2023 Ducati Multistrada V4 Rally Review

Ducati’s latest Multistrada V4 Rally commemorates 20 years since the original 1000DS was released in 2003.

In the past 35 years of World Superbike racing, Ducati has won 15 riders championships, and 18 manufacturers titles, so it knows a thing or two about making high-performance, high-tech motorcycles. Sportbikes had been the company’s bread and butter for decades. Bikes like the 851, 888, 916, 996, 998, 999, 1098, 1198, Panigale V2s, and now V4s are on the tip of the tongue of any Borgo Panigale enthusiast. But you know what current bike in the lineup Ducati says is its most technologically advanced model ever? The Multistrada V4 Rally.

If you think about it, that makes perfect sense. Sportbikes are built for one purpose, to go as quickly as possible on tarmac. But an adventure bike has to meet an entirely different criteria. How do you make a high-performance machine perform equally well on both pavement and dirt? Ducati has been working on that problem for 20 years, and the answer is electronics. And our recent experience with a variety of Ducati machines from across its range show that it is on the leading edge in this department, with the Multistrada its crown jewel of execution.

The original Multistrada 1000DS was released for 2003.

In a slightly different slant on a traditional first-ride press event, Ducati USA planned a multiday adventure on its new-for-2023 Multistrada V4 Rally, the most off-highway-capable machine in the Multistrada lineup, and the bike that commemorates the 20-year anniversary of the original 2003 Multistrada 1000DS. What better place to put a bike like the Rally to the test than in the southwestern mountains of Colorado? Our ride would take us from Durango to Telluride on day one, and then from Telluride to Silverton the next. We’d get a bit of everything from amazing asphalt curves on the Million Dollar Highway (US 550) to miles and miles of dirt roads to an epic climb over Cinnamon Pass, just barely cleared of snow at the 12,620-foot summit. Over two days we put around 400 miles on the Multi. The purpose was to show how versatile a bike the Multistrada has become.

The original Multistrada and its high-tech successor.

Engine
Before we dig into the electronics, we really have to go into a bit of detail on the Multi’s V-4. After all, it’s the lungs that make this bike sing. But first a bit of Multi history: Twenty years ago, when the Multistrada was born, it utilized the 992cc air-cooled Desmodue then used in the Monster; the second-gen bike used the 1,198cc Testastretta Evoluzione 11° engine; in 2015 the third-generation model was the ultimate expression of the V2 in the form of the 1,262cc Testastretta 11° DVT with variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust cams. But in 2020, the Multistrada jumped on the V-4 bandwagon and followed its Panigale Superbike cousins into the four-cylinder world.

The latest version is the V-4 Granturismo, an 1,158cc 90-degree V-4, with a reverse-rotating crankshaft (opposite of wheel rotation), twin-pulse firing order, and four valves per cylinder. Fuel is fed to cylinders by 46mm elliptical ride-by-wire throttle bodies controlled by Continental’s EFI system. The exhaust is blown through a pair of catalytic converters and into a stainless steel muffler. Quad lambda sensors help ensure combustion is optimized. The engine pumps out a claimed 170 hp at 10,750 rpm, but a massive 89 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 8,750 rpm. But what’s perhaps more impressive for those who will buy this bike for globetrotting are the extended service intervals: Valve checks take place at 37,000 miles and oil changes at 9,000. The original 1000DS required valve checks every 6,000 miles.

Power is transferred to the chain drive via a multiplate wet clutch with hydraulic actuation that has both an assist feature for light pull, and a slipper. The six-speed transmission comes standard with Ducati’s Quick Shifter that allows clutchless up and downshifts; we’ll touch more on that in the electronics section below, but this quickshifter is really good.

This V-4 is as good an engine platform for adventure-touring as anything out there. In the open-class-ADV world you have big twins like KTM’s 1290 Super Adventure S and R, Harley-Davidson’s Pan America, and BMW’s R 1250 GS Adventure, and a triple like the one in Triumph’s Tiger 1200, but the V-4 in the Multistrada makes more claimed horsepower than the lot. But there’s a lot more to this engine than just peak numbers. The way that this machine lays down its power is everything when it comes to ADV riding.

