HaHa! No not ex Navy, although I do have three ex wives...………..one in every court! I wasn't aware that 10,000 miles a year was that high. It's between 8 and 10k miles depending on whether I do a Europe trip. I don't commute on the bike, I just ride whenever I can, and due to not having a female in tow these days (no offence ladies) I am free to do just that.
I generally put 10k per year on my bike too. The US is huge, and I live in a terrible area for riding, so when I take an afternoon run it is usually 400 miles round trip to get someplace with a curve in the road!
It's easy to achieve. Just say - 'actually, you look like a sack of potatoes in that new dress' and before you know it you will be out on your ear and free to ride as much as you like. Of course you will be living in a bedsit and have barely enough money to run your bike, but once you get through that bit it's happy days
“Nothing's gone wrong in 6000 miles” on a long distance touring bike.. you sound pleasantly surprised.. Would I be wrong in expecting such a statement at about 60,000 miles? I wish you the best with your multi but find it common for owners to praise the reliability on barely run in (long distance tourers) only to chop them in with a sigh of relief then the warranty runs out with barely a few miles on the second pair of tyres.. It amuses and saddens me in equal measure.. : (
The previous DVT Multi (number 3) was also a great bike (p-ex at 28k miles) and did use oil, that was its only fault. I expect to find niggles on any new bike (to me) that I don't like in the initial 6K miles and the bar vibes are one I will look at fixing on the 1260. I didn't expect any faults and didn't get any - Tyre wear is a user issue not the bike! The 1260 is on 4 year warranty and will have some 35k+ miles in about 4 years and then we will see what happens. What saddens and amuses me are the one or two year old 2nd hand Multis for sale with less than 10K miles on them but with all the bling on them.
Quick update on bar vibrations - fitted the Evotech weights to my 1260S https://evotech-performance.com/products/ducati-multistrada-1200-enduro-bar-end-weights-2016 Forget the Enduro label they do fit a 2018 1260S. At UK legal (ish) speeds on the motorway the bars are much better almost zero vibes at higher revs. Definitely an improvement, thanks for the tip from @MG1200S on the Enduro section.
Never had an issue with bar vibes. If you really want to experience bar vibes go ride an S1000XR. They're supposed to have reduced them somewhat since I first tested one. Versys 1000 vibes are a joke. I had one and it vibrated so hard it cracked it's own mirrors.
Can I assume the end of the evo tech bar end weight comes off (ie its a 2 piece unit) to enable you to sandwich the hand protectors tightly between the inner and outer pieces. From the pictures on there site it looks like a 1 piece unit, if so how does it secure the hand guards
Can I assume the end of the evo tech bar end weight comes off (ie its a 2 piece unit) to enable you to sandwich the hand protectors tightly between the inner and outer pieces. From the pictures on there site it looks like a 1 piece unit, if so how does it secure the hand guards
Yes the Evotech bar end weights are in two pieces, heavier one inside hand guard and a smaller part on the outside, and a longer bolt for each side.
Bar ends are a plus from me too. The vibes as standard aren’t too bad, but the Evotech replacements are a definite improvement.
Fit bar evotech barends last night. What a night and day difference! Highly recomended! 5’th and 6th gear a lot more userfriendly at speed down to 60km/h and the bike feels a lot smoother
Just adding my current thoughts as I get to 3000 miles. Completely agree with Rainman that things continue to smooth out more and more as the miles increase. I was considering a 42 rear sprocket but the more miles I do the less I think I will. 5th and 6th gear are now more usable rather than 6th in particular feeling more like an overdrive. Also the quite severe engine braking on initial throttle backing off seems less, and is smoother. As with others I have had a bit of trouble getting neutral at times but this seems to be getting better too. Regarding hand grips - I haven't really had a problem with bar vibes, more the hardness of the grips, so I put on the original Grip Buddies (not to be confused with Grip Puppies) just for general comfort. It felt like I had fitted scaffold tubes on the bars at first but now I'm used to them they feel good. I have also had the seat altered and re-shaped more to my liking. I have the comfort seat on order but current delivery date on that has moved from July to September! All in all my love affair with the 1260 goes on, it just gets better and better.
I could beat my self for not doing this mod sooner, should´ve been standard from Ducati in my opinion.
I've just got back from 2500 miles round Europe, completely trouble free. Despite the numerous mountain passes and some highspeed riding we still averaged 50 mpg.However I found the severe engine braking on reduced throttle, when negotiating downhill hairpins quite bad, apparently this is programmable on some bikes, this would be a nice option. I haven't experienced a lot of vibration through the bars. The bike's now done over 3000 miles and is still getting better, although I do suffer from the groan from the front discs on every wheel revolution at low speed, but I had this on my 2015 DVT too, strange. We had some very wet conditions on a couple of days and the drain hole in the swingarm now no longer drains, can't find the hole underneath to poke something through.
