Ducati Multistrada 1200 S: Owner's Review

[@Renzsu]

Just bought my second one! First one was stolen a couple of years back.. looked around a bit, but in the end went for the same bike again. Can't fault it really and they're just so capable and fun!

[@mattsurrey6138]

Great to see your review, finally!!! 😉 Have to say for an 11 year old bike it also hasn't aged at all.

[@PartialS]

Enojoyed your review, thanks very much for making it. Absolutely astounded your heated grips are still working though! :)

[@FredsFullThrottle]

Thinking about buying one, great video!

[@larrymyers1160]

The spongy rear brake is because of the high heat from the cat, which is just below the brake line and reservoir. I have the cat removed on my 2014 Multistrada with a complete Termignoni exhaust and it runs much cooler. If you run a higher temperature brake fluid like a DOT 5 the spongy brake issue is completely eliminated and the rear brake works as it should.

[@rs8197-dms]

Absolutely right, I've done the same and the rear brake is just fine. For good measure I used castrol srf, which generally is rated as the best brake fluid available (but expensive). I am fairly sure that something like motul 660 would do the job, probably just as well. The critical thing is to remove the cat which is the source of that searing heat.

[@shutupdog11]

@larrymyers I beg to differ in opinion . I've got 2012 and have shedded the cat with a Mivv system . My rear brake has been hesitant to perform correctly since off the showroom floor . It does work , but is not very strong.

[@larrymyers1160]

@@shutupdog11 Try a DOT 5 brake fluid as it has a much higher boiling point. And make sure you bleed all of the air out of the system. You might also want to check how much pad you have.

[@7arkhwf]

Thanks for this brilliant review, I'm sold!

[@williammahaffy4642]

Brilliant review!! I am looking at this EXACT bike as an upgrade. Want to use it as my distance sport-tourer. Planning about the same 2000-2500 mile trips but over 15+ days.. My Benelli 502 would struggle at those distances. Glad to hear this is comfortable and I'm hoping the reliability is better than what I have read in other forums Hope to hear more of your adventures!

[@georgeking1552]

William, I have owned a 2012 MTS since new.. It was a costly bike when new, but I will ride this bike until I can no longer ride.. I tour on it for hours and can say the bike is great. Few issues will occur and major service intervals will need to be accounted for. If you have mechanical skills and a place to do your work, it is worth the headache..

[@MotoringNomad]

I can't comment on other people's bikes but mine was faultless. We did 2,000 miles in about a week but that's not the whole story. They weren't quick, unstressful motorway miles. They were mostly away from the big, main roads, meaning I was often riding it for 7 hours a day. On the very final day, on the last leg back to my house from the ferry, I started to ache. I was amazed it hadn't happened earlier. Basically, I broke before the bike did...

[@jimsilver4261]

Thinking of getting one of these older models, thanks for the video 👍👍

[@medioman74]

great video mate. i've got the same bike and i'm in love with it.

[@MrSimonfoz]

Great bikes I’ve had many, currently got the Enduro model.

[@jonnantau9354]

Nice review, thanks for sharing.

[@peter_fischer]

The same one here, 1200 S, YM 2010, even the same color. Brilliant bike. Covered more than 60 000 km in 8 years and still haven't found a proper replacement. Maybe Hypermotard if I'd travel less. Take care!

[@vicepride2568]

Very good review, and bike … got the same one and been playing with the idea of selling it for a while now .. only because it’s not really built for off-roading, which is what I want to be doing in my trips.. other than that yes, very difficult to find faults.

[@matthewkeane1257]

Important to remove your caliper so you can align the bleed nipple at the top to get all the air out. Did this over the summer and it's been fine.

[@scottmaduro7584]

Nice review!

[@bolo1263]

Great review! Currently fighting with my decision on a multistrada. I rotten MT09 now but just looking for a change after I rode my buddies 2012 pikes peak with ohlin's suspension. He tells me whether I get a pikes peak or the s model, don't go with sky hook suspension? He and three other or so friends said the same thing. Is it really that bad do you think? I mean if you know or have ridden one? I won't be doing a track day with it. Some people claim to be disconnected with it and some people rave how great the suspension is with skyhook. Again not sure if you have any experience with it but I thought I'd ask as many people's opinions as I could. Anybody else feel free to chime in! Get an older with Ohlin's or save my money and get a newer bike with skyhook? Lol thank you everyone

[@Pat-RickSmith]

I love this bike if I ever get back into motorcycling I will get adventure bike maybe one of these I am leary of buying a used Ducati.

[@carlosprieto4580]

The number one maxitrail

[@Budget-Cars-And-Bikes]

I was under the impression the Colour TFT screen came on the late 2015 models? and actually only the S got the "full" Colour screen. a lot of early 2015 bikes actually have the exact same dash as yours. These older Grey dashes are also well known to fail, around 70% have had to be replaced due to failure now, meaning most older bikes have incorrect Mileage, just something to watch out for. Great bikes though :)

[@steveramsay5941]

never heard of that my Multis both with over 100k work perfectly…..

