The Multistrada V4 S is the one the other variants are best understood against — the Grand Tour adds touring kit to it, the Rally adds long-travel suspension and ruggedness, the Pikes Peak adds sharpness.
Ducati lists it at 170 hp and 91 lb-ft, with a wet weight of 511.4 lb without fuel, from $29,995. That price is a $10,000 step up from the standard Multistrada V4, which shares the engine, the output and the basic chassis. Understanding what that $10,000 buys is the entire point of this post.
What you are paying for: semi-active suspension
Ducati's Multistrada V4 material centers on semi-active suspension — electronically managed damping that reads the road and adjusts continuously rather than waiting for you to pull out a wrench at a gas station. It is the structural reason the S exists, and the single biggest functional difference between a $19,995 Multistrada and a $29,995 one.
Why it matters on this particular bike: an adventure-touring motorcycle is asked to work in states that have nothing to do with each other. Solo and unladen on a canyon road. Two-up with panniers at highway speed. Loaded, on gravel, at 25 mph. A fixed damping setting that is correct for one of those is wrong for the other two. Electronic damping management is how a 500-plus-pound bike covers that range without feeling like a compromise in every scenario.
The engine is unchanged, and that is deliberate
The 1158 cc V4 Granturismo is the same unit as the base bike: 170 hp, counter-rotating crankshaft derived from Ducati's MotoGP program, rear-bank cylinder deactivation that now operates at low speed as well as at standstill. Ducati claims up to 6% lower fuel consumption than the previous generation on the WMTC cycle, and publishes a valve clearance check at 37,000 miles.
Gearing is the same wide spread — short first gear for low-speed and off-road control, tall sixth for highway miles. The counter-rotating crank deserves a second mention in the context of the S specifically, because the S carries more mass than the base bike. Anything that reduces the gyroscopic resistance of the wheels is worth more, not less, as the bike gets heavier.
Note the weight math, which runs the opposite direction to what people assume: the S is 6.4 lb heavier than the standard V4, at 511.4 lb versus 505 lb. Electronics and the associated hardware have mass. What you buy is capability, not lightness.
Travel & Radar: the trim inside the trim
Ducati publishes a Travel & Radar configuration of the V4 S, offered in Ducati Red with red side cases. That is the significant one for most buyers, because it bundles the two things riders most often add after the fact — luggage and radar-based rider assistance — into the bike as delivered.
Buying it that way is the tidier route to the same destination: cases that were drawn to match the tail of the bike, and rider assistance that went on at the factory rather than onto a bike that was never designed for it. The red-on-red presentation reads as a deliberate specification rather than an accessories order.
Wheels, tires, bodywork
Wheels are 19-inch front and 17-inch rear, running Pirelli SCORPION Trail II tires. Ducati's family-wide material for this generation describes forged seven-spoke wheels in those sizes, 4.4 lb lighter than standard types.
The chassis uses a new-generation double-sided swingarm. Lighting is an advanced LED system with Cornering Light, which Ducati says eliminates the shadow zones near the front wheel, in a dual-headlight layout with revised DRL functionality. The exhaust is redesigned for this generation, with a silencer that produces an even more distinctive sound and lines drawn to match the slimmer tail.
Colors and pricing
| Version | Color | MSRP |
|---|---|---|
| Multistrada V4 S | Ducati Red | $29,995 |
| Multistrada V4 S | Thrilling Black | $30,595 |
| Multistrada V4 S | Arctic White | $30,595 |
Destination charge is $1,295. MSRP excludes options, taxes, title, registration, destination charge, processing and handling fees, dealer charges and potential tariffs. The dealer sets the actual selling price.
Thrilling Black and Arctic White carry a $600 premium over Ducati Red.
The step from there is small and worth knowing before you sign: the V4 S Grand Tour is $30,995, which is $1,000 over a red V4 S and $400 over a black or white one. If touring equipment is on your list at all, read that number carefully.
Who this bike is for
The V4 S is for the rider who wants one motorcycle to cover genuinely different kinds of riding and does not want to apologize for it in any of them. Commute, canyon, two-up weekend, interstate transit, gravel access road. Semi-active damping is the mechanism that makes that single-bike argument work, and 170 hp means the bike is never the limiting factor.
It is not for the rider who already knows the answer to the touring question. If you are certain you want panniers, heated grips and a heated seat, the Grand Tour delivers them for $1,000 more than a red S and you should buy that instead of building this one up. If your riding is genuinely remote and genuinely unpaved, the Rally was designed for that and the S was not. And if you have never once wished your suspension would adapt on its own, the standard V4 saves you $10,000 and 6.4 lb.
The V4 S is the right default. It is just not automatically the right answer.
See it at MotoCorsa
Talk to MotoCorsa Ducati in Portland about comparing the V4 S, the Grand Tour and the Rally — riding them is the only honest way to make this decision. Browse our current Ducati inventory to check availability and colors, or contact us to schedule a test ride.
Specifications and pricing sourced from ducati.com and are subject to change. Contact MotoCorsa for current availability and out-the-door pricing.