BMW 1300 GS vs Ducati Multistrada V4S: Comparison after a 120 km ride

What’s the whole package like then? Hand on heart, if I had to purchase one of these bikes all over again for myself, it’s still the 1300 that would get my money.

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Compared | BMW 1300 GS vs Ducati Multistrada V4S

The ride
This is not meant to be a comprehensive review. Its simply my quick take on the Multistrada V4S (“Multi” / “MTS” / “V4S”) based on a single 120 kms ride, written somewhat as a comparison to my 1300 GS. The ride was mostly on inner B roads, old Mumbai Pune highway and entering Mumbai city all the way till the Ducati showroom. I rode the bike only in Touring mode, notably neither in Sports mode nor in Off road / Enduro mode. I did not play through the menus at all but simply used my limited time riding the bike back from our location to where we road to back to the Ducati showroom in Santacruz.

With that out of the way, here's my quick take on the bike.

# Looks:- Its not even a contest here. The Multistrada, like many other Ducatis, simply looks like art on wheels, whichever angle you look at it from. Impressively, the bike is very accessible even for a shorter rider, but it somehow achieves this without looking shrunk, like the 1300. It looks bigger than it feels, as opposed to the 1300 which looks visibly slimmer and leaner.

# Presence:- It looks every bit a full fat 1200 / 1300 cc segment bike whichever angle you look at it from. Parked alongside, it’s the GS that looks slimmer, shrunken (accentuated on account of this being the adaptive ride height (ARH) version) and perhaps even sportier with its hunkered down stance. The gorgeous red color does its bit of course to enhance its visual presence even more.

# Weight:- Neither of these are light bikes by any measure. But neither of these feel unwieldy either and as ~240+ kilo tall’ish motorcycles go, they both carry their weight pretty well. Notably, I was pleasantly surprised by how much this new V4S has moved on from my two generation older 1200S MTS. The old 1200S felt distinctly top heavy compared to the V4S. Coming to these two bikes, I was not overwhelmed at any point by the Multi or the 1300 but between the two I have to say the GS carries its weight better. The weight feels lower than even the Multi and at low speeds in particular the GS is just brilliant.

# Rider cockpit / windshield:-
It’s not even a contest, it’s the GS all the way scoring on multiple counts over the MTS. The GS windshield firstly can be adjusted at two levels depending on which position of bolts you fix it at. Secondly, it has a much wider range of motion compared to the MTS. And finally, the range of movement is far more usable thanks to the 1300’s electronic set up which can allow you to move the screen with a touch of button while riding. The MTS has a manual adjustment in contrast which ideally you’d wanna tinker with only while the bike is at standstill.

The lowest setting of the MTS in particular is a bit too high for my liking. What this means is that in hot riding conditions, the rider cockpit is a hotter place to be than the GS if you set its windshield to a lower position. With the GS, I can toggle between excellent airflow to cool me off by lowering the shield or have the best level of wind deflection by setting it higher. Notably, even when the GS has its windshield set at the higher position, I found that it allowed for decent airflow on the arms etc which makes it for a cooler cockpit even when the buffeting is contained.

From an NVH perspective though, I found that when the windshield was at higher levels in both bikes, it was the Multi (I think) that made for the quieter cabin. The GS has just a hint more of noise but not to a point of discomfort.

# Seat comfort and ergonomics:-
I felt that while I sat “in” the MTS, I sort of sat “on” the GS. I don’t know how else to explain it. Both have nice wide handlebars, accessible seat heights and are easy to handle. But it seemed like the Multi had the slightly more comfortable rider seat than the GS. Not a big difference but overall just a tad wider and more comfy. All controls fall easily to hand and the rider triangle is comfortable in both. But for standing and riding, I found the GS much more comfortable and natural feeling than the Multi.

# Controls and MID:-
I’ve never been a fan of the very complicated switchgear of the Ducati and I do feel that the GS controls feel easier to operate. But the Ducati does display more relevant information on its dash (a specific quibble of mine wrt to the 1300).

The biggest shortcoming of the 1300 controls is of course the lack of backlit switchgear - an absolutely inexcusable miss at this price point.

# Handling:-
Both bikes are extremely sporty in terms of their highway handling and while I felt more at home pushing the GS in Dynamic mode, I think that’s more on account of my familiarity with my own bike than anything else. Both bikes have a wide range of engine and suspension settings to play with and I really did not get the chance to experiment enough with the Multistrada to have a conclusive view but they’re both extremely dynamically sorted at high speed without a doubt.

I’m sure that where the V4S would have comprehensively trumped the 1250 GS in this department, the 1300 has leaped forward in the general sportiness of its handling and its now much more in that “sporty” territory with this latest generation. Purists may think otherwise but I feel the anti dive feature of the GS makes its handling much more confidence inspiring and where the Multi may demand a bit more from its rider (a feeling that many enthusiastic riders will love) the GS is just an easier bike to push hard and instill confidence.

Coming to low speed handling and manoeuvrability, it’s a much easier assessment going in favour of the GS. The GS carries its weight lower, has a much tighter turning radius and overall is just much easier to handle in low speed conditions. With its new 19” front avatar, this MTS is leaps ahead of my old 1200S and for the better but a GS it still ain’t on this front.

# Exhaust:-
This is a toughie. When I first rode the V4S within the city, I loved the underpinning ferocity that was evident in the Multi’s exhaust. Where the 1300 boxer sometimes seemed almost excessively refined, lacking enough aural drama, the Ducati’s sound made its aggressive character very clear.

