Ducati Multistrada Hits the 100k Mark With V4 Engine Coming Soon

  • A 1260 Pikes Peak is the 100,000th Multistrada built by the Bologna-based motorcycle manufacturer
  • The Multistrada 1260 and 950 have achieved a maturity and excellence that place them at the pinnacle of this model’s development history
  • Valve play check every 18,000 miles on all engines

Borgo Panigale (Bologna, Italy), 17 September 2019 – Sixteen years after the first Multistrada rolled off the assembly line, the family has now reached the 100,000-bike milestone. Multistrada number 100,000, a Pikes Peak version of the 1260 with a customized laser marking on the top yoke, was handed over to Dave Hayward – a German Ducatista who had ordered his Multistrada from the Düsseldorf dealership – by none other than Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali in person.

Ducati’s dual-purpose motorcycle has always been technologically cutting-edge. In 2010 the Multistrada was the first bike to feature riding modes, the system that changes the very character of the bike. Indeed, the tagline for the advertising campaign read: “four bikes in one”. With the D|Air version, introduced in 2014, Ducati offered the first motorcycle with a system capable of interfacing with a dedicated airbag-equipped jacket. In 2015 it became the first motorcycle to feature a variable-timing engine: the Testastretta DVT (Desmodromic Variable Timing).

As the technology evolved, so did the reliability. Even longer and stricter development tests were applied. Production processes were improved, materials enhanced, numerical simulations honed, taking the Multistrada 1260 and 950 to unprecedented levels of dependability. Today, all the engines in the family have valve play checks at 18,000 mile intervals – three times that of the first version.

With no less than 7 versions, today’s Multistrada family has never been more complete: two 950 cc (113 hp) bikes and five 1260 cc (158 hp) ones.

Presented in 2019, the new Multistrada 950 – also available as an S version – is designed to put Multistrada performance within everyone’s reach while maximizing versatility, thanks also to the 19″ front wheel.

The most recent interpretation of the original dual-purpose sports concept, the Multistrada 1260 combines the comfort and load capacity of a dual-purpose bike with tire sizes, wheels and brakes that are, instead, typical of sports motorcycles. Equipped with Öhlins suspension, forged wheels and a carbon fiber end pipe, the Pikes Peak model offers maximum sports performance.

For those, instead, who love adventuring, Ducati has come up with the Multistrada 1260 Enduro, designed to take on the toughest terrain and longest journeys thanks to the 30-litre tank, long-travel suspension, 19″ front rim and, of course, the hard-wearing spoked wheels.

Development is ongoing, and in 2021 the Multistrada family will expand to see the twin cylinder 1260 and 950 motorcycles joined by a version with a new, specific V4 engine.

Multistrada milestones

  • 2003 Multistrada 1000 DS
  • 2005 Multistrada 620
  • 2007 Multistrada 1100
  • 2010 Multistrada 1200
  • 2012 Multistrada Pikes Peak
  • 2015 Multistrada 1200 DVT
  • 2016 Multistrada 1200 Enduro
  • 2016 Multistrada 950
  • 2018 Multistrada 1260
  • 2019 Multistrada 1260 Enduro
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