It doesn’t look like a typical Ducati sport bike, but it does ride like one.
Italian motorcycle maker Ducati makes essentially two kinds of motorbikes: really expensive, really fast ones that are best suited for racetrack exploits but conveniently come with lights, turn signals and a spot for a license plate, and larger, more comfortable models that are still plenty fast, but are much better for more typical street riding. For what it’s worth, they also offer a cruiser of sorts and a sub-brand of affordable fun bikes called Scrambler Ducati, but for the sake of simplicity, we’re not including them for now.
A Ducati “Panigale” motorbike is displayed at the EICMA International Motorcycle Exhibition in … [+]
The first group of bikes are known (most recently) as the Panigale models (above), the pinnacle of which is the Panigale V4 R, a $45,000 (to start) 220-horsepower distillation of Ducati’s race-winning technologies for those of us that just missed making the MotoGP cut (in our minds at least) and must have a bike that will embarrass most any supercar in a straight line. It’s available as a street legal single-seater or an even lighter weight track-ready machine sans DOT-mandated bits.
The other bikes Ducati makes are called Multistrada (which roughly translates as “many roads”), and while still potentially ferocious, they don’t require a racetrack hero’s skill set to enjoy. They are quite a bit more affordable and comfortable, with seating for two, useable windscreens and the option to add luggage and luxe options like heated seats and such. Introduced 20 years ago, Multistradas are now Ducati’s most popular model line.
For 2024, Ducati has apparently gone and done something that many fans of the brand have been asking for. Ducati engineers have melded a bonkers Panigale V4 R track missile to the more rationale Multistrada to form a thing called the Ducati Multistrada V4 RS (below).
It’s the everyday rider you can take to the track – and push very hard.
It’s a $38,000 180-horsepower bit of crazy that, in “Race” mode, will give most sportbike riders absolute fits at the track, and once you’re through embarrassing track day compatriots, you just pop the Multistrada V4 RS into the “Urban” ride mode, merge with highway traffic and let the radar-based active cruise control do a large part of the rush-hour riding for you while you conduct business or chat up your sweetie over helmet comms on the ride home. It sounds crazy, but it may be the best kind of crazy.
The Multistrada V4 RS is much more than a Multistrada with a Panigale V4 R engine swap. On balance, Multistradas are beefier, heavier motorcycles since they typically carry heavier loads as sport touring mounts. But Ducati has trimmed some fat by subbing in a titanium rear subframe (5 pounds lighter), a different battery (3 pounds lighter), lighter but spendier 17-inch Marchesini forged wheels (10-ish fewer pounds) and the liberal use of carbon fiber bits where possible. The result is that the V4 RS rings in at just about 520 pounds all gassed up.
That’s nowhere near the Panigale V4 R’s svelte 400 pound wet weight, but that wasn’t the goal. Instead, Ducati has crafted what could arguably be a new category of motorcycle: a comfortable, versatile, usable, sort-of-affordable “super everybike” that will handily blow the doors off pretty much any vehicle on a public road and still thrill when pushed to its very distant limits on the racetrack.
It’s heavier than a Panigale, but those wide handlebars add a lot more leverage in the turns.
And with a few accessories like panniers (below) and a different windscreen, it’s also an overly capable weekend road warrior loaded with every tech trick in Ducati’s book, including cornering ABS brakes, traction control, wheelie control (thank goodness), a clutch-less quick shifter, electronically adjustable Öhlins suspension, peer-through cornering LED headlights, a large color TFT panel with navigation capability, and a capacious 5.8-gallon fuel cell for putting in some big miles while ensconced in the comfy, sit-up cockpit.
Suddenly, $38,000 is starting to look downright reasonable – and it’s fairly sharp looking to boot. The Ducati Multistrada V4 RS should appear in showrooms come January 2024.
Ready to go the distance? Hard panniers and creature comfort options are ready to serve.
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Omprakash Tiwary is a business writer who delves into the intricacies of the corporate world. With a focus on finance and economic landscape. He offers readers valuable insights into market trends, entrepreneurship, and economic developments.
