Rizal Philippines | August 26, 2014
From Topspeed
This may not have place in a cycling blog. But it is very amusing to review this kind of high performance bike.
I happened to watch the Nat Geo feature on Megafactory. It featured Ducati factory and the coverage was on the manufacture of Multi strada It is a multistrada because it is a four in one bike: touring, sports, enduro and urban, all controlled by a brain.
What we should admire is the technology used in the bike:
1. The valve system. -- It does not use the traditional spring for the valves to retract but cam system. Springs have tendency not to push back valve because of mass and thus have phenomenon known as spring bounce. Springs could not could not keep up with high rpm limits of motorcycle (as much as 10,000 rpm)
2. The brains - it is the same computer control employed in Ferrari invented by Emmanuel Borsetto.(who worked on the Ferrari brains.) Before it was not possible to do this. But more powerful microchips and miniturization enabled this invention. The main brain enables the four modes: touring sports, enduro and urban. There are sub brains all interconnected that control: traction, shifting, engine, and chassis. with various adjustments for various modes.
Thus for sports mode: the throttle valve is more open (perhaps the valve intake dwell is much longer) and ups the hp output to 160 for more spirited ride and faster acceleration. The suspension setting is more taut. For urban mode, the output of engine goes down to 100 hp, the suspension becomes softer, the chassis becomes longer for more maneuverability in the city.
Thus you have 4 in one bike because of the computer brains. Hence the name multi strada.
3. The tires. It was co developed by a supplier - Pirelli that combines all the 4 characteristic needed for this mixed beast. It has tough middle rubber material, softer side materials for cornering for tackling hard corners at sports mode and variable tread designs to handle enduro rides. It is called Scorpion
4. Ride by wire technology - uses motor drives to control the mechanical. Just like they use for Airbus. (fly by wire technology)
Ducati multi strada anyone? The price without taxes - only $19,995. Or is it hefty for the technology used. It is 4 bikes in one....
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