2025 Ducati Multistrada V2 S Review – Motorcycle Test

2025 Ducati Multistrada V2 S Review

The last five years or so have seen Ducati focus almost entirely on their stupendous V4 motor and all the bikes it powers (Panigale, Streetfighter, Diavel, Multistrada). Fair enough, you might say, as the Desmosedici Stradale V4, and GranTurismo V4, have proven themselves to be one of Ducati’s greatest hits. So adaptable and versatile that it even took Ducati themselves by surprise.

The mass hysteria over the V4, much of which is well deserved, has, in some ways, come at the expense of the engine configuration that made Ducati who they are today. Ducati’s L-twin motor is Ducati, and in 2025, the Italians are turning their focus back to their roots.

The first bike powered by this completely revised, non-Desmo L-twin is the new Multistrada V2, replacing the bike everyone kind of forgot in the outgoing Multistrada 950. The new 2025 Ducati Multistrada V2 S will set you back $29,200 ride away. The sport-touring steed now shares the same nomenclature as the Streetfighter and Panigale V2, as well as the same all-new motor.

There is also the base model Multistrada V2 for $4600 less, which gains most of the things the V2 S does, but misses out on the Skyhook electronic suspension.

Ducati has dropped the capacity from 937 cc down to 890 cc and, somewhat controversially, dropped the trademark Desmodromic valve actuation system that has powered every Ducati V-twin since God was a wee lad. They’ve now moved instead to a new variable valve timing (VVT) system with a conventional valve-train.

Ducati is claiming 115 hp and 92 Nm of torque with the new V2, which represents an inconsequential two horsepower gain, and a tiny drop in torque compared to the old 950. Crucially, however, this is the lightest V-twin Ducati has ever made, the engineers claiming the unit that now has the head and the crankcase cast as one unit weighs 54 kg, a drop of 5.7 kg.

There’s a bunch of stuff Ducati has done to get the engine weight down, such as new cylinder liners, hollow stem intake valves, and a revised lubrication system, but it’s more interesting to talk about what the feeling is like at the twist grip and for that, two things stand out.

Ducati has fitted a 20 per cent heavier flywheel to the smaller capacity 890 cc motor to make it more tractable at lower rpm, and they’ve combined this with a new air-intake bypass circuit that bleeds in a little bit of air to smooth out the famously harsh throttle response during ultra-low rpm/speed riding.

You’ve got five riding modes with the V2 in Sport, Touring, Urban, Enduro and Wet, three power modes in High, Medium, Low or Off-Road, plus two throttle responses in Dynamic or Smooth, but this new air bypass feature is more noticeable in Sport mode than anything because it has the least amount of artificial/electronic intervention.

In Sport mode, you get the engine’s full power and the most immediate throttle response, but the initial crack of the throttle, especially in traffic, yields a much more sedate torque hit that’s metered in a smoother fashion than it was on the 950. Notice I said smoother, not slower. You will still get all the Italian horses, but they don’t quite hit with the same ferocity.

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Now, why wouldn’t you just choose Touring mode with its Medium power mode and be done with it? You could, and it’s certainly nice when cruising about in town, but as soon as you put the 890 cc L-twin into Sport mode, the Multistrada wakes right up and makes Touring mode feel a little lame, despite having the same power output as Sport. Still with me?

I’m sure I don’t need to say it, but I will anyway—the higher up the modes you go, the more direct the connection between your right hand and rear tyre becomes. Pretty simple.

I was surprised to learn that I preferred Sport mode more than anything else. I almost always go for the mode down from the most abrupt/direct, but the work Ducati has done with regards to throttle response at low rpm has made for an extremely enjoyable ride while in full-go mode.

The new motor is paired to a completely new chassis in the aluminium monocoque main frame, mated to a new steel trellis sub-frame. Weight saving was the name of the game here, as well as increased cornering agility.

Combined with the motor lightening, the V2 Multi weighs a claimed 18 kg less than the old 950. That’s a substantial weight reduction in an age where a 3-5 kg drop is noticeable, let alone 18 kg. We didn’t have the two bikes and a set of scales on hand to put those claims to the test.

This has made the Multistrada a more agile and sporty proposition for when the road gets twisty, but also easier to manoeuvre at low speeds. Here is where another electronic game can be played, that of the now separately adjustable suspension.

We’ll focus only on the S model here, as that is all I rode in Spain. The S gains the latest generation Ducati Skyhook suspension for the Marzocchi fork and shock, with four different modes available in Dynamic, Comfort, Off-Road and Low Grip (Rain). Whereas before the suspension was linked to your individual riding mode, now they can be altered separately, regardless of what mode you’re in.

The Skyhook system now includes an 8 mm lowering function called Minimum Pre-load, but (at least in my opinion) 8 mm is next to useless when some of the competition—like Harley-Davidson and their Pan America—can lower their rear suspension by nearly 25 mm. You can feel it, just.

My test in Spain had me mainly focusing on the Dynamic and Comfort modes with a few minutes in Low Grip and Off-Road, which is about as soft as you could predictably imagine. Dynamic allows the V2 to become a big ’ol supermoto, stiffening both ends and giving you plenty of sporty performance for a bike of this size.

But it’s not that comfortable over a long ride, so Comfort is where I spent most of my time, be it on the freeway or in the Spanish mountains. The all-important rider triangle has been slightly altered, with the same handlebar positioning mated to a higher, re-sculpted seat to alleviate some of the bend in your knees and promote blood flow over long rides.

Overall, the Multistrada offers brilliant long-range comfort (you’d hope so, given its designation),and a nine-hour day in the saddle returned very few aches and pains on my body, a body that will scream bloody murder if I’m uncomfortable for more than an hour at a time.

There’s various accessories you can get in the touring department, including seats that are 20 mm taller, or 20 mm lower, plus if you’ve got a really short inseam, you can opt for the low suspension kit that takes things another 20 mm further down. The possible seat heights range from 810-870 mm, so you’re sure to find something that fits.

In Europe, Ducati offers various trims kits at purchase, such as the Touring Pack and the Urban pack that give you various luggage and electronic options, but for the U.S., there’s none of those packs.

Not having heated grips as standard on a bike that costs the best part of $30K is not good enough as far as I’m concerned. I feel like if you’re going to spend the extra $4600 to get the S model over the standard with the Skyhook electronic suspension, having the heated grips should be a given.

The S does come standard with the Ducati Multimedia system via the new five-inch TFT display that includes turn-by-turn navigation, so at least that’s there for the consumer. But no heated grips as standard on the S model? Come on, Ducati… TPMS might be a nice addition too, while you are at it…

Ok, rant over, because the performance of the V2 Multi is most certainly a step up from the old 950 in dynamic handling and engine performance, right where it matters. The motor has oil service intervals of 15,000 km, valve clearance checks at 30,000 km, so you’ve got a lot of riding between visits to the dealer.

The V2 will go up against bikes like the charismatic Moto Guzzi Stelvio, and even the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+ to a degree, so it’s got some stiff competition, but this base package is a good one if you’re one of the Ducatisti that bleeds pure red.

2025 Ducati Multistrada V2 Specifications