpinnings.