RocketDaryl
Top Fuel
I was at the dealer yesterday and took the Duc for a test ride at the insistance of the owner of the dealership. Here are my thoughts on the bike in comparing it with my current ride, and the Duc's competitor, the Tiger 1050.
Seat - I liked the seat on the Duc better. It was a very comfortable seat and due to the design of the passenger seat, the rider gets a bit of backrest built in.
Ergos - Overall, I thought the ergos were very good. The Duc has a slightly lower seat height. Also, the seat forces you forward, fairly close to the tand. Personally, I like that. Like with the Tiger, I was in an upright riding position. Actually, it was even more upright. I have a slight forward tilt with the Tiger. Both are fine and I really wouldn't declare one the winner over the other in this area. Also, as with the Tiger, my legs were very comfortable. These bikes sit high enough that your legs have plenty of room to stretch out, not cramped like on a ******rocket. My only gripe with the ergos on the Duc are the bars. They are wider on the Duc; almost too wide for my tastes. I definitely like the bars on my Tiger better.
Tranny - The tranny felt almost exactly the same to me. The only thing I noticed on the Duc was it was hard to get it from 2nd to 1st when downshifting. That might get easier as the bike breaks in. Other than that, I'd rate them the same.
Engine - This is where the Tiger wins hands down for me. The Duc is a vibrating, complaining, whining brat during the town riding part of the ride. The Duc has 4 modes you can switch between that re-maps the computer and also adjusts the suspension. The modes can be changed on the fly. That sounds like a great feature. In reality, I really didn't notice that the "Urban" mode did anything to get the old girl to settle down. The engine is the same that's in their SuperSport bike and I'm sure it's a pleasure on the track or anywhere you can open her up. I DO NOT, however, feel this is a good engine for this type of bike.
The Multistrada and Tiger fall somewhere into the "Adventure"/"Sport Touring" category. Those of us that buy them want a very smooth bike that is equally happy whether tooling around city streets, running down the interstate or carving up twisties. I'm not going to include off-roading because, while I know older models of these bikes had that in mind to a point, I really don't think very many of us use them for that purpose anymore and they've really evolved more toward being a sport touring with good ergos type of bike. The Tiger delivers in spades in any situation. The Duc simply did not do it for me running around town. It snarled, vibrated, whined and basically *****ed and complained the whole time. And, don't DARE let the RPMs fall below 4K. I did that once and thought the girl was going to rip my heart out and show it to me before I died. The bike did not like that at all. The Tiger, OTOH, shines in any situation. On the plus side, that Duc sound is as distinctive as the Tiger's triple. When either engine comes around, anyone with an ear for motorcycle engines knows what it is.
Suspension - The Duc has Ohlins as standard equipment so I'm inclined to give it the nod based on that alone. But, you're limited to the 4 modes. It's all electronic so you can't fine tune the Duc. The Tiger is fully adjustable front and back. That said, the Tiger doesn't have Ohlins, which I feel is a slight upgrade over the stock Showa stuff on the Tiger. That said, this all really only comes into play if and when you have an opportunity to run some twisties. There is one little section on the demo route I always take where you can push it through some pretty quick flat, s corners. However, I didn't push it because the engine was so finnicky (word?) and unstable in the urban area I was in that I just didn't feel comforable. The throttle was just way too twitchy/jerky. Anyway, I'm calling this area a draw. Yes, I think the Duc has better components. But, I don't like that I can't fine tune the settings.
Overall - I really liked most everything about the Duc. The one deal breaker for me, however, is the engine. That L-twin simply is no match for the Tiger's triple for this tpe of bike. The triple is silky smooth and has a very smooth, linear fuel dilevery throughout the range. As far as power, the Duc is bound to have a bit more when the sport mode is selected as that maps the thing to 150 hp. But again, for all purpose riding, it loses big time to the triple, IMO.
Bottom line, even if the Duc was priced the same as the Tiger, I'd choose the Tiger. But, the Duc is NOT priced the same. If you like the Duc, prepare for you wallet to get a LOT lighter as it is priced at $20,000.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the review. Felel free to ask questions on specifics I didn't cover. And no, I didn't really discuss looks, etc... as that kind of thing is really subjective and has no bearing on the performance of the bike.
