In an unusual move, Ducati has confirmed in a press release that the Italian brand will be brining the much-rumored Multistrada V4 not for next year, but instead for the 2021 model year.
In its announcement, Ducati said that the V4 machine will be available alongside the 1260 and 950 v-twin models, which adds some more intrigue to what form-factor the Ducati Multistrada V4 could take, and where it could slot into Ducati’s lineup.
This tidbit comes on the news that Ducati has just built its 100,000th Multistrada, in preparation for the 2020 model year.
Giving us our only real news about the Multistrada V4 model, Ducati says that the machine will use a “new” and “specific” V4 engine.
This tells us that the Desmosedici Stradale engine from Borgo Panigale will likely be in a different state of tune than its superbike counterpart, presumably making power much lower in the rev range, so as to better-suit the street riding it is intended for.
What is interesting in all this is the fact that Ducati felt the need to telegraph the coming of a new model – over a year before its debut. Generally speaking, manufacturers try to avoid this, as it can kill sales of the existing models on dealer floors.
Perhaps this means that dealer inventory on the Multistrada line is quite low, or maybe there is another reason.
We know that Ducati will be debuting its new Streetfighter V4 in a few weeks’ time, at the company’s special unveiling event in Rimini. Clouding that launch though has been rumor and talk about the Multistrada V4 model.
It would make sense then that the Italian brand wanted to cast aside rumors about the Multistrada V4, so as to clear the way for a proper launch of the new Streetfighter V4.
The most likely reason though is that Ducati wants to prevent sales from going to other brands. We know that a new BMW S1000XR is coming for the 2020 model year, and the KTM 1290 Super Duke R is getting a rather substantial update as well.
If Ducati can use this news to prevent an exodus to those brands, then that means more potential buyers for the Ducati Multistrada V4 when it arrives in 2021.
Whatever the case may be, the rabbit is out of the bag now. Start the clock, we have a little over 365 days to wait until we see the 2021 Ducati Multistrada V4.
We expect the new Multistrada V4 to be a road-focused model that gives the Italian brand a proper adventure-sport offering with a 1,103cc engine.
As such, power figures should be close to those found on the upcoming Streetfighter V4, though we can likely expect more bells and whistles that cater to the touring crowd – like adaptive cruise control, for example.
We also expect the price on the 2021 Ducati Multistrada V4 to be significant, likely starting at $20,000 MSRP, to help justify the cost of using Ducati’s complex four-cylinder engine.
This is of course our speculation, but you can be sure that will alert you to more details as we get them from our Bothan spies.
Source: Ducati
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