But surprisingly over a back to back 120 kms ride on both bikes, it’s the GS’s smooth, sophisticated refinement that has grown more on me. I can completely understand if this is very subjective but that’s just how I felt at the end of a long ride. There are still times when I wish the GS sound had a bit more “bass” but overall, I’m not complaining.

# Engine:-
This GS 1300 is every bit a GS .. and yet, it’s moved on so far from what the GS overall stood for. The torque surge in the 1300 is absolutely fantastic and the whole bike has just taken a much sportier direction with its edition, almost like it feels challenged by what KTM and the Ducati stand for. BUT - a V4S is a V4S - and 170 ponies is nothing to be scoffed at. The Ducati is still the more ferocious between the two and there’s a strong evocative connect that the MTS brings to the table. The acceleration in the V4S just never seems to taper and in that sense, in terms of the full breadth of the engine specially at higher than highway speeds, the Multi’s 170 horses are always going to trump everything else if you were taking it to the racetrack.

For anything around highway speeds and the GS’s torque does more than enough to keep you satisfied, even grinning once you’re in dynamic mode. But for your fix of the widest possible grin inside a helmet, it’s the Multi that the Doctor prescribes. It’s got an inimitable character to it, where you feel its part playful and part egging you on to keep pushing it further. I can’t quite describe the feeling. The GS is an extremely pleasing bike in every respect and very satisfying while pushing it, where the Multi is simply grin inducing at an altogether different level.

# Suspension:-
The GS 1300 has moved the game on even further with its new suspension set up. In fact, I’d say in its effort to deliver a sportier package, it may have even sacrificed a bit of the erstwhile ‘magic carpet’ comfort that it was known for. Huge props to Ducati then because the suspension and the ride quality on the Multi felt absolutely plush in touring mode, a tad plusher than the 1300 I’d say. Notable here is that I didn’t have the damping set to the softest setting in the GS so maybe if I were to shift the 1300 into “-2” setting for damping, things might feel a bit different. That’s to be saved for another test ride maybe. But at least whatever touring set up I rode the Multi in the suspension was absolutely top notch. Its the MTS for the win here I feel.

# Gearshift:-
Again, the 1300 shifter is MUCH smoother than what the 1250 had, and its lost that previous crude clunkiness that it was associated with. It’s still not at Ducati levels of smoothness though and the overall gear shift experience on the Ducati was much smoother.

# Braking:-
It’s the Ducati for the win here. The BMW brakes are excellent by any standards and combined with the anti dive suspension feature the braking experience never leaves you wanting. But the Ducati braking just feels that one extra edge more confidence inspiring - the bike drops anchor like nothing else in the business in an emergency situation. And in case you’re wondering, yes this feature got tested too thanks to a scooter that waltzed right across the road right in front of me on the Chouk stretch.

Conclusion

What’s the whole package like then? Hand on heart, if I had to purchase one of these bikes all over again for myself, it’s still the 1300 that would get my money. It’s extremely sporty, very accessible, incredible at low speed handling, feels like a better all rounder and I think much suits my kind of riding abilities as well as riding preferences.

If you’re an out and out tarmac scorcher looking for the closest equivalent of Panigale like DNA on stilts (Panigale owners pls don’t take it too literally) for all roads riding, the Multistrada is the sportiest experience money can buy. It’s got a sweet variant set up too - want more range, there’s the Rally; want an even more extreme road biased experience, they have the Pike’s Peak / RS. But it also isn’t cheap. Even the basic V4S will set you back at least 4 - 5 lakh more than a top spec GS 1300 - and that’s a pretty penny there. Not that at this price point buyers are buying the cheaper offering, they’re pretty much selecting the bike that talks to them.

But it’s testament to the GS brand’s dominance that whether its an outgoing 1250 or a brand new 1.0 version of a next gen 1300, they’re outselling the Multi 10:1 easily, if not more. That’s saying something for sure … and this ride was a good eye opener to why!

Photolog

I don’t think my parking spot has looked this awesome EVER!!

On our ride out to the brekker venue. Trying to catch some sunrise pics somewhere after exiting at Kamshet.
Trivia: Picture taken from Rayban Meta btw. Early days playing with this new toy. I took a few videos too of the Multi while I was tailing it.

My turn to pose.

Finally at this gorgeous location for breakfast. Bikes parked for our head to head comparo notes.

Viewed head on, the Multi just looks so much more aggressive and imposing. I do think a fairer comparison would be with the non ARH version to stand alongside but still.

This is one angle where I think the GS holds its own and possibly even looks nicer.

Front side on. Note how much higher the Multi windshield sits in its lowest position. Makes for a really hot rider cockpit on those summer days. Frankly I was feeling it even on this November ride on the return.

See trail, must explore. Took the GS down closer to the lakeside. Didn’t want to take the Multi down since it was a test bike and didn’t have crash bars either.

The location is indeed exquisitely beautiful. Manicured gardens, gorgeous lake and mountains in the backdrop. No better way to spend a Sunday morning.

Few more pics for comparisons from different angles ...

… basically breakfast wasn’t ready yet. So more time for pics.

The TFT display of the Multi carries a lot more useful information. The interface though is much more complicated than the GS, the latter being more intuitive.

The ride back. My turn to play.

A last parting shot, taken by my dear friend who was principally testing it as a potential buyer. He owns a Panigale as well as a 1260S Multi but his preference also leaned towards the GS.

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