The Multistrada Enduro serves as a sort of Jack-of-all-trades as far as bikes go, and Ducati expands the family footprint even further for MY18 with the addition of the Enduro Pro. While it's safe to say the base Enduro is capable of traversing the black as well as the brown, the Pro version brings a decidedly off-road bias to the table, not unlike some of the other serious business dual-surface rides out there. We'll see for sure here shortly. The new variant has the same 152-horsepower plant as the base Enduro with a handful of useful bits and bobs such as tank protectors, a low-profile windscreen and Rally-style tires that really give it the off-road slant. Today I'm going to check out the Enduros in depth to see what all Duc has done for its dirtiest Jack to date.

Continue reading for my review of the Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro and Enduro Pro.

2017 - 2018 Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro / Enduro Pro

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2017 - 2018 Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro / Enduro Pro
  • Engine/Motor: Testastretta L-Twin
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

Design

It's generally safe to say that nearly every bike has a purpose-driven design in one fashion or another (and general-purpose qualifies as a purpose...), but adventure bikes are generally a bit more constrained, even niche in their capabilities. The “Enduro” moniker implies both on-road and off-road capabilities with its roots in that popular racing style that saw what was essentially dirtbikes with dual-purpose tires and street-legal lighting competing on tracks/courses that were part dirt and part street, kind of like the modern supermotard races.

To that end, these bikes start out on a set of the dirt-tastic laced rims long favored by off-road riders. Fork guards protect the swept area of the inverted forks to protect the seals from grit and dust with a fullish front fender, bird's beak fairing and flyscreen to protect the rider. While the base model carries a full-height windshield, the Pro is cut down to provide some coverage while preventing loss of forward visibility due to mud and bug contamination.

Slanted LED headlights lend the visage an angry-bird look with cornering lights and handguard-mount turn signals. The Pro protects the proffered sides of the fairing with a steel-pipe cage, not for if you drop it, but when, and lets' face it; if you use the thing as it's intended, you're gonna' drop it eventually.

Flylines are what you'd expect; a tall, camel-like, 7.9-gallon fuel-tank bump dominates the profile ahead of the precipitous tumble to the deep-scoop saddle and subsequent rise to the pillion pad. Oh-shit handles provide a bit of passenger security as well as handy hardpoints for your bungee net. Though the base model shuns the fairing guard, both come with a skidplate to protect the otherwise exposed engine from terrain strikes leaving both capable of tackling light-to-medium terrain safely.

Chassis

Large-diameter, thin-wall steel tubing makes up the Trellis part of the frame up front with lateral sub-frames and a techno-polymer member to stiffen the assembly. The steering geometry strikes a balance between stability and agility with a 25-degree rake and 4.3 inches of trail. Both models see a fat set of 48 mm, usd forks with a Sachs monoshock to tame the rear and 7.9-inches (200 mm) of travel. Pretty supple, right? Well, Ducati sweetens the deal with its Skyhook Suspension (DSS) that uses input from the Bosch Inertial Measurement Unit to electronically and automatically adjusts the forks for rebound and compression, and the rear shock for same plus spring preload.

Down in the hoops we see some divergence. The more street-tastic base model wraps the 19-inch front rim and 17-inch rear with Pirelli's Scorpion Trail II hoops that balance street and dirt-track capabilities, but the Pro variant rolls on the Pirelli Scorpion Rally rubber that brings more of an unimproved-road and soft-surface profile to the table with generous street flats that make on-road work at least practicable, if not ideal.

A pair of four-bore, Brembo Monobloc calipers bite the dual, 320 mm brake discs up front with a twin-pot anchor and 265 mm disc in back, all under the capable overwatch of the Bosch 9.1ME Cornering ABS that customizes intervention values to match attitude and acceleration/deceleration as reported by the IMU. Additionally, the Vehicle Hold Control feature will keep pressure on the rear brake for up to 9 seconds to leave both of the rider's feet free for balance and control during uphill takeoffs. Stock seat height falls out at 34.25-inches, but if that doesn't suit you, the accessories catalog has a 35-inch and a 33.4-inch saddle that may.

Frame:

Tubular steel Trellis frame

Front suspension:

Sachs 48 mm fully adjustable usd forks. Electronic compression and rebound damping adjustment with Ducati Skyhook Suspension (DSS)

Front wheel:

Tubeless spoked wheel in light alloy 3" x 19"

Front Tire:

Pirelli Scopion Trail II 120/70 ZR19 as optional Pirelli Scorpion Rally same measure (Pro: Pirelli Scorpion Rally 120/70 R19)

Rear suspension:

Fully adjustable Sachs unit. Electronic compression & rebound damping adjustment. Electronic spring pre-load adjustment with Ducati Skyhook Suspension (DSS). Aluminium double-sided swingarm

Rear wheel:

Tubeless spoked wheel in light alloy 4.50" x 17"

Rear tire:

Pirelli Scorpion Trail II 170/60 ZR17 as optional Pirelli Scorpion Rally same measure (Pro:Pirelli Scorpion Rally 170/60 R17)

Front wheel travel:

200 mm (7.9 in)

Rear wheel travel:

200 mm (7.9 in)

Front brake:

2 x 320 mm semi-floating discs, radially mounted monoblocco Brembo calipers, 4-piston, 2-pad, with cornering ABS as standard equipment

Rear brake:

265 mm disc, 2-piston floating caliper, with cornering ABS as standard equipment


Drivetrain

Ducati powers this pair with its Testastretta DVT powerplant. The L-twin plant runs a massively oversquare 106 mm bore and 67.9 mm stroke with a 1,198 cc displacement and 12.5-to-1 compression ratio. The four-valve heads are timed by Duc's signature Desmodromic valvetrain that shuns power-robbing valve springs in favor of push-open/pull-closed cams, and the factory takes it a step further with variable valve timing, hence the DVT in the engine's name.

A camshaft “phaser” (vroom-vroom not pew-pew) uses oil pressure to allow the cam drive sprocket to rotate independent of the shaft up to 45-degrees to vary the valve timing for better low-end grunt without sacrificing top-end performance. The Independent Dual-Spark ignition varies the timing at each plug for proper flame-front propagation according to engine speed as well for another layer of flexibility that neatly sidesteps the usual one-size-fits-all tuning. Both the base-model and the Pro have the same engine with the same 152-horsepower output at 9,500 rpm, but there's a bit of ambiguity as to why the Pro puts out 100.3 pound-feet while the base model falls a tad short with 94 pounds of grunt, both at 7,500 rpm.

Make no mistake, both have enough power to allow you to get yourself in a heap o' trouble, so the factory chucked on some gadgets to help you manage it. First we have Ducati's Traction Control system that provides a total of eight levels of intervention to protect the rear contact-patch integrity along with Wheelie Control to minimize the moonshots and riding modes that bundle the above with variable power delivery for easy ride configuration and adjustment. The icing on the cake comes from the slipper clutch on the six-speed transmixxer that prevents excessive backtorque on hard downshifts from compromising traction.

Engine:

Testastretta with variable valve timing, L-Twin cylinder, 4 valve per cylinder, Dual Spark, Desmodromic, liquid cooled

Displacement:

1198.4cc

Compression ratio:

12.5:1

Power:

112 kW (152 hp) @ 9,500 rpm

Torque:

128 Nm (94 lb-ft) @ 7,500 rpm


Pricing

Duc turns loose of the base Multistrada 1200 Enduro for $21,295 MSRP with an extra couple of bills needed for a choice of colors. The Pro variant hits you up for another couple grand at $23,295. Your new Multistrada is covered by Ducati's 24-month unlimited mileage warranty.

Color:

Red, Phantom Grey, Star White Silk (Pro: Sand)

Price:

Red: $21,295, Colors: $21,495 (Pro: $23,295)


Competitors

There's no doubt that Ducati has put together one Hell of a product here, and if you don't believe it, just go take a look at some of the “top shelf” offerings from some of the other big-name manufacturers and get back to me. To go head-to-head, I'm picking with the Tiger Explorer XCa from Triumph since it fits the bill nicely as a rival to Ducati's Pro.

As adventure bikes, they necessarily sport similar forms that fit the mold to a T, but with a distinct flavor that makes clear at a glance their nation of origin to the experienced eye. Trumpet favored a tall, power-adjustable windshield where Duc goes for a fixed flyscreen, but both sport crashguards to protect the bike when you drop it. Triumph supports the Tiger on WP products that come with an electronic, semi-active and automatic damping/preload adjuster similar to the Multistrada. To further the gadgetry, Trumpet added ABS, rider modes and traction control for a more-or-less equal electronics suite.

