DUCATI MULTISTRADA 1260S (2018 - 2020) Review

see comment about seat

see comment about rear sprocket - when change bike much improved in town

Had it 2 years and apart from new front discs under warranty no issues

Rear brake is not as strong as I would have thought for such a big machine.

Good spread of power, however build / material quality is not quite as it should be.

With only having covered 850 miles the rear cylinder head again is leaking coolant.

Quick shifter is excellent.

Superb handling and feedback. A more relaxed bike than prior 1200 models (both DVT and pre) due to the geometry changes, but it's still eager and settled on the limit or at higher speeds with longer wheelbase.

Riotous, but also very versatile in nature; enjoys being revved like a big super bike twin or at lower rpms using the torque, most of which is available from just 3,500 rpm. Power can be adjusted, with various throttle maps and output levels. Only thing to note is that the 1262cc motors burn a little oil, which tends to be on longer higher RPM runs than previous Multistrada 1200s (pre and post DVT).

Fuel sender gave up the ghost, as did the senders on the prior two Multis I've owned; updated part number suggests it was a (yet again) known issue, but replaced under warranty. Other than that, faultless. Very well put together with clean lines and lovely style details. Of 100,000 miles covered on a bunch of Ducatis over the last 10 years or so, only one (new bike/800 miles on the clock) left me at the roadside needing recovery; gone are the now ancient days of reliability issues.

Annual oil and filters service is around the £180 mark; decent service interval of 9,000 miles or 12 months. The desmo service will set you back around £600 every 18,000 miles. Belts are changed with the desmo intervals, or at 60 months, add £100 or so to the normal/non desmo service cost.

Brilliant screen with an intuitive interface and controls. Top notch Brembo parts and complete with a quickshifter on S+ models. The QS can be clunky at lower speeds/riding gently (just use the clutch), but when pushing on it tends to be much happier and better synced.

When new the ride quality and brakes are it's best feature. Except for brake squeal at walking speed it did this for first 9000 miles really annoying was told this was a ducati thing and they all do it but a change to sintered pads stopped this instantly

The engine is intoxicating at high revs sounds awesome. But if you want to be lazy with gears is very lumpy you have to work gear box more than you would expect. You can not comfortably be in 6th at 70mph which is really annoying on motorway as to many vibes

If you are looking to do lots of miles this is not the bike for you I did 20,000 miles without fault in 2.5 years but then things started to go wrong Ducati service is appalling expect to wait 2 weeks for parts. Fuel gauge fault took five weeks to get sorted then a radiator replacement took 6 weeks. A short brake pipe took five weeks even with extended warranty. At 24,000 miles the skyhook suspension started to bottom out and knock. I was told told this is not a serviceable part so not a easy fix, and this should be expected with these miles . Started using a litre of oil every 1000 miles. Beneath that lustrous red paint there is not a lot of quality. I decided to trade mine as was fed up with it being in and out of dealership would not recommend one of these unless you do low miles

£750 for desmo service

The seating comfort is very good, but wind protection is appalling for tall riders even with taller screens fitted so much buffeting. The tft is very easy to use and the switch gear is very good also

Slight coolant leak from rear cylinder head.

Electronic suspension and Brembo breaks, not much else you can say, close to perfect.

The engine is strong and powerful, as I said, I needed to use the gearing differently otherwise it feels like it will shake your eyeballs out, once that’s sorted it’s smooth, really good power delivery and you can easily be naughty on this bike

It’s never missed a beat and everything fits well and feels well made, mirrors are solid and everything is laid out very well.

Overall it’s not that much different to any other bike, it is a premium brand so it’s a bit pricier but not that much, I also have a couple of other bikes and it’s close to these, it also now has the 4 year warranty so you can’t fault that!!

It has everything you need, I will be honest and say that the BMW has a better screen and the turn by turn satnav would have been really good if Ducati put it into their display also, but I think that’s being picky, it has everything else you could need, the heated grips are really good, the quick shifter in smooth and responsive and everything else just works as it should.

The plastics could be better at the edges

Not yet yearly service, the price is indicative

+ quick shifter, center stand, heating grips, replace to 100% road tires - operation of shifter, you have to kick and pull a little bit hard

Rear brake seems to lack feel, compared to the Diavel.

