wide , which is not great for standing comfort because it bows one ’ s knees out and the brake pedal is tucked in below the slipper clutch cover , hindering accessibility somewhat . Otherwise , all is great with a nice reach to the wide and comfy bars that offer commanding control .
CHASSIS The suspension is controlled by Ducati ’ s very sophisticated Skyhook Semi-active electronics . USD 48mm progressively sprung forks take care of business upfront with a single shock at the rear . Both ends have 170mm of axle travel . Given the conditions were limiting and I only used the default settings in Sport and Enduro mode , I had no issues with the suspension action . It ’ s nicely controlled on road offering comfortable and accurate feedback . There ’ s no excessive dive under brakes and it happy absorbs all bumps , potholes and other irregularities . On gravel too the suspension action was great and the amount of electronic adjustment is mind-blowing in its scope for fine tuning , so I can ’ t imagine there isn ’ t a happy
setting for everyone . At only 170mm total travel this is another indication that the Multistrada is not in the extreme adventure category . The steel tubular Trellis chassis with Alloy swingarm provides a stable yet agile platform . The steering accuracy felt great on both tarmac and gravel . Considering the street 120 / 70-19 and 170 / 60-17 front / rear tyres and wheels it felt very planted on wet , firm gravel – happy days . With a full 20 litres of fuel on board the 950 weighs 228kg , which is acceptable , but because of the V-twin layout and a somewhat dated design the fuel is carried fairly high , giving a top-heavy feel especially when manoeuvring at low speed . Once under way , particularly on tarmac , this feel quickly disappears delivering a sports bike ride feel , but with the upright comfort and command the adventure style provides . Excellent Brembo brake calipers with 320 / 265mm discs front / rear and a six-axis IMU controlled cornering ABS are the business – confident , safe and powerful stopping at all times . A new effective safety feature is flashing
KIWI RIDER 55