[@fennonijhuis8451]

Hi there, I have owned this bike for a month now and i am having an absolute blast! But to be fair, not having any major downsides for the bike is not really realistic. Ive owned my motorcycle for a month now, and i've experienced some common problems. Watch the videos of 'just the way it is' to get a really good view on the problems that can occur owning this motorcycle. 4 major issues that always need to be fixed: 1.The exhaust valve will get stuck because of heat problems eventually. This needs to be lubricated often, or even better, removed fromt the exhaust. 2. The fuel sensor is broken. The fuel sensor will drop from 90% to 60%, but never in between. Ocassionaly it wil give a complete error. But thankfully it will disappear. I've heard eventually the sensor will completely fail. It can be fixes under warranty i believe. 3. The dasboard will fail in rainy conditions. 4. Cilinder problems. These last 2 problems are probaly already fixed under warranty if you pick up a used one. Problems i've experience in a month (including a 1.800 km trip trough germany). Total is about 3k kilometers. - The clutch gets spungy quickly, you need to bleed it often - My foot lever for gear changes got stuck completely. It had to be towed to a garage. The gear lever has a problem with its springs, which can completely break. This is common and sadly it happend to me quickly. - Finding neutral is a pain in the ass. Weirdly, i can find it easily when engine is not running. My attempts to find it running have caused the problem above i believe. While driving it can be found easily too sometimes, but standing still with enginge running is impossible. - The fuel consumption is high, and the range is low. I am talking 6-7 litres á 100 kilometer, total range about 300 kilometer (if you drive economical). Which is ok, but would like to get more on a touring motorcycle. - I miss some luxury, like warning lights or cruise control. But thats personal i guess! These are not the only occurring common problems, so i really advice to watch the videos of 'just the way it is'. And yeah, rear brake is pretty awfull haha.

[@eralpdemirkazik9142]

Thanks for the video do you remember the fuel consamption? İf we ride calm gow many liters will Ducati drinks? :)

[@billdennis2993]

Thx MN for an informative and entertaining video of my favorite street bike. I've got an early ST with 45k miles I ordered in 3/10 after riding a preproduction unit picked up in 6/10 put a bunch of miles on it til it leaked coolant on horizontal cylinder (lean EPA mixture related). Got new top end on warranty now has 50k miles best mod I did was upgrd Ohlins suspension to Mechtronic was plug and play @300USD makes nirvana out of frost heaved roads also have '14 PP with Sachs Skyhook no comparison to Ohlins IMHO enjoy your Mutley MN, I have mine even though it was a Beta test unit (sic) with bugs galore.

[@pheonix5823]

great review,i am just about to buy one here in Australia, have found one same colour with 35000ks on it for about 12k au pesos,,they are good value,,how bad is the service costs in the UK? cheers

[@MotoringNomad]

It's not cheap. Around £200 but the major one is a chunk more (I can't remember how much off hand).

[@Inked_CR]

Are the suitable for pillions and luggage? looking a 2018 1200s or the tiger 1200 xrt

[@nikolamilisavljevic7389]

Is a 1200S big enough for a 6.5" rider?

[@aaronlegan6860]

Good stuff, man!

[@shutupdog11]

Hands down , the best bike I've ever owned . I bought it new in 2012 and have learned to work on it . There is alot of maintenance content available on internet to follow . I will keep this bike in my arsenal until I'm gone . Oh yeah , the LTwin PowerBand is equivalent to a raped gorilla.

[@relay133]

was the bike reliable?

[@foxyloxy57]

you didnt touch on the seat height , i have inseam of 29 " . what are the seat adjustment and would it be too tall ?

[@MotoringNomad]

Pretty much the same as me, I think (I'm 180cm tall). The seat height is absolutely fine!

[@corona24engine]

Hi have you ever had any false neutrals ? Some new models have reported this as a issue .I've got a Ducati st and gearbox is amazing. I'm looking to buy the muiltstrada as my next bike for touring .

[@MotoringNomad]

Yes, but I wouldn't say it's bad. It's certainly not something which springs to mind.

[@rs8197-dms]

I have a '13, and I've had a couple false neutrals - certainly not often, but it happens. I am told that the chief cause of this is the shift mechanism not being aligned correctly, a slightly fiddly but relatively easy thing to correct. I'm intending to do this next week to see if it fixes the problem (only found out about the solution a short while ago). By the way I would change my multistrada for ... nothing. Fantastic bike.

[@gregstokes7169]

I am about to buy one here in PHILIPPINES versus a brand new Honda African Twin.

[@sirikulsomsuwan]

I was under the impression that Ducati’s especially the older ones always went wrong ?

[@MotoringNomad]

They didn't have a great reputation but that was a long time ago. Mine never had a single thing go wrong with it.

[@jamesd2277]

@@MotoringNomad Good to hear. I just pulled the trigger on a 2011 'Strada S Touring. Less than 5000 miles on it, less than $10000 Canadian. Coming from a Yamaha (and having owned 3 of them out of my 5 bikes) I am a little nervous about the maintenance costs, and the horror stories about them. It's reassuring to hear you haven't had problems.

[@sirikulsomsuwan]

I’d consider buying an older model one now, there’s a lot of info on the internet about the problems & how to over come them. Ride safe

[@MotoringNomad]

@@jamesd2277 It is a brilliant bike. Hope you have fun!

[@larshuschke1875]

@@jamesd2277 Hello James. I'm a little late to this conversation, but how has the Ducati treated you? I'm in the same scenario, I own a Yamaha FZ1 and want to get into a 2012 Multistrada but fear the reliability/maintenance cost of the Ducati. Am I good or should I stay away from this change? Thanks!