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2025 · Adventure · Buyer's Guide
Italian Middleweight, Italian Soul
The Multistrada V2 S is Ducati's middleweight adventure bike for riders who'd rather carve a mountain road than haul a house. Its heart is an 890 cc liquid-cooled 90° V-twin making 116 hp at 10,750 rpm and 68 lb-ft at 8,250 rpm. The S trim is where it gets serious: electronic suspension front and rear, cornering ABS, traction control, wheelie control, ride modes, cruise control and a two-way quickshifter all come standard. You rarely find hardware this dense in the middleweight adventure class. Properly premium!
Read the spec sheet as a whole and it points one way: paved passes and the long days between them. A 19-inch front on a 120/70 tire, a 170/60-17 rear and 6.7 in (170 mm) of travel at each end put the emphasis on tarmac, with graded gravel well within reach. Add 445 lb (202 kg) wet, an adjustable 32.7 in (830 mm) seat, a 5.0 gal (19 L) tank and an electrically adjustable windscreen. On paper, it's built for the experienced rider who wants a light, precise chassis and upright comfort in one package. A sharp all-rounder.
Spec sheets don't ride bikes, but they set the baseline.
| Power | 116 hp (85 kW) @ 10,750 rpm |
|---|---|
| Torque | 68 lb-ft (92 Nm) @ 8,250 rpm |
| Displacement | 890 cc |
| Engine | 90° V-twin |
| Cooling | Liquid-cooled |
| Gearbox | 6-speed |
| Fork | Upside-down (USD) |
| Front brake | 320 mm |
| Front tire | 120/70-19 |
| Rear tire | 170/60-17 |
| Front travel | 6.7 in (170 mm) |
| Rear travel | 6.7 in (170 mm) |
| Seat height | 32.7 in (830 mm) |
| Wet weight | 445 lb (202 kg) |
| Fuel capacity | 5.0 gal (19 L) |
Equipment check
Chassis
Comfort
Connectivity
Drivetrain
Lighting
Safety
Two decades of paddock talk, owner conversations and messages landing in my inbox is how this part of the picture gets built. Riders tell me what a bike is like after the novelty wears off, and the reports on the V2 S line up cleanly. Praise centers on how it moves and how it revs. The gripes cluster almost entirely at the bottom of the tachometer.
The first thing owners mention is how light it feels once moving. They describe it as easy to flick from side to side without giving up composure at speed. The V2 draws the same enthusiasm from riders who use the upper rev range, where they find the power linear and the sound worth talking about. The semi-active setup gets credit for staying plush and controlled, with settings riders change on the move for load or pace. Long days come up often too: padded seat, upright position, good protection, and no fatigue by evening.
One issue dominates. Below roughly 3,500 to 4,000 rpm riders report the engine hesitates, so they ride around it with deliberate throttle and an extra downshift. Beyond that the reports thin out. A few still find it top-heavy at parking speed, awkward for shorter riders. Some who stand up say the pegs push their calves outward. A handful call the cruise control button an uncomfortable stretch.
Where this Ducati Multistrada V2 S pulls ahead of — or falls behind — its rivals on the numbers, and the typical bike in its class on character.
Power
Torque
Displacement
Wet weight
Seat height
Forget spec-sheet bragging. Here's who the Multistrada V2 S is actually built for.
On paper you're its closest match here: a 19-inch front, adjustable semi-active suspension and 445 lb wet. With 6.7 in of travel, it's built for the desert's connecting tracks, not its hardest technical sections.
Made for Moab · Bar M / Kane Creek · Imperial Sand Dunes
A strong fit: upright comfort, cruise control, an electric screen and a chassis plainly built for corners. For 200–400 mi days on scenic, twisty roads, the hardware lines up with what you're after.
Made for Highway 1 / Big Sur · Black Hills · Blue Ridge Parkway
A good fit for solo big-mile days, with cruise control, a 5.0 gal tank and an adjustable screen. It's a nimble middleweight at heart, and luggage isn't fitted from the factory, so plan for that.
Made for Beartooth Highway · Blue Ridge Parkway · Going-to-the-Sun Road
If you're cross-shopping the older generation, here's what changed.
Previous generation · 2023–2024
Italian Touring With Real Suspension
Compare to the previous model →If this one isn't quite the fit, these are the bikes worth riding back-to-back against it.
Any price note compares both bikes at the same age — the youngest age both have on the used market — against this Ducati Multistrada V2 S. “cheaper/pricier” is what that bike costs second-hand, not how worn it is.
Competitor · 2020–2023
Two Souls, One Triple
Competitor · 2020
Handles Like It Weighs Less
Roughly $4,900 cheaper used than this bike at 1 yr
Same Platform · 2025
Italian Looks, Apex Manners
About the same used price as this bike at 1 yr
Similar Character · 2021
Four Cylinders, Zero Excuses