2019-07-01_RiDE

PILLION

BothGSandEnduroarewellsuitedto

lifewitha pillion,withplentyofspace

andgenerousgrabrails.Butalthough

ergonomicallythey’reverysimilar,there

aredifferences.TheEnduroisa busier

ride;it’s a firmerandmorereactive

experience.There’salsoa gooddeal

morewindblastthantheBMW,andthe

Ducatipicksupmorevibesfromits

V-twinthantheGSdoesfromitstwin

— withoutbeingengagedinthebusiness

ofriding,enginevibrationbecomesa lot

morenoticeableasa pillion.

Meanwhile,theGShasa greatersense

ofmassandsolidity,betterisolatedfrom

theroadandwithsoftersuspension

(andanautopreloadset-up)— theDucati

isa lighterandmoreexcitablerideatthe

back.ButtheDucati’scontouredgrab

railsarea classabovetheBMW’s

aluminiumtubes(whichformpartofthe

reartopboxrack)andfeelmoresecure.

AbigsurpriseishowtheBMW’sslow

anddeliberatequickshifteraffectsthe

pillion,rockingtheirheadlikea nodding

dog.TheDucati’squicker,slickershifter

ismuchlessnoticeable.

LUGGAGE

BoththeEnduroandGSontestcome

withwaterproofaluminiumpanniers;the

Ducati’sarepartofa £18 97 TouringPack

(includingpannierrailsandheated

grips),andtheBM’sblackanodised

Under the

seats

TheDucati’spillionpadpopsoffbykey;

therider’sseatisfixedinplacewith

Allenbolts(whichiswhyitsheightis

non-adjustable). Underthepillionseat

isa smallspacetakenupwitha toolkit

thatincludesa tubelesspuncturerepair

kit— threeairbottles,rubberplugs,glue

— aswellasa screwdriver,allenkeys,

spanner,socketandfusepuller,allina

redDucatipouch.

BMWstoppedsupplyingan

under-seatpuncturerepairkityears

ago.Thepillionseatcomesofffirst;

there’s nospaceunderneathandthe

sparsetoolkit(threespannersizes,a

torxdriveranda screwdriver)isclipped

intothe undersideoftheseat.The

rider’s seatcanthenpopoffby

reversing thekeyturn;seatheightis

adjusted byhandwitha pairoffrontand

rearadjusters(presumablyit’spossible

toalso havetheseatlowatthefront,

highat the rear,andvice-versa.)

F l ded

On the scales

TheDucatiisclaimedtoweigh254kgfullyfuelled,

butwithoutpanniers.Withluggageanda fulltank,

theEndurotipsourscalesat 28 9.2kg.

TheGSAdventure’skerbweightisa claimed

268kg,butonthescaleswithpanniersit comesin

at 294 .6kg; 5 .5kgheavierthantheDucati.

TheEnduroandGSbothstatea maximumgross

vehicleweightof 4 85kg,whichleaves196kgfor

tworidersandluggageontheDucati,and190kgfor

theBMW– a limitthatcouldeasilybereachedfor

either(neitherkerbweightincludesa topbox).

BMW DUCATI

Kerbweight(claimed) 268kg 254kg

Kerbweight(actual,withpanniers) 294.6kg 289 .2kg

Ratio,%front/rear 49.1/50.9 48.4/51.6

Maxgrossvehicleweight 485kg 485kg

Maxpayloadremaining 190.4kg 195.8kg

(combinedweightofrider,

pillionandluggagecontents)

bmw ducati

78 | july 2019

new bikes