[MultiMan]

A number of people ask about the merits of the MS relative to Bike X, Y, Z, etc.

I can't help any of them since the only significant concern I had a while back was "Red" or "Gray."

But I am curious about what people consider the viable alternatives to the MS. I see people considering Vstrom, GS1150, etc. What are the others?

I'm also curious about those people who actually did their due diligence: When you put the same question to a less-sympathetic crowd than you find here(say, at Vstrom.net; BeemerBoxersRulzs.com), how did the MS come off?

I'm looking ahead as to what bike I might want in the next year or two or three...but I keep coming back to the same decision I made mid-2003.

The only issue I have now is that my inseam-challenged wife seems reluctant to clamber aboard the tall pillion seat, but I see you can buy a rear cowl to cover the pillion and make the whole issue moot! (uh, that's a joke...anyone else's pillion complain?)

Cheers,

MM

[Doc]

No complaint's from the pillions so far

As for the Multi itself, IMHO it's one of a kind. It doesn't "fit" to any of the so far established categories, instead it has just created a new one that other manufacturers will (certainly) follow in the near future...

Regards,

Doc

[fiirestorm]

I am in the process of considering between the MST and R1150GS. At the moment the MST is ahead - just.

I also considered :

1) Kawasaki Z1000 and Z750
2) Yamaha Fazer 1000
3) Triumph Tiger
4) Triumph Speed Triple
5) Honda Hornet CB900
6) Yahama XJR1300

Bear in mind that I use my bike primarily for commuting, I should be looking at bikes like

1) Honda CB500
2) Yamaha Fazer600
3) Yahama Diversion
4) BMW 650GS

et al

but I'm looking for something interesting that'll be a worthy successor to my Honda Firestorm. I can trade performance for comfort, but I don't want to lose on handling. I really wanted to like the Tiger and Fazer 1000, but my legs are too short. So its a showdown between the GS and MST.

I'll be making the decision very soon. Good luck with yours.

[Tomster330]

[fiirestorm]

Yep R1200GS would be the better choice, more power, less weight, exactly the problems I noticed with the 1150GS. But it will cost over 9300gbp and it isn't available 24 month 0% interest free credit a la MST. Thats why I'm comparing it with a 3 year old 1150GS with over 20000 miles on the clock.

I guess the running costs would be similar, i.e. both expensive

[Prof]

One thing that swayed my choice of bike in favour of the Multistrada was the wide choice of tyres (or tires in the US!)

Many of the rival bikes - 1150 GS, Varadero, Tiger have larger 19 inch front wheels which restricts the choice of replacement tyre to three or four fairly standard tyres (not the stickiest rubber)

The MTS has much wider choice having 17 inch wheels like most sports bikes

[fiirestorm]

Hi prof,
we meet again - Have BT010 on my firestorm, rear has lasted about 3500 miles, not good ! But excellent grip and feedback wet or dry.

What do you have on your MST ??

Would BT020 be a good choice?

p.s. I nearly lowsided a GS on Tourances ....

[Prof]

I still have the Scoprion Syncs on the MTS (3000 miles - virtually no wear - but I also have a Thundercat that I shod with BT020s which gave it a much better feel than the Dunlops it came with.
As always there is a compromise between grip and mileage

I haven't found anything wrong with the Scorpions - they grip OK and perform in the wet (useful in the UK)

Others may have tried different rubber - I feel a new thread coming soon!

[multistrada33]

What about a comparison with the Aprilia Tuono?

[Joe Lohr]

Tuono is a partialy naked full sport bike. Mts is not. as for other bikes its too differant . I thinks its between a 1200GS, and the R1150RS
but closer to the RS then the GS. Its more a standard/sport/tourer bike than a adventure tourer. sort of a naked RT . but thats the thing about the MTS. It can be what you want it to be. Its versability.