Really responsive

Would have been 5/5 but water leak due to gasket failure on rear cylinder

Heated grips are excellent addition

Rear brake is poor. Front brakes are difficult to service due to the 17 inch front wheel

I like the power delivery of the big twin however it takes a bit of getting use to after a v4 honda.

No corrosion so far.

Annual Service or 9000k. Tyres last about 5k. The downside is the Desmo Service at 18k especially if you do a lot of miles. It does use a lot of oil even from new which is well documented. Mine has used 2l over 7k.

Scorpion 2 tyres were good however I have changed to Pilot 5's as I have the touring version.

You can open the throttle without compromise anything. You can travel for hours

Tha plastics, fairings, could be better build. There are some edges at the of them

The gbx could operating better! sometimes looses the gears and needs a little more strength (always at leg lever)

Rear brake seems a little under powered compared to the Diavel. Comfortable, easy to ride.

Excellent

Coolant leaking from cylinder head gasket at 300 miles did not warrant the 5 out of 5. Repaired under warranty.

M50 Brembo brakes are just awesome.

Expected the L-Twin to behave more vibration but Ducati have done an excellent job smoothing this out. More power than is ever required and this bike will challenge most sport bikes.

Where to start! When it’s below 5 degrees (ish) the bike has an intermittent starting issue. Dealer tells me that big bore bikes all have starting problems when cold and that it takes time to start it. I know this isn’t right as sometimes it will start at colder temperatures than others. Seems I have to live with this and it’s just luck as to whether it will or won’t start on the colder mornings. This despite the bike being garages and always connected to a Optimate. Strange thing is if I leave bike for 24hrs it starts like no problem ever existed. First breakdown where the bike would cut out and suddenly lunges forward. Scary and dangerous! Dealer couldn’t identity the problem which, after referring the problem back to Italy, turned out to be the quick shift failing. Today (nice warm day) the display suddenly decides the Bluetooth connections don’t exist. A few other issues that you wouldn’t expect from such an expensive machine. But as I say I was warned that Ducati’s reliability reputation is not great and this appears to be true but I still took a punt. I love the bike. When it’s working properly it is incredible in all areas. But would I be confident taking around Europe?.....The answer is no I suspect I’ll end up spending more time on side of the road rather than riding on it!

It’s a Ducati at the end of the days so expecting to pay over the odds. I can live with this if the bikes reliability was vastly improved.

When it works you will get a lot for your money. With TFT display, ABS cornering, cornering lights, up/down quick shifter, the toys are endless.

Front brakes have epic power at speed, but are grabby at very low speeds around town (guess you cannot have it both ways). Rear brake next to useless to be honest and rear brake lever is in such awkward position it gives me cramp ( put a bigger brake pedal on please Ducati)

New motor DVT motor much smoother than the old version, but lacks the outright feeling of power the old motor had. It is good on fuel on a long run and is effortless on the motorway or around the twisty bits, handles well and will keep up with most bikes if you have the courage.

I will give it 3 out of 5 because the bike looks beautifully designed and very well put together, but will not mark it higher due to the above mentioned reliability issues.

Cam belt services at 18000 miles or 5 years are the best part of £1000 and take a couple of days, so start saving if you do a lot of miles.

I ride every day so the heated grips are a big favourite of mine, they work very well to, button could be better situated though. programmable power modes are good and easy to use/ also suspension adjustment when loaded up with passenger or panniers or both. Only ever used standard tires on mine, they work well wet or dry from new but performance drops off drastically once half worn. I put a full termi system on mine and it looks/sounds lovely and also gives a slight gain in performance but not enough to justify the cost in my opinion. I was also advised to put a tracker on rather than an alarm (AllTrac) the dealer has informed me that he thinks this is draining the battery resulting in me having to pay for a new lithium battery at £130 ( the dealer is under the impression this has lead to my intermittent starting problems, I disagree as the bike has been difficult to start since battery replacement, even when left on an optimate every night.

Brakes on the S, SD-Air and Pike's Peak edition are insanely good. I cannot speak to the slightly smaller brakes on the 1260 standard.

Sublime. This is the best 2 cylinder engine I have ever experienced.

My wife might be reading this so I decline to comment on the ownership costs of Ducatis.

The riding modes and user adjustments are much more intuitive than my previous experiences with Ducati.