The Ducati Multistrada 1200 has treated me well over these years. My first ever new from dealership vehicle. Originally concocted as a dream to of a ‘Euro Delivery’ in combination with a work trip to Barcelona, I caved and just bought local. The dealership I bought her from has since closed up shop, but the Ducati dealer network has worked out fairly well so far.
After the first winter, she had an ‘ignition sending unit’ problem. Refused to unlock the steering. Had to get towed and fixed – fortunately under warranty. Probably would be very pricey otherwise.
Since then, only minor issues. Ducati doesn’t see fit to provide you with all the necessary tools to work on your own bike. They provide ‘some’ tools, but not even all the necessary hex keys to tighten all the fixtures. And in my hands, this particular MTS had needed a steady stream of fixes.
And so, I have named her ‘Mendy’. As in constantly needs to be mended, but never actually broken. She’s been down a few times now, struggling in the dirt. Poor control from me combined with some unsuitable footwear had led to some minor damage – scratched deflectors and snapped lever.
High winds at Canyonlands plateau ripped the straps right out of the sockets in the top case. Should be a simple fix, but hasn’t been an issue since my back seat ‘roll’ has gotten so tall, it now provides support for the top case lid.
The unsuitable footwear. Pilot Road 3’s. Not wearing as well as everyone seems to expect. This is after 6000 miles or so. If I’m lucky, I might see 8 thousand. Theory seems to be my activity in the dirt or the extra luggage.
Switchblade key started getting crunchy in White City/Carlsbad. Took it apart that night in the tent. Bits of metal had crumbled off. Removed and it’s working now, but the key feels looser now.
She finally has an name and a good one at that. Mendy the Multistrada is pretty catchy. Good to see a bike getting used. Too bad about the PR3’s, maybe it’s the heat and the weight? Although, 10,000 km isn’t a small distance even if it only took you less the a month to do it.
On Saturday, the return trip from Squamish was rather wet but the RR didn’t miss a beat and I didn’t get so much as a wiggle despite there being standing water on the highway.
Went riding with Josh on Sunday and it was nice to see the F4i back on the road again. We also went to Squamish. Went we got back, Joyce asked why Sunday’s Ride was so much shorter than Saturday’s ride…
The tires are definitely good. I suspect the luggage and aggressive passing on superslab hasn’t done the center strip much good. I’ve actually got the suspension at 2-up + luggage now.
I would get them again, but I think I’ll go to Walmart, pickup a portable pump and start changing my tire pressures more often – softer for gravel and higher for superslab.
So, on a related note: What exactly does “I stole the fuse pack from the RR” mean?
By the way, I seem to remember that there might be fuses inside the leatherman cases, tucked into the elastic inner pockets. Should be a group of three inside each case. If they’re there and the ones in the RR are gone…
RR had a tape strip with one of each fuse on it. I took that.
The inverter started acting up at some point and started eating the 15A fuses when I split it with the USB… Then it just did it even without the USB charging. I bought a box of 20A fuses(since, apparently, I can’t read and the inverter pulls 15A+ by itself). But didn’t help. Inverter’s toast. Bought another one from WalMart.
Oh, and as you warned me, the SAE to cigarette adapter you gave me has issues. I had to hack together another one on the road. Getting sketchier day by day…
Yeah, you know, cigarette adapters are only rated to 10 amps…which is why many inverters come with direct battery connections for “high draw” applications.
So, if you going to hack something, hack from SAE to inverter without going through a plug adapter.
Any fuses in the sheaths?