By 
Ever lust after your girlfriend’s younger sister?
Everything that was so awesome about the Multistrada1200 Enduro, but with some sensible accessories.
In Adventure Rider Magazine’s opinion, Ducati’s Multistrada 1200 Enduro was, and is, an exceptional motorcycle. We’d go as far as saying it’s one of the most exceptional motorcycles we’ve ridden.
But Ducati took that jewel and gave it a polish.
Looks could kill
Refer to issue #17 for a rundown on the mechanicals and electronics of this bike.
We were quite thorough there and it’ll save us repeating pages of info.
At the most basic level the Multistrada Enduro 1200 Pro is an 1198.4cc, L-twin, liquid-cooled four-stroke. The electronics are very advanced and mean the rider has an incredible amount of control over a huge range of performance functions.
For ease of use Ducati has grouped the enormous possibilities under four menu headings: Touring, Urban, Sport and Enduro. Within those menu headings a rider can delve into the individual settings for things like ABS, traction control, ignition mapping, suspension and a huge range of other parameters. Once fine-tuned, a setting can be saved and called up at will.
All that’s the same on the Enduro Pro. The differences aren’t so much in performance – although physics says the Termignoni pipe must alter the motor’s response and power delivery – as in some very cool cosmetics and a few noteworthy hardware items.
Little sister
To push our thought about the girlfriend’s younger sister a step further along, one thing that would please the current girl-friend is the younger sister being a little heavier. The 1200 Enduro, measured at the spec sheet, weighs in at 225kg. The Enduro Pro is listed at 232kg. Both bikes have the same whopping power output, but new testing systems at Ducati now rate both bikes at 152hp.
The extra kilos are worth considering.
The Enduro 1200 was a heavy bike – our sole reservation with the brilliant dual-sporter – but as long as it was in motion it felt incredibly agile and stable. The Enduro Pro is the same. If there’s an extra seven kilograms there, we couldn’t feel it.
We don’t know for certain, but the crash bars and lights probably account for the bulk of the extra mass, and we figure they’re fittings most riders would want to fit to their Multistrada 1200 Enduro anyway.
Off-road Pirelli Scorpions are on the bike as standard fittings.
Specifically
Looking at the cosmetic changes then, the most noticeable variation from the 1200 Enduro is the ‘sand-coloured, with rough surface finish, front end and tank cover, the latter sporting Enduro logo stickers on both sides.’ We’re quoting from the Ducati media material there, but it’s dead accurate.
We actually thought the Pro may have had a plastic tank, but it’s a plastic cover and it looks like it would provide good protection.
Other cosmetic changes include a two-tone seat and black subframe, a black clutch cover and black alternator cover.
The off-road Pirelli Scorpions are on the bike as standard fittings, as are a set of Touratech-made crash bars, LED lights, a low screen, and, as we’ve mentioned, the Termignoni muffler.
A couple of standard features worth a mention are the cruise control we saw on the Multistrada 1200 Enduro and the Bluetooth module, which, via the Ducati Multimedia System, lets riders connect the bike to a smartphone, manage key multimedia functions (incoming calls, text messaging and music) via the switches and display information on the TFT dashboard.Okay. A few of those aren’t cos-metic. They’re awesome, though.One thing fitted to the test bike which won’t come standard is the Barkbusters.Could Ducati have remembered the little incident we had with the 1200 Enduro?
A shorter screen and ‘sand’ colour scheme.
Thankfully we didn’t put the crash bars to the test. They’re made by Touratech, so they should be good gear.
Additional lighting is always welcome.
The Termignoni pipe looks good, but we couldn’t honestly tell the difference from the stocker. The bike still has an incredible power output, and the superb electronics make it a pleasure to use.
Just like her sister
Riding the Enduro Pro, we admit, isn’t an eye-opener.
After being gifted with most of a year on the 1200 Enduro, the Enduro Pro felt like a favourite pair of jeans on a Saturday morning. The bike is just so damn comfortable. We actually thought this bike may have had ’bar risers fitted, because we couldn’t clearly remember the stock set-up on the long-termer being as good as this one, but we were assured that wasn’t the case.
