Ownership Verified: La Bella Fuoco [2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200S Sport]

[Der Stig]

It all started last year with a test ride of a '15 Multistrada...I was doomed to own one of these. It simply is the best motorcycle I've ever ridden, maniacal acceleration, brutal exhaust note (once you take the cat off ) , yet comfortable, serene, and quick on it's feet. Electronically adjustable rider modes and suspension were things that I chuckled at--who needs that? I banished the thought from my mind as they cost almost as much as my car. And what kind of idiot buys a used Ducati anyway?

At the end of June, I had resigned myself to doing something stupid and financing some sort of adventure bike or touring machine to make my upcoming 2,000 mile trip to meet crazyjeeper for dinner in Ca?on City, CO a little less grueling. I test rode a BMW GS and liked it and was eyeing a very reasonable and still under warranty Tenere when an ad popped up on a local motorcycling forum. I sent the owner an offer that I figured stood a snowball's chance in hell, but surprisingly, he accepted.

So, uhhh...

The night before my trip (in proper Top Gear style), I signed some paperwork and left with this rip-snorting beast with a fresh oil change and 22,729 miles on it as of June 30th.

First day in Santa Rosa, NM with my buddy's Pikes Peak Multi.

And of course, first casualty, the turn signal mostly falling off :lol:

I also observed the first drips of oil here, it worsened on day two quite a bit after caning it through the mountains coming up to Taos, NM. Fortunately, I remedied the issue--the oil filter was about a turn and a half off.

Getting into Colorado via Pagosa Springs. Of course, it'd been raining most of the way up from Taos.

Out near Silverton, CO on day three.

Naturally, something had to happen again on day three. As I was going for third in the twisty mountain trails about 35 miles out of Gunnison, my foot met nothing. I managed to shear or back this bolt off on the shift linkage. So I limped it in second after a failed zip tie repair (most expensive zip ties I've ever bought from some weird dude at Blue Mesa Point) all the way to an Ace Hardware in Gunnison, got my M6 bolt and some blue Loctite to fix that. I got four bolts because fuck you, Murphy

On the return trip, we ended up doing about 50 miles of light off-roading near Raton, NM. It was fun, despite the sketchiness of the Pilot Power 3 up front and Dunlop Roadsmart II out back on non-paved surfaces. The Duc handled this day very well and I was very thankful to have the adjustable rider modes.

And as of this weekend...

Proof:

 

[RdKetchup]

Awesome.



Stupid, but awesome

 

[Der Stig]

Now at 25,348, oops...nearly 3k in one month on something I'm trying not to daily :lol:

The POs never changed any of the brake or clutch fluids, so I finally sorted that. Replaced the nastiness with Motul DOT 5.1. I'll probably do the rear brake soon, but it's a bit of a faff and the brake fluid gets nuked to black because the exhaust heats up the rear swing arm so much. It's already a poorly effective brake, so my will to do it is low.

Old clutch fluid

Ahhh...much better.

Brake fluid...

Now I'm a happy camper.

Added a little doodad, a larger sidestand foot from Touratech as well.

And my uncorked exhaust finally cooked the turn signal (opposite the dangly one :lol: ). I'll be ordering a CustomLED unit next month and probably replacing the tires with 90/10 tires so I won't be as nervous about the current 99.9/0.1 tires bursting when I get on some dirt/rockier roads.

 

[loose_unit]

Those two things will get done on my VFR after The Roadtrip as well as another oil change

 

[Der Stig]

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to doing the VFR's with the linked brake spaghetti mess.

 

[Der Stig]

Ticked over 27,500 miles and treated the Multi to a new Q3 up front and Roadsmart 2 out back.

Still loving this thing, despite it's foibles (finicky keyless start and left hand control cluster down button works when it wants to). Clutch fluid is already gross again, I probably have to take the actuator rod out and give it a wipe down. Probably come December or January, I'll be taking it to the local dealer to have a Rexxer tune performed to derichen the exhaust and correct the ECU to accommodate the cat delete and Termi pipe. Looking to add an MRA taller screen extension or get a taller windshield as well.

 

[Der Stig]

While failing at not making semi-frequent trips on this thing, I'm at 28,500, which is about 1k away from when I plan to get the 30k service performed. Had I bought a Super Tenere, this would be a sub-$1k affair, but because I'm an idiot, this will probably cost almost as much as my 919. Heads come off, valves adjusted, belts changed, oil change, and ?hlins shock and forks serviced.

Yeaaaaah. Well, it's still fun and loud and rich-running and obnoxious. Plan to remedy the rich-running part is still the same as before, a Rexxer tune ($500), but that'll have to wait until after Ringmeet most likely. Still need to buy that taller screen, too.

