Multistrada Enduro Pro

The official Ducati marketing material makes a big statement: “The first Ducati created to take you anywhere. Born to travel and to be unstoppable on any type of terrain.” The Italian marque has positioned the Multistrada Enduro Pro as a challenge to the traditional big adventure machines currently available on the market. The bike is made in Italy and comes with an MSRP of $23,295. Quite a bit more than the MSRP of $16,695 one would be handing over for a standard R1200GS. But with the promise of “lets you explore the world on two wheels to go where nobody else has dared” it certainly peeks the interest.

The 1198 cc machine weighs in at 511 pounds / 232 kilograms. With a wheelbase of 1594mm and a seat height of 870 mm, the Enduro Pro offers a comfortable saddle position for most riders body types. The Ducati Testastretta DVT engine puts out 112 kW / 152 hp at 9500 rpm with 94 lb-ft / 128Nm of torque at 7500 rpm. A beautiful 27 hp over the market leading 2018 BMW R1200GS. It has a six-speed manual transmission, and a fuel injected longitudinal twin two-cylinder engine. Final drive is 15 / 43 delivered by the chain. The ergonomics are well balanced straight from the showroom floor with a wide set handlebar that comes with bar risers installed. Coupled with the weighted front design and comfortable knee wells shifting from a seated to standing position comes naturally. This allows for a clean transition of weight as demanded by the terrain one is covering.

The 7.9 gallon / 30 liter tank gives the confidence of range. While a 19” front wheel strikes a good balance between off-road and on-road capabilities. Both the front and 17’ rear rim are clad in Pirelli Scorpion Rally tires from the factory. A twin 320mm disc set up in the front with a single 265mm in the rear are responsible for stopping. The front featuring radially mounted four-piston Brembo calipers while the rear is a two-piston floating caliper as expected. “The Multistrada 1200 Enduro features a Brembo braking system with the Bosch 9.1ME ABS ECU, an integral part of the Ducati Safety Pack (DSP). Cornering ABS makes use of the Bosch IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) platform to optimize front and rear braking power even in critical situations with the bike at considerable lean angles.” A part of the new offerings that will soon be standard on all new high-end motorcycles. Something you never thought you’d need till you do.

The cockpit follows, in keeping with its Italian creators, a well laid out and stylish route. The 5” full-TFT instrument panel is clear and easy to read in both daylight and night mode. The layout is intuitive, and once one spends a couple of minutes familiarizing oneself with the layout it’s easy to navigate. The backlit handlebar switchgear is a nice touch, especially when riding at night. The inputs are easy to operate with the on/off and start buttons for the keyless ignition located on the right. Most of the operational inputs like indicator, selector, and high/low beam inputs are located the left side of the handlebar. A Ducati Multistrada Link app is also available (only on IOS) for downloading and sharing your trip stats. A Hella style plug nests inside the right front of the cockpit and makes for easy reach when charging the plethora of modern adventure rider paraphernalia. The short enduro style screen is easily lowered or raised by one hand and provides a surprisingly ample amount of protection even at highway speeds. The front indicators have been located on the handguards. This integration, although pleasing to the eye and highly visible in traffic, makes for a ‘faux pas” on the designer’s side. Anything from a parking lot drop to a trailside misjudge could see you paying Ducati level prices to replace the impractically placed indicators. But then again, owning a Ducati has never been a budget consideration.

The Sachs front suspension is a set of fully adjustable upside down forks. They feature electronic compression and rebound adjustment. The rear is again a fully adjustable Sachs unit with electronic spring pre-load adjustment. With 200mm’s of travel, both front and rear suspension features Ducati Skyhook Suspension (DSS) that sees a sensor positioned on the wheel and another on the body of the bike. The Skyhook ECU uses the continually changing value between the two sensors and adjusts the damping accordingly with predetermined settings. According to Ducati, this makes available a more extensive range of dampening options to the rider than traditional suspension set-ups.

There is a distinct change in feel between rider modes. With Sports mode being noticeable harder than Enduro for example. Each mode (Urban, Touring, Sport, and Enduro) can be individually adapted within the modes submenus. This can be done by the rider on the basis of weight carried or terrain covered. With the off-road sections of this review, ADVroad found a distinct bottoming out of the suspension while riding mediocre gravel tracks in the standard Enduro mode. The suspension is remarkably soft for a bike of its weight and bottoming out of the front end was a constant phenomenon while testing. So much so that it forced slower riding speeds than would have been possible with other brands traditional suspension on the same terrain.

Ducati has opted to go with Touratech as an official supplier of adventure parts on the Enduro Pro. The German adventure company supplies brand specific aluminum side panniers to the packing volume of 85 liters total for the Multistrada Enduro. Crash bars also come standard along with a high-quality radiator guard. Included in the Enduro Pack is a set of LED fog lights that mount slightly recessed on the crash bars and do a proficient job of illuminating the oncoming road at night. They also double up as a safety feature increasing the visibility of the rider to other traffic when used during the day. On the belly, a perfectly styled bash plate protect the engine.

By all accounts, the Enduro Pro is an incredibly capable, if not spectacularly fun, on-road machine. Especially when it comes to asphalt twisties and scenic B-road runs. And hitting the occasional gravel track or fire road to get to a campsite should pose no problem. Thus being deserving of it being labeled a world traveler. But so was Ted Simon’s 500 cc Triumph Tiger 100 that traversed the globe for four years clocking up over 64000 miles / 103000 kilometers through 45 countries at a rather nominal cost when compared to today’s prices. For Ducati to indeed be able to take on the leading adventure motorcycling brands the Multistrada Enduro Pro will, however, need to be refined for the task at hand.

Test bike supplied by Ducati Dubai. The rider wears Klim gloves, jacket and pants from Old Timer ME. The helmet is by Arai and the neck brace is from Leatt, while the boots are from Gaerne.

All images by Portraits Of A Rider.