Featured 1260 The Road To And Distillation Of Ducati Multi Ownership.

First, what a machine my new to me 2020 1260 Multistrada Enduro is, I have never ridden a more capable motorcycle. I’ve had it since mid-August, done around 3k miles and almost caused a divorce and a bankruptcy already!

Let’s rewind to 2020, and the panic buying that almost dried up the used bike market, kind of forced me into having a dalliance with a 2016 Triumph Speed Triple 1050R. It was a fine British motorcycle, but my first after being seriously ill with Crohn’s disease and I simply wasn’t fit or strong enough to do more than 50 miles at a time.



This led to the pouring over of bike reviews, and I landed squarely on a 2017 Kawasaki Z1000SX, a best seller and a hit with most who rode it. I hated it, just couldn’t get on with it at all. Very capable, but bland and archaic next to an S1000XR.



In my haste to move away from the boring orange Kwak, I stumbled upon a deal on brand new Honda CB1000Rs that made them very appealing indeed. I liked the styling post the 2022 update; I’d had plenty of Hondas in the past so knew the build quality and reliability would be top notch. I was probably 80% fighting fit so didn’t see an issue with another naked bike and took the plunge. Erm, nope, huge mistake. Rear shock was made of chocolate, the brakes gave up halfway down Hartside Pass in the wet, and the famed Honda build quality was a bit rough around the edges. It was brand new, so I felt compelled to keep it, and threw an inordinate amount of money at it to justify having it. It was pointless, after 20 months, I decided it had to go.




I was determined to not make the same mistake again, so I promised myself (I mean the Mrs, but I’m not allowed to say that) that I would test ride anything that I ‘liked’ and make an informed decision. That decision was a 2019 Yamaha Tracer 900GT, which in all fairness was a great bike, lovely triple motor, heated grips, cruise etc, but again it just didn’t hit me in the feels. I did plenty of miles, some big 500+ mile days out, and again I threw a fair bit of money at it putting a full system on it and having it mapped at Jordans Bikes near Leeds. The problem is, it wasn’t a Ducati, or more specifically it wasn’t a Multistrada, a Pikes Peak Multistrada.



Hang on, didn’t you say you had an Enduro. Yep, sure did, and I no longer look at Pikes Peaks like younger me used to look at page 3 of the Sun. A spurious visit to Triumph Newcastle led me to cross paths with my Enduro. A clean, not low miles bike that a few owners had failed to keep that I shouldn’t have sat on but did. I knew straight away, I didn’t need a Pikes Peak, I needed an Enduro, and I needed that one.

I spoke to Eric the used bike chap, and we sorted a deal where he hoofed me in the nuts for my Tracer, and I had to beg the boss to not remove said swollen nuts for buying yet another bike. The Enduro came out of the showroom as per below.



A few things that the test ride didn’t show up came swiftly into focus. First, the awful Givi touring screen, which I promptly hacked down to the same length as a Puig Sports screen and added an MRA X-blade thingy which made 75% of the buffeting disappear. Second, the Scorpion Rally tyres just weren’t for me, I had zero intention of taking her off road, so they got binned for a set of Pirelli’s finest Scorpion Trail 3s, which are fantastic and have far exceeded my expectations. The final garish was a box on the back, a decat pipe and some spots on the crash bars which are useless thanks to the Multi’s rather good headlights.



And all was well until the Desmo light flashed up saying 650 miles to go. Hang on, the service book said the Desmo was done in 2024 with the belts at Ducati Leeds by the previous owner. Erm, nope, a phone call to Leeds clarified that the belts were done but not the Desmo, and the previous owner had ticked the Desmo bit themselves. I was furious, not with Triumph, they’d believed the same as me, and who would have the belts done and not the Desmo at the same time?

So, I rang around every dealer between Edinburgh and Leeds and got quoted anything from £1000 to £1900 depending on whether the dealer would leave the belts and just do the Desmo. I then tried a few independents, and the prices were a bit cheaper, but not by miles. I ended up going with my gut and took it to Turbo Pacs on Team Valley at Gateshead, where Marc and Ian uncovered an absolute nightmare.

Almost all of the bolts and riv nuts holding the plastics to the tank were properly seized, they were just spinning inside the mounts on the tank. It took the best part of a week to get them all free, as I really didn’t want to start buying a tank for a bike I’d had for 4 weeks. This combined with a scrabble hand of different fasters and spacers, just about drove Ian mad, I was politely told never to bring it back again when I picked it up, I’m sure he was joking, honest, really sure…….

It took just over 4 weeks to get it sorted in the end, including a 2 week wait for a cam setting tool from Italy, but the care and attention to detail Ian has poured into it was worth it. Yes, the bill was large, just shy of £1800, but eating cold beans till Easter is less important than knowing the job has been done right.

To test my theory that all was well, I decided to go from Newcastle to Kinloss and back again on Saturday just gone. I’d purchased an MRA Vario screen from FB Marketplace, and my brother-in-law had kindly picked it up from Elgin, and I don’t need a big reason for an adventure, so decided to ride up rather than post it down. In preparation for the trip, I’d also managed to get hold of a SHAD 3P kit with 23L side boxes and a top box for about £150 off eBay.






What a day it was, freezing all the way up and back, my heated vest and the grips were on full the whole time. I went up the A9, via Coldstream, and left Ashington BP about 0730 and arrived in Kinloss about 1220. The headwind was horrific, gusting 45mph in places, but she never flinched once, she just ate the miles without complaint.




For the way back, I didn’t want to run the same route in reverse, so planned to go via Balmoral, Braemar and Glenshee on the A93, run back down to Perth and then down to Jedburgh and home. The forecast looked chilly, but 2 hours of horizontal rain, sleet and snow and below freezing temperatures most of the way made it a little interesting to say the least.





If you’re still with me, there is a point to this I promise.
That point is that I bloody love my Enduro 1260 in a way I have never loved another bike. She’s not perfect, the 30L tank makes her a bit top heavy, I’m not quite 5’11” and she catches me out more than I’d like, she’s a bit tractory below 3k in the higher gears, servicing is expensive, parts are worse, the insurance worse still, but it goes and stops like it shouldn’t.

I’m like a 50-year-old child on it; I want to be out on it all the time. The boss says 6k miles a year tops, so the Desmo services are 3 years apart and we have time to sell enough bodily fluids to pay for them. But it’s not enough, I know it isn’t, I’m looking at the weather next weekend deciding where to go. I’m addicted, I have a genuine problem developing, and the Enduro is the only cure.

I love my Enduro, and I don’t care who knows!!!!