The Tiger runs a three-cylinder, 1,215 cc powerplant, just a skosh larger than the Pro, but falls a tad short in power with 139 ponies and 90.7 pounds of twist. It's not much of a difference, but there it is. At the end of the day I think we can agree that both are sufficient for the job, 'cause let's face it, you can only put so much power to the ground when on soft surfaces.

Ducati takes a walloping at the checkout though; Triumph manages to keep MSRP down at $20,700 for its top-of-the-line XCa, a bit shy of the Pro, and if you can live without some of the gadgetry you can get well below the 20K mark.

He Said

“Ducati never ceases to impress, and this ride is no different. I reckon my favorite parts are the engine and all the electronic wizardry, and although all of its systems are seen throughout the market and are nothing unique or new, having all of them on one model is something you don't see every day. 'Course, I don't have to work on it, or pay someone else to. I may have a different opinion if I owned one that had a gremlin on board.”

She Said

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, "This engine has superbike roots; it's the same engine as in the Multistrada, the Diavel, the Monster, and has been repurposed for the touring bikes, as well. It's awesome to have it in an adventure bike. The electronics are very cool; I think you can link up to the Space Station with the TFT display and input some telemetry or something, I dunno, it's pretty awesome."

Specifications

Engine:

Type:

Testastretta with variable valve timing, L-Twin cylinder, 4 valve per cylinder, Dual Spark, Desmodromic, liquid cooled

Displacement:

1198.4cc

Bore x Stroke:

106x67.9mm

Compression ratio:

12.5:1

Power:

112 kW (152 hp) @ 9,500 rpm

Torque:

128 Nm (94 lb-ft) @ 7,500 rpm

Fuel injection:

Bosch electronic fuel injection system, elliptical throttle bodies with Ride-by-Wire, equivalent diameter 56 mm

Exhaust:

Stainless steel muffler with catalytic converter and 2 lambda probes, single stainless steel muffler (Pro: Ducati Performance by Termignoni single titanium muffler)

Engine:

Gearbox:

6 speed

Primary drive:

Straight cut gears, Ratio 1.84:1

Ratio:

1=38/14; 2=30/17; 3=27/20; 4=24/22; 5=23/24; 6=22/25

Final drive:

Chain; Front sprocket 15; Rear sprocket 43

Clutch:

Light action, wet, multiplate clutch with hydraulic control. Self-servo action on drive, slipper action on over-run

Transmission:

Frame:

Tubular steel Trellis frame

Front suspension:

Sachs 48 mm fully adjustable usd forks. Electronic compression and rebound damping adjustment with Ducati Skyhook Suspension (DSS)

Front wheel:

Tubeless spoked wheel in light alloy 3" x 19"

Front Tire:

Pirelli Scopion Trail II 120/70 ZR19 as optional Pirelli Scorpion Rally same measure (Pro: Pirelli Scorpion Rally 120/70 R19)

Rear suspension:

Fully adjustable Sachs unit. Electronic compression & rebound damping adjustment. Electronic spring pre-load adjustment with Ducati Skyhook Suspension (DSS). Aluminium double-sided swingarm

Rear wheel:

Tubeless spoked wheel in light alloy 4.50" x 17"

Rear tire:

Pirelli Scorpion Trail II 170/60 ZR17 as optional Pirelli Scorpion Rally same measure (Pro:Pirelli Scorpion Rally 170/60 R17)

Front wheel travel:

200 mm (7.9 in)

Rear wheel travel:

200 mm (7.9 in)

Front brake:

2 x 320 mm semi-floating discs, radially mounted monoblocco Brembo calipers, 4-piston, 2-pad, with cornering ABS as standard equipment

Rear brake:

265 mm disc, 2-piston floating caliper, with cornering ABS as standard equipment

Instrumentation:

Color TFT display 5"

Chassis:

Dry weight:

225 kg (496 lb) (Pro: 232 kg (511 lb)

Wet weight (KERB):

254 kg (560 lb) (Pro: 261 kg (575 lb)

Seat height:

Not adjustable 870 mm (34.25 in) (890 - 850 mm with optional seats)

Wheelbase:

1594 mm (62.76 in)

Rake:

25°

Trail:

110 mm (4.3 in)

Fuel tank capacity:

30l - (7.9 US gal)

Number of seats:

Dual seat

Dimensions and weight:

Warranty:

24 months unlimited mileage

Color:

Red, Phantom Grey, Star White Silk (Pro: Sand)

Price:

Red: $21,295, Colors: $21,495 (Pro: $23,295)


References

See our review of the Triumph Tiger Explorer XC.