Having lived with the bike for a year and 9700kms now, I thought it would be a good time to pen a few random thoughts and re visit some of those likes and dislikes. But first, let me get the annual service update out of the way.
Annual Service:
The annual service is as the name suggests, once a year or every 15000 Kms. Booked an appointment as is the norm and these are the things I brought to the attention of the Service manager
-Weak brakes: The lever had too much play and the initial bite was gone, bleeding the brakes at an FNG didnt help at all
-Silencer cover screws missing: After my 1000kms check up I noticed a screw had fallen off and since the plate was held up by another two screws left it that way only to find one by one the other screws fell off. Zip ties to the rescue.
-Rust on manifold
-Gear indicator has a mind of its own, sometimes it would grace me by showing "N" when I slotted in neutral but most of the time would show its stubborn Italian character and show "2". This wasnt a deal breaker unless I wanted to put the side stand down, then the engine would cut out.
VST group (Local Ducati dealer) is a large group and in my experience with them not everything has been perfect but when things went wrong their behavior proved they value reputation over financial gain. So I have no reason to have a strong inclination to stick around when they are servicing my bike, not that they would allow you too, they have a strict policy against customer's on the shop floor when the bike is being serviced. Dropped the bike off and considering how much I hate riding/driving in Bangalore traffic told them to take their time and ill pick up the bike the next day even they were ready to hand it over on the same day. The only thing I haven't gotten used too is how nonchalantly they brush off my "thought up/imagined" worries saying the bike is built to a standard and im over thinking it. Case in point when I pointed to what I thought was rust they insisted it was only red mud caked on a hot silencer (Later when I scratched some of it out it didn't smell like rust). Also they are pretty ok if you carry your own engine oil as long as its the same as the OEM spec and considering the great Republic sale on Amazon comes around the same time, I manage to save a bit of money.
Sunil, the service manager only insists on changing what needs to be changed, nothing less nothing more, so when he said the air filter was clogged beyond its usefulness I approved replacing with a new one.
So the next day got the bike with everything back to the way it was supposed to be apart for that stubborn gear indicator, apparently they tried to teach it the correct gears (yes, this is the technical term - Gear learning) but I guess my bike takes after me and would stick to showing "2" instead of "N" and all this outside the service center. When I went to drop the bike off and pick it up on both occasions it would always show "N". During my next visit will get the part replaced under warranty.
~12000 a year with no major parts to be changed/replaced is fine by me.
Tyres seem to be holding up pretty ok so far.
I still believe ALL Ducati's should be in this shade unless its the Diavel, then it has to be matt black
Be still my beating heart! Having done a couple of track days I know that even if I can afford it I wouldn't be able to do justice to this bike, that still didnt stop me from going weak at the knees.
My thoughts on owning and riding an ADV:
Let me get the not so good out of the way first.
No matter what anyone tells you, big ADVs are not the answer if all you are looking for is a comfortable bike. On the move, Yes! Nothing comes close to how supremely comfortable they are when you are gobbling up miles and some bikes like the Mutlistrada throw in that bit of zing where you can have some naughty fun while covering large distances. But apart from that, its a lot of hard work and needs a lot of thinking. No matter how many YouTube videos you watch and no matter how easy the service guys seem to maneuver the bike when not riding it is downright difficult (at least for me). Every off bike maneuver has to the carefully thought out and executed with the utmost concentration and even then you can be caught unaware with some one bumping into you or you suddenly lose grip and the safest alternative is putting the bike down gently. Having spent years in the gym and seeing how the bike takes being dropped, lifting the bike or something on the bike breaking are the least of my worries. The biggest thing to take a hit is your ego and pride (at least in my case). What I am trying to say is big ADVs make a ton of sense and serve my purpose to the "T", what you need to be aware off is what your use case is going to be and what your own limits are, if you can reconcile those two you wont be disappointed. Hopefully its only been a year for me and Im sure given a few more years I will start feeling much confident moving the bike around when Im off the bike.
For reference , the bike on the left is what I used to think was the heaviest and unwieldy (not on the move) bike.
Now for the good parts
My wife loves the bike, period! Any trip if I ask "Car or bike" her answer is always "Bike" and she gives me that weird look as if to say I don't have an option.
Riding the bike in the city is a pleasantly huge surprise, at least compared to my previous bike the D390. I can easily out maneouver 100cc commuters and it has none of the jerkiness of the KTM in lower gears. Of course the engine heats up but serves you right if you try to ride in plain old jeans.
So in short, nothing has changed in my "Likes" section, in fact I have only grown to love this bike more and the fact that my better half once in a while says "For once in your life you made the right choice in bikes" is the icing on the cake!
Quote:
Originally Posted by the_skyliner Booked a Multi 950S a couple of weeks ago and expecting delivery sometime this or next week. |
Awesome news and Congrats! Having seen the new multi 950 up close Im pretty sure you wont be disappointed at all! Thanks for the kind words and looking forward to your ownership review (the current updates justify a new thread)