By David Kidd | Adventure Motorcycle Writer

Ducati Multistrada V4: The Adventure Bike That Does Almost Everything Well

There’s a specific kind of rider the Multistrada V4 is built for: the one who wants to leave the driveway on pavement, spend the afternoon on a gravel forest road, and still feel fresh enough for a six-hour interstate slog home. Ducati calls the V4 generation of its flagship adventure tourer a bike built to “rule all roads,” and after digging into the spec sheet, that’s less marketing bravado than it sounds. This is a machine engineered around versatility first, with sport-bike DNA layered on top rather than the other way around.

The Heart of the Bike: V4 Granturismo

The centerpiece of the Multistrada V4 is its 1,158cc V4 Granturismo engine — a 90-degree V4 with a counter-rotating crankshaft and Ducati’s Twin Pulse firing order, which staggers combustion events to mimic the torque feel of a twin at low rpm while still delivering V4 smoothness up top. Output lands at 170 hp at 10,500 rpm and 92 lb-ft of torque at 8,750 rpm, routed through a six-speed gearbox with up/down Ducati Quick Shift as standard equipment.

What matters more for adventure riders than the peak numbers is how Ducati tuned the delivery. This isn’t a Panigale motor stuffed into a taller chassis — it’s calibrated to be smooth and progressive at low rpm, which counts for a lot when you’re picking a line through loose gravel or feathering the throttle up a rutted forest service road. The Twin Pulse layout also does the V4 a favor most touring riders won’t consciously notice but will feel: it reduces the buzzy, high-strung character that can wear on a rider over an eight-hour day in the saddle.

The other number that deserves attention is 37,000 miles — the interval before the first valve clearance check. That’s an enormous jump from where adventure-touring V-twins and V4s have historically sat, and it directly addresses one of the biggest hidden costs of long-range touring: expensive, labor-intensive valve service. Regular maintenance intervals are set at 9,000 miles or 24 months, with a 24-month, unlimited-mileage warranty backing the bike.

Chassis and Suspension: Built to Flex Between Roles

The Multistrada V4 rides on an aluminum monocoque frame designed to keep the bike compact and centralize mass close to the rider — Ducati’s stated goal is a tighter connection between rider input and bike response, whether that input is a highway lane change or a tight switchback climb. Suspension duties fall to a 50mm fully adjustable upside-down fork up front and a fully adjustable monoshock out back, both managed by Ducati Skyhook Suspension (DSS), which electronically adjusts compression and rebound damping in real time based on road surface and riding conditions. Wheel travel comes in at 6.7 inches front and 7.1 inches rear — enough to soak up washboard and moderate off-road terrain without feeling like a dedicated dual-sport.

Braking hardware is properly serious for a bike in this class: dual 330mm front discs squeezed by radially mounted Brembo Stylema monobloc four-piston calipers, a 265mm rear disc with a Brembo two-piston floating caliper, and cornering ABS throughout.

Two chassis-adjacent features stand out for riders who actually use these bikes off pavement or navigate them through tight parking lots and trailheads. Minimum Preload lets the rider drop rear shock preload via handlebar controls to lower the bike’s ride height for a more confident reach to the ground — genuinely useful on a machine that, loaded and fueled, is not a small motorcycle. Easy Lift, meanwhile, adjusts hydraulic behavior to make it noticeably easier to muscle the bike up off its side stand, which matters more than it sounds like it should when you’re tired, on a slope, or riding solo.

Seat height is adjustable between 33.1 and 33.9 inches stock, with accessory high and low seats — plus a low suspension kit — extending that range from 31.1 up to 34.4 inches, giving shorter and taller riders real room to dial in fit rather than settling for a compromise.

Electronics: Where the Multistrada Pulls Ahead

This is the category where the Multistrada V4 separates itself from most of the adventure-touring field. Front and rear radar enables adaptive cruise control with four selectable following distances and blind spot detection that lights up LEDs in the mirrors — genuinely useful safety technology on a vehicle type where riders spend hours at a stretch on highways between destinations. Add Ducati Brake Light (automatic hazard-flash under hard braking), cornering lights that illuminate the direction of lean, vehicle hold control for stopped starts on a grade, and a full suite of rider aids — traction control, wheelie control, ride-by-wire throttle mapping, and switchable riding modes — and the electronics package reads more like something out of a modern car than a traditional dual-sport.

All of it routes through a 6.5-inch color TFT display running Ducati Connect, with integrated GPS and full-map navigation built into the dash rather than bolted on as an accessory. For riders used to mounting a phone or a standalone GPS unit to the bars, having turn-by-turn built into the instrument cluster is a real quality-of-life upgrade on multi-day trips.

Trims, Weight, and Where the Money Goes

The base Multistrada V4 starts at $19,995, while the V4 S — which comes standard with the Travel & Radar package (rigid side panniers, blind spot detection, and adaptive cruise control) — starts at $29,995, with configured pricing across color and wheel combinations running roughly $27,195 to $28,295 before the $1,295 destination charge. Riders wanting more off-road capability or performance have three additional variants to consider: the Multistrada V4 Rally (from $31,995) leans into long-range off-road travel, the V4 Pikes Peak ($33,995) sharpens the sport-touring edge, and the range-topping V4 RS (from $39,995) bumps output to 180 hp while shedding weight down to 496 pounds wet, without fuel.

Speaking of weight — it’s the honest asterisk on this bike. Wet weight without fuel runs 505 pounds on the base V4 and up to about 511 pounds on the V4 S. Add nearly six gallons of fuel and any luggage, and this is not a bike you’re picking up solo after a low-speed tip-over in deep sand without some effort. Riders coming from lighter dual-sport-focused machines, or those whose “adventure” riding leans heavily technical and off-road, should sit on one and think honestly about where their riding actually happens before assuming the Multistrada name means dirt-bike agility.

The Verdict

The Multistrada V4 is at its best as a mile-eating, comfort-first travel bike that can competently handle a gravel road or a moderately technical dirt track without complaint — not as a dedicated off-road weapon. For riders whose trips mix long highway stretches, backcountry byways, and the occasional forest service road, the combination of the Granturismo engine’s flexibility, genuinely useful radar-based rider aids, and that 37,000-mile valve service interval adds up to one of the most complete adventure-touring packages on the market. It’s a bike built for the ride between destinations as much as the destination itself — which, for most people who actually tour on two wheels, is exactly the point.