[Rocker]

I too would have liked the GS but found it too tall.Apparently had I waited for the 1200 this problem would have been solved.The other considerations were the price and the distance I would have had to travel to find a BMW dealer.
The other bike I seriously considered was the Caponord which I really enjoyed when I test rode it but the problem that I had getting spares for my Pegaso put me off buying an Aprillia. Also my local dealer " Ducati Ashford" offers a far better service than the local Aprillia dealer

[nedwob]

I have been reading with interest the comparisons with other bikes and have come down to the MS vs the 1200GS. I have owned an 1100RT and it was very reliable but a bit too heavy and too sedate. Many of you have said that there is a big fun factor with the MS but that isn't very helpful (i.e. I remember having fun on my Honda 50 35 years ago!) and others have said that it depends what you want to do with the bike. So I will describe how I plan to use the bike and I would appreciate your comments on the choice (and if you think another bike entirely should be considered please say so).

I will not be using the bike to commute. I will do weekend breakfast rides from Vancouver to Whistler (a great ride if you are ever in British Columbia) which is 125 km each way and other similar weekend rides in good weather. At the end of May I will ride to Hyder, Alaska to meet Ron Ayres (see http://ronayres.com/Hyder2004.htm#registration) . This is a trip of about 1400 km each way (700 km per day). As you can imagine, it rains a lot in the Hyder area so I expect to be riding in lots of rain for part of the trip.

The rest of the summer will be mostly weekend rides and then in September I will do the 3 Flags Tour starting in Mexicali and finishing in Kelowna, B.C. That will be about 3000 km each way and mostly in hot weather over about 8 days. I don't expect to be doing many gravel roads except through construction zones.

Needless to say on the long trips reliability is a big factor and some of the comments about the MS suggest that reliability is an issue. Weather protection is a factor but unless I go to full fairing like an RT or ST1300 I don't think there will be much difference between the 1200GS and the MS. The MS has a visceral appeal to me but on the reliability scale is the 1200GS a better bet? I also note that the weight of the 1200GS is now close to the MS and apparently the silencer even produces a bit of a rumbling sound which is unusual for a beemer.

Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

[fiirestorm]

MTS - has been around longer, Ducati has had longer to sort out the bugs.
Reliabilty wise, I don't think the MTS has any intrinsic fault which stops it dead in it's tracks. Most are concerned with quality of the finish and front-end resonance.

R1200GS - brand new, released next week in UK. All products have bugs. If you are prepared to put up with them or wait for the dealer to sort it then it should be ok. Who knows what the bugs are at this stage ? You'll be beta testing it for BMW.

IMO for the sort of riding you do, the beemer might have the edge. I can only compare it with a 1150GS, but for me in your situation I'd go for a 1150 or 1200 GS. As it is definitely more comfortable and you'll be driving on roads and situations where the weight is not a real issue.

btw I just took delivery of a new MST ... so I'm not biased against the MST

[renzie]

YamahaTDM 900

Renzie

[mr.vince0]

I've been following the forums at stromtroopers.net for some time now. As you might expect, there are some real diehard "mine is better than yours" blowhards. Yes, the vstrom is everything the reviews say it is - realiable, inexpensive to own (especially the excellent dl650), and fun to ride.

Most of the riding I read about is touring on country roads, backwoods fire roads, and the occasional trail. I've only tried to trail ride my dl650 once and found it wasn't worth worrying about dropping it on a gravely hillside. Relaxed touring backroads and pushing it in the twisties is great fun for a weekend, and touring for a few hundred miles for a few days is great too if you have the time.

But... the dl650 and 1000 have faults found in the forums. The windscreen is infamous for creating a numbing head buffetting at speed. After market screens solve this, but Suzuki should just build a better one.
Both bikes are NOT trail bikes - well-maintained fire-roads are OK but no real enduro stuff.
The dl1000 has some power delivery issues, again solved with a power commander or dyno tuner in the after market. (the 650 is much smoother)
Many if not most are "individualized" but I suppose this is true with any bike (not to the extent of a Harley, but close to that of the Ducati).

I Love the Ducati monsters, the new classics really rocks my world, and the MTS is the Duc I would likely own if I could afford two bikes.

It seems each bike encourages a different sort of riding, and if I had bought the MTS, I would be touring less and hitting the twisties more often.