The first ever Ducati Multistrada 1200 tyre (tire) change anywhere in the world?!

The first of the new Multistrada 1200’s are barely off the production line and someone’s managed to wear out the rear tyre already!……and in just 1740 miles!! ;-0

First Multistrada 1200 Tire Change (Tyre:-)
By Multistrada.net member ‘gts_rider’ 01Jun2010

I thought the Pirelli Scorpian tires that came stock with the Multistrada ‘were’ great road tires. Never tried them on dirt roads, just semi-paved roads. They seem to stick great at a semi-sane street pace.

I’m pretty sure I performed the first consumer tire change on the new Multi in North America on Saturday May 29th. One week and a day since I rolled it outta the dealer on Friday afternoon May 21st. The mileage was 1740:

I knew I would be needing a tire change heading up for three days in the South Sierras outta Porterville, so I finagled a ride for replacement tires in a cage heading up there too. Not really planning well in advance, I had to suck it up and pay the 80 bucks for the 55mm socket from Pro-Italia. Those who chose to plan further in advance than me, you can get one socket to cover both the 55mm rear and the 30mm front for half the price here : http://www.motomfg.com/Ducati_1098_1198_wheel_nut_socket_p/wh-1.htm

The service manual is not available yet, according to Pro-Italia, the service guys in their shop don’t even have it. So, it was a bit of guess work to change the rear tire in the Porterville parking lot. Getting the big nut off the rear was easy, then it was just a matter of removing it. I finally figured out that you need to pull off the double-shorty exhaust outlets to make clearance to get the wheel off. There’s a 6mm allen bolt behind that you need to loosen, plus pull off the decorative cover. You need a long allen-key to get to it, t-handles won’t due, nor sockets with allen keys on the end. You need the long-dad loose allen key to go straight down and be able to turn it. (Check out cable action flapper at the exit of the exhaust canister, anybody know what that’s about?)

Anyways , I replaced the rear with a tire I had laying around the house, a Pirelli Strada, which seemed appropriate. The tire change overall took about 2 1/2 hours, but most of that time was figuring out what to do to get the wheel off and sourcing the allen key I needed. After that it went pretty easy, though it was still rudimentary. Big-ass C-clamp to break the bead and wrestling with tire irons to remove the old and mount the new:

P.S. The front tire is completely wasted at around 2k, but was good enough to get me home.

[In response to comments on the rear tyre being worn out at just 1740 miles]
Well, to be fair, about 80% of these miles were on twisty Southern and Central Californina, (many, virtually unpatrolled), backroads. The first 60 or so miles was a run up Angeles Forest and Angeles Crest and return. Then 100 miles through the Santa Monica Alps 2-up. Then a run up to the Bay Area and back with a double dose of Cerro NoArreste, Hwy. 58, Indian Valley/Peachtree roads, Hwy. 25 , etc.

Finally to finish them off, it was a three day extravaganza in the South Sierras (though, the rear only made it through 2 of the 3 days). For those not familiar with the South Sierras, here’s some videos of a few of the more famous roads. Some of the roads are unusually abrasive on tires, especially Hwy. 245.

• Hwy. 155 (half of it) • The Mighty 190 (half of it) • Hwy. 245 (half of it)
• Tehachapi Loop • M109

Really just too many turns to count, but overall probably around 1000 or more of the miles could be equated with doing 1000 miles or more on a track. This is not to say that I’m doing track-speeds on the street, or going for extreme lean angles. You can see from front tire photo below that the tread is virtually erased in the sort of sane mid-lean angle that’s most often used for street riding on quesionable surfaces. It’s just that the abrasive roads eat up tires even while maintaining an aggressive yet sane street pace.

[Comment by Multistrada.net member ‘mxwinky’]
The cable-actuated valve in the exhaust is Ducati’s version of an EXUP valve (a term coined by Yamaha) which is used to help increase low-to-mid power. While a big twin such as a Duc might actually be able to get away without one, these exhaust flapper valves do indeed boost low-end power/torque and aid low speed rideability. If you remove one of these little buggers on something like a Yamaha R1 or FZ1 you’ll be amazed at how horrible it’ll run down low, making it practically impossible to ride around town. Not a pretty sight. One thing to be wary of for any of you Multi 1200 owners out there considering changing the complete exhaust system, be sure you use something (like the DP ECU) that’ll be compatible with the loss of the EXUP valve or you’ll have a very fussy bike on your hands and an annoying warning light on your dash you won’t be able to shut off. If you want an expensive laugh, the Desmosedici comes with the same sort of valve and intricate software to control it, however a super trick titanium aftermarket exhaust (for only $9,000!) is made for it by a company in Japan that eliminates the EXUP valve, resulting in a weaker Desmosedici whose ECU is then searching for the missing EXUP valve and causing the bike fits. The motto? More money does not always improve a $72,000 motorcycle.