Words: Matthew Shields

I’m a big fan of big adventure bikes. Built for comfort on the road, they are machines that have a comfortable riding position, generous suspension and plenty of performance. Fifteen years ago, the class was booming with most manufacturers building something to suit, but very few of them had the ideal characteristics to go off-road properly.

Image: Alex Gobert (Foremost Media).

First released in 2003, the Multistrada was one of those machines. Looking like the offspring of a motard and sports-tourer, the Multistrada boasted all the good stuff that made adventure toruers great, but limited to hard-packed roads and not snotty, back-country trails that a growing number of riders were looking for. Nonetheless, you knew it had the foundations in it to be a great off-roader, but a different direction was required to turn it into an off-road machine.

As the years ticked by since, the adventure-touring market has segmented and at one end of the spectrum you have essentially superbike-engined, highly-versatile roadbikes like Ducati’s Multistrada 1200 and more off-road focused machines. These big bikes are structured and equipped to go as far down a piece of singletrail as most single-cylinder trailbike riders would dare to go. At the same time on the big bikes you can hit the road at the end of the trail and do a 400km freeway or twisty road stretch effortlessly.

That’s where Ducati’s new Multistrada Enduro comes in. Since the Multistrada was released, Ducati has gone about refining and evolving the model to give it a level of performance, safety, luxury and technology that is hard to surpass. With the introduction of the DVT system to refine the big V-twins delivery of 160hp, the latest and greatest Bosch electronics and a highly detailed update to styling and function, the Multistrada 1200 is a class act.

Image: Alex Gobert (Foremost Media).

At home on the road, it has taken more than just a set of knobbies and a bigger rear sprocket to create the Multistrada Enduro. Sure, Ducati has worked from a great base, but a lot of care has gone into the details to make the Enduro a better machine off-road. As such, unlike the rest of the model range, there is one model variant and what you see is what you get. You can accessorise the Enduro with a heap of gear from the genuine accessory catalogue, but you aren’t going to get a better performing motorcycle on the road, track or trail than Ducati has built here.

Electronics is the best Bosch has to offer and the same kit you find on race-homologation model superbikes. Its capability allows the use of wheelie control, traction control, semi-active suspension, ABS and hill hold control. I’ve used all these systems on either road or track and they seem as perfectly-suited to the Enduro in any environment you are riding in. It’s all controlled off the left switchblock and there are four modes that give you different levels of response for the electronic aids and power delivery. And if you don’t like the way any aspect kicks in, you can dial in more or less off the same handlebar switchblock – there’s no plug-ins required at dealers.

I’ve spent a lot of time on the DVT Multistrada and it feels a totally different package on the Enduro. More than anything else it is punchy and exciting in the bottom-end, and it delivers just the kind of hard-hitting characteristics you want and use on a smaller bike to gas it around or over something on the trails. As different as the engine feels, getting this type of characteristic from the more mellow style of the Multistrada DVT engine has taken little more than a shorter first gear and a shorter final drive ratio.

Image: Alex Gobert (Foremost Media).

At low-speed the big V-twin has the same effectiveness in its character off-road as it does on the tarmac. It’ll take no clutch work and a good throttle hand to navigate at slow speeds making the ride a lot less taxing on the rider. At the end of the day, there’s plenty of power and easy to use torque that is very easy to use. On a bike that weighs in over 220kg that gets you into some pretty ‘big’ situations that is where the Enduro’s handling is steps up to the plate.

Riding big bikes off-road is something I quite enjoy. I’ve ridden through the outback on them, explored single trail and ridden a 950cc V-twin enduro in a prologue race at Erzberg, but big capacity adventure bikes are still an intimidating size off-road. The Ducati isn’t – stood up on the ’pegs it feels like an 800 with a Safari tank fitted. It’s a tad wider at the knees, but it won’t take long for that thought to be cast aside

The 19-inch front and 17-inch wheel combination is great on the tarmac and especially off it. A 21-inch front may be better on a Simpson crossing, but the 19-inch makes handling off-road predictable and also makes the handling dynamic sporty on the road if you want it to be. Shod with Pirelli Scorpion Trail IIs out of the box, I’d stick with the Scorpion Rally our testbike came fitted with. They work well on the road with the electronics obviously an assistance, but off-road they are at their best and this is where the Enduro is too.

Image: Alex Gobert (Foremost Media).

The Enduro is a superb machine off-road especially when the going gets rough. It’ll go off-road as well as the best of them feeling lighter, more nimble and, therefore, more confidence-inspiring than it ought to be. Yeah, it still looks expensive if you scratch it, but you don’t fix scratches on off-road bikes. There’s enough protection standard to stave off major damage to vital components out of the box like big chunky levers, crash bars and cheap, replaceable protective covers.

At the end of the day the primary objective of Ducati was to build a Multistrada that went further and better off-road. They have over-delivered on that account. I haven’t even mentioned the fact that it’ll do all this with 30 litres of fuel on board which is enough to get you 500km if you do it right. Take all that into account and it sounds like the perfect machine for an Australian adventure if you ask me.

Specifications

Capacity: 1198cc
Power: 118kW @ 9500rpm
Torque: 136Nm @ 7500rpm
Wet weight: 254kg
Seat height: 870mm
Price: $29,990 plus ORC
Detailed specs: ducati.com.au