Engine Electronics
As we mentioned above, it can easily be argued that Ducati is at the forefront of the electronics revolution in motorcycling. Our recent experience riding models like the Panigale V4, Diavel V4, Streetfighter V4, and DesertX have impressed us, but as Ducati itself tells us, the Multistrada is the most technologically advanced model in the company’s lineup.

The list of electronic rider aids is long. You can split those aids into a few categories, engine related, chassis related, and safety related. Each contributes to making the Multistrada very capable. Let’s first focus on the wizardry that makes the engine so versatile.

Starting with the modes, the Multistrada has four including Enduro, Sport, Touring, and Urban. Compared to other Multistradas, the Rally gets that aforementioned new Off-road power mode, which is limited to 114 hp and has dynamic throttle response which is the default for Enduro. Sport defaults to High power (170 hp) with Dynamic response, Touring is set at Medium power, which is still 170 hp but with Smooth throttle response, and finally Urban gets Low power (114 hp) with Smooth throttle response. The Multistrada doesn’t have a “rider” or “manual” mode as all of the modes can be customized to your liking. If you get lost, you can always reset back to the default settings.

Chassis
We’re in a new era, people. Talking about the Multistada’s chassis is now as much about software as it is about hardware. For sure, the Rally has top-notch hard components that you’d expect, like top-of-the-line Brembo Stylema radial-mount four-piston brakes, and nice looking wire-spoke, tubeless wheels in 19-inch front and and 17-inch rear sizes, off-road footpegs, a height-adjustable rear brake pedal, a heavy-duty skid plate, and so on.

But now there is the latest generation of Ducati’s Skyhook electronic suspension that provides more travel than the other Multis in the lineup (7.8 inches front and rear), and 30 percent more preload range at the rear. It also comes with a few bells and whistles, like the minimum preload button which allows you to manually remove preload at the touch of a button when coming to a stop so you can touch the ground easier, has a new easy-lift function that softens the suspension and makes getting the bike up off the sidestand require less effort, and also has auto leveling that will adjust the preload when you fill up your panniers or throw a passenger on the back. Plus it enjoys a vehicle-hold feature that keeps the bike from rolling backward when you’re trying to get moving on a steep incline.

Safety Enhancements
Before we wrap this up, we have to talk about a few more electronic features that come on the configuration of the Rally in the US. Our bikes come standard as the Multistrada V4 Rally with the Adventure Travel & Radar package. The later part means that the bike is equipped with Ducati’s front and rear ARAS radar that provides adaptive cruise control and blind-spot detection. In order for either system to work, ABS (level 2 or 3), DTC, and DWC must be active.

When active the system works like most automotive systems. You can set the cruise control up to 112 mph, with a minimum speed of 18 to 30 mph depending on the gear you’re in and can then adjust the distance to the vehicle ahead of you in four steps. The rest of the functionality is quite familiar, but having the adaptive feature definitely reduces the hassle of utilizing cruise control and having to constantly activate or deactivate the set speed. It slows and accelerates for you smoothly and reliably.

The blind-spot detection system is more straightforward and simply informs you if you have another vehicle lurking where you can’t see them by lighting up an LED on the mirror on the side of the bike where the vehicle is. Ironically, the Multistrada’s mirrors are some of the best mirrors we’ve ridden with in ages, they are slightly convex and provide an excellent view to begin with, so the addition of the BSD only improves an already excellent reward view.

Conclusion
Having spent a significant number of miles on quite a few of the Ducati Multistrada’s competitors this past year, as well as a variety of the lighter middleweights like the Husky Norden, KTM 890 Adventure R, and Ducati’s own DesertX, we can honestly say that the Rally has the most complete complement of electronic enhancements in the ADV world. But unlike so many bikes we’ve tested this year, utilizing those features and optimizing them for the conditions is more well-thought-out than most.

The Multistrada provides the rider with logical and useful preset modes for those who don’t want to get into the weeds experimenting, but at the same time allows anything and everything to be customized to suit your needs. Nothing in the long list of electronic features feels like a gimmick, everything has its use at one time or another. But like we’ve experienced recently on some other Ducati models, the way that the rider aids are integrated into the riding experience only add to the enjoyment and don’t hinder what you’re trying to do in any way.

Wow, if you've made it through all of that. Now check out our inventory of the mighty Multistrada V4 Rally