This was my original Ducati Multistrada which I purchased in 2010 and used for 4 years to commute 40 miles a day to work.
It was also my first Ducati, so didn't really know what to expect. My only prior experience of Italian machines were those owned by friends in the 80s and 90s and was a bit of a mixed bag. Very nice machines but prone to breakdowns and electrical issues. I was a bit apprehensive as the bike was going to be a commuting bike and used in all weathers so felt like a bit of a gamble at the time.
After 4 years and used is all weathers, excepting snow and ice, it proved to have been a great choice. Also discovered it was very handy for longer day trips out as well, especially with the Topbox and Panniers fitted.
Bike was serviced regularly at Parkinsons in Colchester , now long since gone, as I it was a short walk to my offices around the corner.
My summary of the bikes would be as follows :
Riding position is good for short of long journeys
Bike works nicely at slow or faster speeds
Luggage is excellent setup and well made
Bike handles really well, even on bumpy back roads
Brakes are good enough, but maybe not as good as some
Reliable in all normal weather conditions
Over those initial 4 years I only had a few issues with the bike.
On the electrical side I did manage to blow the Reg/Rec unit once and also the TPS sensor once. Neither caused me to breakdown on the road but did cause starting issues so needed to get sorted quickly. The Reg/Reg was just a straight forward replacement unit. The location of the unit on the bike isn't great and gets a load of muck chucked on it and the surrounding wires so not surprised it eventually gave up.
The bike is a trellis frame and has a lot of connectors all over the place and usually zip tied to the frame. It's therefore inevitable that water and road grit will cost the wiring and there's little you can do about that. At least a couple of time a year I would take the panels off and inspect and clean all the connection points and would usually find a few which shown signs of water penetration and starting to go.
When the TPS issue happened the bike had worked the night before but when I tried to start it the next morning the engine would turn but not fire up. The cause wasn't obvious so had to dig into the ECU Error Codes. I found the Ducati Error Codes a bit hit and miss to be honest. I used OBD connectors and also the JPDiag software installed and setup on a Laptop. The initial connection was a bit fiddley at first and the software fairly easy to use,. However it didn't really help me resolve the issue. I had to reach out to other Ducati owners and ask around if anyone had had similar issues and what the solution was. This was how I found the most likely issues was the TPS sensor. Solution was new TPS cable and job done.
At that time there were a number of general Ducati and even specific Multistrada forums but over the years many of those have moved to Facebook groups. I have listed ones that still seem to be around further down as these proved to be the most helpful source of information on their bikes.
Unfortunately in January 2014 I had a prang on the bike when someone pulled out on me at one of those silly double mini roundabout setups. Wet day about 6pm and doing less than 25mph but had no time to avoid as he just didn't stop. In the great scheme of things I'd say it was a minor bump and at first didn't see much damage beyond scrapes on bars, pegs and luggage but I did come off. When we'd swapped details etc. and I pulled away it was clear I had a problem with the forks. Also notice my the thumb on my left hand has a bit painful!
The next day I got the bike up on the lift I couldn't see much wrong with the actual forks themselves but it seemed they had been pushed out of symmetry by the bump. Undid all the bolts, realigned the forks and they looked good. Had to unbend gear lever and a few other bits, but nothing too major. Scrapes on the Topbox, bar ends, levers etc. wouldn't stop them being used but as it wasn't my fault then I was going to get his insurance to pay for this. Oddly enough the other drivers insurance company called me to buy me a new crash helmet even though I didn’t recall ever hitting it and there were no marks on it, but hey-ho!
The chap's insurance (DL) company agreed to get one of their accessors to see the bike at Parkinsons in Colchester, so dropped it off before I went to work as I'd still been using the bike as all seemed to be fine excepting cosmetics. Picture of the bike that day is below. I was expecting a call where they agreed to pay for the damage, but when I got the call it was to say it had been written off! Not only that but it was Cat B "The frame is damaged beyond repair, but other usable parts can be salvaged. The main structure must be crushed" - I wasn't expecting that!
I had been warned that the cost of replacing all of the damaged parts and/or respraying panels etc. may have made it too costly to repair and could be an insurance write-off, but if that was the case it would be one of the lower categories which meant the bike could still be used on the road. Not that the frame had to be crushed and V5C ripped up! Indeed at the time I believe the wording was the entire bike needed to be crushed, but these Insurance Categories have changed significantly over the years. The reason the insurance accessor gave that assessment was because just under the front of the headstock is a small thin piece of metal which looks like a small cage which is the handlebar stop (i.e. stops to bard going too far left of right) and it was slightly bent. I'd been using the bike and didn't find any issues with the bar movement or indeed anything else.
In February 2014 the bike was written-off, the V5C returned to be deleted and his insurance company paid out for the bike.
So why is the bike listed under the Current Collective?
Well his insurance company also offered to sell the now, unregistered, bike for £150 - which of course I took.
A couple of months later I managed to find someone who was stripping a very nice 1000 and got the frame (with V5C) and most of the bits to replace the parts scraped, scratched or dented on my bike. A couple of weekends later and all the main components were fitted to the frame and bike fired up.
Bike has remained like that to this day. So it's still here and just waiting to be re--awakened once again.
Ducati MTS1000DS
Bike taken apart, frame swapped out and then rebuilt.
Points to note on this model.
The bike does have some 'features' and habits which taking getting used to.
At times is would struggle to start, until someone from the forum identified this as a common earthing issue. A second earthing strap resolved this little quirk. Alternatively fit one of the aftermarket cable kits which use better leads and also resolves the problem.
The 1000 version, not the 1100, don't seem to like low RPM and vibrates madly shaking the clocks and top fairing about. I've seen people post that it's even caused the brackets cracking due to this. Some people remap to get rid of this. but I found putting a Power Booster also resolves. This is a little plug in device that fools the ECU into running the engine a bit richer.
The standard screen is a biff naff in use and seems designed to cause more turbulence to the rider rather than deflect it away. I replaced with a Powerbroze double bubble unit which is an improvement.
I also had an Ermax taller screen fitted for a while but accident in garage and it cracked.
If you want to replace the seat with a different style then it's not a 5 minute job as with most bikes. Have to dismantle a large part of the plastics just to get at it. First time I did this it took me about 3 hours.
Petrol gauge is unrealistic and you really need to measure based on the trip.
Mine came with a centre stand fitted and although it's very useful, it has caused me a few scary moments as is digs into the ground when the suspension is compressed and the bike at very minimal lean angles. I modified the stop to lift this up a little, but you can only go so far as it would hit the chain if you go too far. Seems a real afterthought and not that well designed to the bike.
The side stand is flaky as well. It sits very far forward and seems too short for the bike. It's lean angle on the side stand is too far over and sometimes when getting on the bike you have to be careful that the bike doesn't fall over as the pivot point of the stand is near the cent re of gravity and toppling over would be pretty easily done, especially if the bike was on a slight downward incline. I stuck a Camel Toe and that seems to have worked.
The Cat Box looks like someone has stuck a vacuum cleaner on the back end. I'm going to try to fit an alternate setup for the 2018 rebuild.
Getting the rear wheel nuts off can be fun and have had to use an air wrench at times to loosen the nuts. Remove and oild regularly to prevent this happening.
Changing the pilot bulb in the headlight is best undertaken after completing a gynecologist course!