Seat - I liked the seat on the Duc better. It was a very comfortable seat and due to the design of the passenger seat, the rider gets a bit of backrest built in.
Ergos - Overall, I thought the ergos were very good. The Duc has a slightly lower seat height. Also, the seat forces you forward, fairly close to the tand. Personally, I like that. Like with the Tiger, I was in an upright riding position. Actually, it was even more upright. I have a slight forward tilt with the Tiger. Both are fine and I really wouldn't declare one the winner over the other in this area. Also, as with the Tiger, my legs were very comfortable. These bikes sit high enough that your legs have plenty of room to stretch out, not cramped like on a ******rocket. My only gripe with the ergos on the Duc are the bars. They are wider on the Duc; almost too wide for my tastes. I definitely like the bars on my Tiger better.
Tranny - The tranny felt almost exactly the same to me. The only thing I noticed on the Duc was it was hard to get it from 2nd to 1st when downshifting. That might get easier as the bike breaks in. Other than that, I'd rate them the same.
Engine - This is where the Tiger wins hands down for me. The Duc is a vibrating, complaining, whining brat during the town riding part of the ride. The Duc has 4 modes you can switch between that re-maps the computer and also adjusts the suspension. The modes can be changed on the fly. That sounds like a great feature. In reality, I really didn't notice that the "Urban" mode did anything to get the old girl to settle down. The engine is the same that's in their SuperSport bike and I'm sure it's a pleasure on the track or anywhere you can open her up. I DO NOT, however, feel this is a good engine for this type of bike.
The Multistrada and Tiger fall somewhere into the "Adventure"/"Sport Touring" category. Those of us that buy them want a very smooth bike that is equally happy whether tooling around city streets, running down the interstate or carving up twisties. I'm not going to include off-roading because, while I know older models of these bikes had that in mind to a point, I really don't think very many of us use them for that purpose anymore and they've really evolved more toward being a sport touring with good ergos type of bike. The Tiger delivers in spades in any situation. The Duc simply did not do it for me running around town. It snarled, vibrated, whined and basically *****ed and complained the whole time. And, don't DARE let the RPMs fall below 4K. I did that once and thought the girl was going to rip my heart out and show it to me before I died. The bike did not like that at all. The Tiger, OTOH, shines in any situation. On the plus side, that Duc sound is as distinctive as the Tiger's triple. When either engine comes around, anyone with an ear for motorcycle engines knows what it is.
Suspension - The Duc has Ohlins as standard equipment so I'm inclined to give it the nod based on that alone. But, you're limited to the 4 modes. It's all electronic so you can't fine tune the Duc. The Tiger is fully adjustable front and back. That said, the Tiger doesn't have Ohlins, which I feel is a slight upgrade over the stock Showa stuff on the Tiger. That said, this all really only comes into play if and when you have an opportunity to run some twisties. There is one little section on the demo route I always take where you can push it through some pretty quick flat, s corners. However, I didn't push it because the engine was so finnicky (word?) and unstable in the urban area I was in that I just didn't feel comforable. The throttle was just way too twitchy/jerky. Anyway, I'm calling this area a draw. Yes, I think the Duc has better components. But, I don't like that I can't fine tune the settings.
Overall - I really liked most everything about the Duc. The one deal breaker for me, however, is the engine. That L-twin simply is no match for the Tiger's triple for this tpe of bike. The triple is silky smooth and has a very smooth, linear fuel dilevery throughout the range. As far as power, the Duc is bound to have a bit more when the sport mode is selected as that maps the thing to 150 hp. But again, for all purpose riding, it loses big time to the triple, IMO.
Bottom line, even if the Duc was priced the same as the Tiger, I'd choose the Tiger. But, the Duc is NOT priced the same. If you like the Duc, prepare for you wallet to get a LOT lighter as it is priced at $20,000.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the review. Felel free to ask questions on specifics I didn't cover. And no, I didn't really discuss looks, etc... as that kind of thing is really subjective and has no bearing on the performance of the bike.