 

[Der Stig]

Cracked the 29k barrier and took the Multi in at 29,246 for the 30k service. I tried taking it to a local indy mechanic who setup my ?hlins on the VFR who raced Ducatis and did race bike prep. Unfortunately, he stopped returning my calls and emails, so I took to the area's Kiwi owned dealership. And by all regards, they are probably one of the premier dealers in the nation. Which means they have premier prices of course :?

The Multi was there for four weeks as after they did the 30k service (remove heads, shim desmo valves, replace belts, spark plugs, oil change, air filter, etc), they discovered that my oil cooler lines were frayed and needed replacement. No big deal, but they took a week to show up. Then they told me that they were $250 a piece (I looked, they weren't hosing me, that's the price with shipping)

While it was there, I had them perform a recall on the throttle tube (apparently, it could get stuck open) and gin me up a custom dB killer, which was okay, but whistled at idle. I also discovered that I enjoy the raucousness and George Fisher vocals, so it was yanked upon getting home

All told on this service, it cost more than the 919 and VFR did to buy. Yeah, welcome to Ducati ownership. The 1198 based motor requires servicing every 15k. There's a reason you see these things for sale with sub-15k and sub-30k miles on them.

They did a great job detailing it though and gave me a free shift boot because they didn't like CrazyJeeper's Acerbis' fuel hose and duct tape one :lol:

Before taking off, it of course exhibited two errors in the shop: BBS (suspension adjustment and traction control) and EXVL (exhaust valve). I was crushed, but just wanted my bike back. The BBS error was confusing all the techs there, but it managed to clear itself when I fired the bike up to leave. The exhaust valve error was caused when they were messing with the exhaust, the Mivv mid pipe comes with a spring and metal clip to trick the computer into thinking the exhaust is still there. Some fiddling remedied it and it's been fine since then.

Waiting...

Back home

The new lines and holy crap, those heads are gold? I thought they were gray-ish and black?

I've put about 600 miles on it since I got it back on 5/2. Did a little over 500 miles yesterday with a day ride into Mena, AR by way of Talimena.

 

[loose_unit]

Those servicing costs reminds me of someone with a certain Italian motorbike here in Europe

 

[Der Stig]

Finally added a taller screen. Went with the Cee Bailey 24" model in light tint. I also picked up a Zumo 660 and Touratech locking mount off ADVrider and will have the mounting bracket soon too.

 

[Der Stig]

Long time, no update. I'm nearly at 36k miles on the Multi and have some amusing updates.

Woke up last Saturday morning at the buttcrack of dawn to do a Three Sisters day ride (791 miles for me) with CrazyJeeper.

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Aaaand this is what I was greeted by.

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Fortunately, a quick swipe with my Motion Pro Sealmate cleaned a bunch of crap from the fork seal and stopped the leak as far as I can tell.

Probably should have the forks and shock serviced this year.

While at a Whataburger in Kerrville, I made the discovery that an exhaust bolt had protested it's existence :lol:

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And it chewed up a bit of the swingarm, but it's fine courtesy CJ's expert bodge.

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I'm taking the bike to the main dealer next Friday to have heated grips installed (yes, just in time for summer!) and I'm keen to see how "amused" they are.

At the infamous Stripes gas station in Leakey.
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[loose_unit]

Ducati life!

 

[Der Stig]

AMS were nice enough to provide me with a new bolt to replace CrazyJeeper's work of art for free while installing my grips.

When I dropped it off, they had some choice stuff on display

Desmosedici RR
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Bare 996 SPS?
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Crates o' bikes
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Cool M35A2 at some shop across the street
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Playing musical motorcycles with the 919
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Then, some days later, I embarked on the longest roadtrip (just over 3,600 miles) I've ever taken to Yellowstone, with some stops along the way.

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Album

Leaving home on 6/27/18
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Roswell, NM on the way to Alamogordo, NM (dusty desert shit hole) for the first night's stay. Pro-tip, stay in Ruidioso, it's higher altitude and much more pleasant. Of course, in Alamogordo, I ran into a family of Germans bitching about the World Cup result and struck up a brief conversation with them :lol:

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Riding across the NM desert towards my next stop, Springerville, AZ had me going by the White Sands Missile Proving Grounds and I even had a brief escort by a UH60 Blackhawk I need a good helmet cam to capture this kind of stuff!

Day 2 started the fun twisties! Sadly, after tearing up NM 152 (great road), my only photos were the result of range anxiety:
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Jail time for fuel pump abuse
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Somewhere in NM, close to AZ
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Somewhere AZ, close to nothing
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On the way to Blind_Io and Kiki 's on Friday, day 3, I had to stop at the Utah Boob Rock.
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And because the Multi is Italian, I was informed in Roswell that oil service was due in 600 miles. I had about a thousand miles to go to Salt Lake City where Blind and Kiki are...fortunately, the oil service indicator went up to 1,000 miles after I stopped flogging it so hard. Then it cleared itself after I went over the mileage countdown. Because Italian.

