2025 Ducati Multistrada V2 S Review

If there’s one manufacturer that could be called a victim of its own success these days, it’s that famously cloaked-in-red brand of Ducati.

The last seven years have firmly been about Ducati’s Desmosedici Stradale V4 and all the bikes it powers (Panigale, Streetfighter, Diavel, Multistrada), and the machine that was previously badged as the Multistrada 950 and updated slightly for 2022, became a bit out of sight, out of mind, with regards to potential customers.

That may sound a little harsh, but the fact remains the V4 Multistrada has taken the lion’s share of the press over the last five years, so for 2025, Ducati has realigned its focus back to the bike that signals a gateway into (or even a permanent home in) the Multistrada family.

New for 2025 is the $19,295 Ducati Multistrada V2 S, the sport touring steed now sharing 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 $4K less, which gains most of the things the V2 S does but doesn’t get the S’s Skyhook electronic suspension.

Ducati dropped the capacity from 937cc down to 890cc 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 (the V4 on the bigger Multistrada runs a desmo system but also has VVT).

Ducati is claiming 115 horsepower and 68 lb-ft of torque with the new V2, which represents an inconsequential two horsepower gain and three pounds-foot drop over 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 weighing 121 pounds, a drop of 12.79 pounds.

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 fitted a 20 percent heavier flywheel to the smaller capacity 890cc 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.

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 890cc 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?

The revised motor delivers two distinct levels of torque, first at around 4500 rpm and later at around 8000 rpm, depending on which riding mode/power mode/throttle response you have chosen. 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 tire becomes. Pretty simple.

But 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 regard to throttle response at low rpm has made for an extremely enjoyable ride while in the full-go mode.

The new motor is paired to a completely new chassis in the aluminum monocoque main frame, mated to a new steel trellis subframe. 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 40 pounds less than the old 950. That’s a substantial weight reduction in an age where a five- to 10-pound drop is noticeable, let alone 40 pounds.

This has made the Multistrada a more agile and sporty proposition for when the road gets twisty, but also easier to maneuver 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, they can now be altered separately, regardless of your mode.

The Skyhook system now includes an 8mm lowering function called Minimum Preload, but (at least in my opinion), 8mm is next to useless when some of the competition—like Harley-Davidson and their Pan America—can lower their rear suspension by nearly an inch and a half. You can feel it working—just—but I would have expected at least double the amount you get on the V2.

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, resculpted 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 in my body, a body that will scream bloody murder if I’m uncomfortable for more than an hour at a time.

There are various accessories you can get in the touring department, including a 20mm taller and 20mm lower seat, plus if you’ve got a very short inseam, you can opt for the low suspension kit that takes things another 20mm further down. The seat heights range from 31.1 inches to 34.3 inches, so you’re sure to find something that fits.

In Europe, Ducati offers various trim 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 are none of those packs. Not having heated grips as standard on a bike that costs $20,000 is not good enough, as far as I’m concerned. I feel like if you’re going to spend the extra $4k 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.

Okay, 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. That motor has oil service intervals of 9000 miles and valves at 18,000 miles, so you’ve got a lot of riding between visits to the dealer.

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

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2025 Ducati Multistrada V2 S Specifications

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