Ducati Multistrada 950 Preview

When Ducati unveiled the Multistrada 950 at the 2016 EICMA Show, it was clear that the company wants to venture out to lower displacement touring models. In fact, the Multistrada 950 got a great reception at the show.

The Multistrada 950 has been developed for customers who seek comfort and performance without intimidation. While the bike has been toned down in terms of performance, the overall design language resembles the Multistrada 1200. In fact, all the bits like the fuel tank, swingarm and LED headlamps, etc are the same as the 1200. 

The Multistrada 950 is powered by an L-twin 937cc Testastretta engine. It is Euro 4 compliant, has four valves per cylinder and liquid cooling. This motor generates a maximum of 113 bhp at 9000 rpm and a peak torque of 96.2 Nm at 7750 rpm. The power is transferred to the rear wheel via a six-speed gearbox. The clutch has a slipper function to take care of aggressive riding.  The suspension duties are taken care of by 48 mm upside-down forks with 170 mm travel in the front and a monoshock at the rear which is fully adjustable but the suspension is a mechanical system. The Multistrada 950 gets a Brembo-sourced braking setup with dual 320 mm discs in the front and a 256 mm disc at the rear. The bike rides on Pirelli Scorpion Trail II tyres - 120/70 R19 in the front and 170/60 R17 at the rear.

Just like the rest of the bikes in the line-up, Ducati has equipped the Multistrada 950 with a lot of electronics, which means it has the Ducati Safety Pack (DSP) that includes ABS and Ducati Traction Control (DTC). The bike also gets four riding modes – Sport, Touring, Urban and Enduro. Depending on the mode selection, the throttle response and the power output are adjusted. The instrument cluster is the same colour TFT LCD screen that is on the bigger Multistrada. 

Ducati is offering the Multistrada 950 with two colour options – white and red. Ducati India will launch this motorcycle in the middle of next year as a completely-built-up (CBU) unit. The bikes will be imported from Thailand which means competitive pricing. We’re expecting it to be priced between Rs 11 lakh and Rs 13 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). It will compete with the Kawasaki Versys 1000, Triumph Tiger 800XC and the Suzuki V-Strom 1000 in the Indian market.