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Through some cookie based bribery, Kiki and Blind helped me get squeezed in Saturday at their local shop, Moto Station. They've got some rather nice stuff too

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They even washed it!
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We had some fun range time and Kiki also helped fatten me up with cookie dough. Courtesy of Blind's collection of firearms, whiskys/bourbons, and cigars, we also fulfilled the ATF circle of fun (separately, of course)

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By Sunday afternoon, it was time for me to head out to Jackson, WY to meet up with my family for a guided program around Yellowstone.

Somewhere in WY
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First stop next to the Tetons in WY
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Majestic
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Lake Yellowstone
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Artist's Point in Yellowstone
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Leaving after 5 days in and around Yellowstone
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GET OUT OF MY WAY MINIVAN
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After parting ways with my parents in Jackson, WY on the way out, I headed for Pikes Peak via some of the best roads in Colorado, 92 and 50. Granted parts of 50 are pretty crap and busy, but carving the canyon sections near Gunnison is great. Again, I got rained on over Monarch Pass, but this time I didn't get pulled over! My only contact with the police was a sheriff in NM who flashed his lights at me as I came around a corner at a good clip hehe.

Stopped over at the Silver Saddle Motel in Manitou Springs, CO
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Got up early to head up Pikes Peak (not early enough at 7:30, get there at like 6:45). The park ranger said that I had to obey all the rules of the road, including on the way down, and that meant passing on the double yellows. She had me figured out . The road is a toll road, like the 'Ring and is not counted as part of the park, so my annual national park pass didn't mean jack.

Fortunately, while the way up was mostly impeded by Americans that had never seen a corner or switchback in their lives (seriously, the sportiest driver was in an F250 crewcab longbed), the way down I was not held up until I reached the base of the mountain. It's a fun road, worth doing once and that's about it. However, I would love to come back to watch the hillclimb and get drunk in a tent after two beers :lol:

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To kill some time before heading to my penultimate stop in Trinidad, CO, I checked out some of the local sights. First stop was to see the Penrose Heritage Museum, a cool hidden gem you'd blow right by surrounded by the garish magnificence of the Broadmoor Hotel and Resort.

I had good company in the parking garage.
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The record setting Pikes Peak Multi!
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Then I went on the Garden of Gods in Colorado Springs to check out some orange rocks.
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The subsequent trip to Trinidad was uneventful and I got in with enough time to take a much needed dip in the pool.

The way home always sucks. The fun ends about 50 miles out of town once you get through the Raton Pass. Then it's New Mexico's "Safety Corridor" BS with doubled speeding fines, which segues nicely into the shitty Texas panhandle where winds average 15-20 mph and gust up to much more. It's dusty, brown, flat, and boring. This is what people think of when they think of boring Texas roads. I'd never been so happy to get to the Amarillo Chick-fil-a though.

Fortunately, I dodged most of the ugly storm cell around North Texas with 60 mph wind gusts.

I rolled back into the driveway just after 7PM, beat after riding for 10 hours and fighting the wind for most of the day. I went to bed at 9:45 and conked out.

The finally tally:
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I can't wait for the next one!

 

[Kiki]

Damn, the rest of the trip looked fan-fucking-tastic!! Duly noted for pikes peak visiting hours.

Also, yes, thank you for letting me get in my baking needs... yes yes, I'm turning into my mother.

 

[Blind_Io]

We need to do another actual ride, the last one was a ton of fun. You are welcome back to the official unofficial Utah FG B&B any time.

 

[Hok]

Thanks for the pics. Looks like a fantastic trip.

 

[Labcoatguy]

Damn, this looks like a helluva journey. Gotta love the vastness of the western US!

 

[Der Stig]

Glad y’all liked the photos, there’s so much out there and so little at the same time. It was a great trip that gave me a lot of much needed helmet time.

We need to do another actual ride, the last one was a ton of fun. You are welcome back to the official unofficial Utah FG B&B any time.

Word. That was a fun ride last year and good to hang on y’all’s home turf. Thanks again for all the hospitality. I think I’ve burned all my vacation for the year though haha.

 

[Der Stig]

Crossed 40k miles

Less than 5k before the next major service :lol:

 

[Der Stig]

I haven't ridden too much over the course of the winter, only managed to put a little under 900 miles on the Multi.

However, it's been a little busy on the maintenance front. I've swapped the rear tire out for a Michelin PR5 (managed to get a little over 6k miles out of the PR4) and I swapped the chain and sprockets. They didn't look bad, but with some trips coming up, I figured I'd be proactive. Ended up going through Sprocket Center and picking up a set with stock teeth (15 front/42 rear). The plus side of their kit is that it's cheaper than OEM stuff and the rear sprocket is a quick change design, so I won't have to get out the impact driver and faff about with removing the flange and little cush drive components. Of course, I had to stick with the gold chain for max bling