Performance-wise the Enduro Pro is the same impossibly awesome weapon as its sister bike. The motor offers huge gobs of tyre-destroying horse-power made manageable at the touch of a button.
Touching the button a few more times has the motor calmed down to where it’s an absolute pleasure in heavy traffic, tighter going or across rough ground, and it’s all done in a seamless way that leaves a rider believing its their skill that’s making them ride so fast and smooth.
On the bitumen of course, with the bike allowed to show why it deserves the Ducati badge, it’s just amazing.
The suspension, constantly adjusted in near real time, keeps that rear wheel in touch with ground and driving, even when the bike’s leaned over and even on choppy surfaces. The braking is excellent and the incredible stability of the bike in motion is plainly awesome.
We know we rave about the Multistrada 1200 Enduros, but it’s only because they’re a really special bike.
Lightin’ up
We have to ’fess up: we didn’t do you, the readers, justice when we were reviewing this bike. We didn’t ride at night to test the auxiliary lighting and we didn’t deck it a couple of times to give the crash bars a workout. We did make an honest attempt to see if we could feel a difference in the motor’s response with the new pipe, but we’d be kidding ourselves if we made any wild claims about ‘testing limits’. We couldn’t honestly say we felt any difference in power delivery.
What we did feel was that Ducati had taken a really superb motorcycle and optioned it up with very sensible inclusions which most riders would fit soon after purchase anyway.
And maybe Ducati even made it look just a little wilder and gave it just a little attitude.
Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro
Web: www.ducati.com.au
Engine: Ducati Testastretta DVT with variable valve timing, L-Twin cylinder, four valves per cylinder, dual spark, liquid-cooled
Capacity: 1198.4cc
Bore x stroke: 106mm x 67.9mm
Compression Ratio: 12.5:1
Power: 152hp@9500rpm
Torque: 128Nm@7500rpm
Fuel injection: Bosch electronic fuel injection system, elliptical throttle bodies with ride-by-wire, equivalent diameter 56mm
Exhaust: Stainless-steel muffler with catalytic converter and two lambda proves, Ducati Performance by Termignoni single titanium muffler
Transmission: Six-speed
Clutch: Light-action, wet, multiplate clutch with hydraulic control. Self-servo action on drive, slipper action on over-run
Final Drive: Chain. 15-tooth front sprocket. 43-tooth rear sprocket
Frame: Tubular steel trellis
Front Suspension: Sachs fully adjustable 48mm USD fork. Electronic compression and rebound damping adjustment with Ducati Skyhook Suspension (DSS)
Rear Suspension: Fully adjustable Sachs unit. Electronic compression and rebound damping adjustment. Electronic spring preload adjustment with DSS Evo. Aluminium double-sided swingarm.
Front Brake: Dual 320mm semi-floating discs, radially mounted mono-blocco Brembo four-piston callipers with cornering ABS as standard equip-ment
Rear Brake: 265mm disc, two-piston floating calliper with cornering ABS as standard equipment
Front Wheel: Tubeless spoked wheel in light alloy, 3.00 inches x 19 inches
Rear Wheel: Tubeless spoked wheel in light alloy, 4.50 inches x 17 inches
Seat Height: 87mm (890mm – 850mm with optional seats)
Wheelbase: 1594mm
Fuel Capacity: 30 litres
Dry weight: 232kg
Standard equipment: Vehicle Hold Control (VHC), Riding Modes, Power Modes, Ride by Wire (RbW), Ducati Safety Pack (Bosch Cornering ABS + DTC), Ducati Skyhook Suspension (DSS) Evo, Ducati Wheelie Control (DWC), Cruise control, Full LED headlamp with Ducati Cornering Lights, Hands-Free, Backlit handlebar switches, Ducati Multimedia System (DMS), Full-colour TFT display, Ducati Performance by Touratech side tank protectors, Ducati Performance by Termignoni single titanium muffler, LED additional lights, low windscreen, Steering damper, Anti-theft ready.
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