The Ducati Multistrada might have all the styling of a big adventure bike, and a number of ‘enduro pack’ extras, but this is definitely a road bike.
That’s not to take anything away from the bike, it is after all a brilliant touring machine – but with sport tyre sizes front and rear, the majority of tyre options are very much road focused.
In the February edition of Bike Magazine, the team has been looking at how two sets of tyres have performed on the bike so far, in the 6,304 miles they have covered on their long termer to date.
The bike comes with Pirelli Scorpion Trail II as standard. New to the market in 2015, they are a 90/10 option for use on the roads, and Hugo says:
“They feel good, but not inspiring. Feedback was okay in the dry, but in the wet they didn’t have a lot of confidence and never felt 100 per cent.”
With such a wide range of road tyres available for the Ducati, Hugo decided to change hoops after 3,000 miles, and opted for the Metzeler Sportec M7 RR – a hypersport tyre aimed at high powered sports bikes, and suitable for the occasional track day too.
Not necessarily the first tyre on the list that we’d recommend for the Multistrada by any stretch of the imagination with so many great touring tyres on the market, but available in the right sizes for the bike at least.
“I liked the Metzelers” says Hugo. “They gave me more confidence. I did the big European trip on them and felt very comfortable.”
After picking up a puncture, they’ve been changed for a pair of Dunlop Roadsmart. With very few miles put on them so far, it’s too early to give an opinion on how they will perform, so expect further updates in the near future!
If you do fancy going off-road but have to have a Ducati, this year the Italian marque have released a new ‘Enduro’ version which amongst other things comes with proper adventure tyre sizes and spoked wheels, giving you the option of much more aggressive and capable rubber, such as the TKC 80 from Continental.
Find out more about the Pirelli Scorpion Trail II and Metzeler Sportec M7 RR.
