Is the Ducati ‘Multistrada V4’ actually the Ducati Multistrada 1260GT?

Ever since Ducati went ‘V4’ with its Panigale flagship, it had become something of an educated assumption the unit would ultimately find its way into other members of the Italian firm’s range, with the Multistrada seemingly a first choice given its popularity.

Indeed, our predictions even seemed to be confirmed when we saw (and heard) what appeared to be an updated Multistrada out on pre-production test by eagle-eyed snappers close to its factory last month.

However, if files from the American Environment Protection Agency are to be believed, the ‘V4’ is actually simply a more premium version of the Ducati Multistrada under the Multistrada 1260GT moniker.

Unless the no doubt frustrating frequency big news has been revealed via these somewhat unspectacular administration methods means Ducati has perhaps somehow submitted this patent under a working title (if it is able to even do that) for now it seems this is the bike that will be revealed by Ducati in October during its 2020 Ducati model line-up presentation.

That’s not to say a Ducati Multistrada V4 isn’t coming at some point, but we may have to wait a little longer as it could morph into a sportier tourer model in its own right to rival the BMW S1000XR.

What is radar cruise control?

Whilst we shed a small tear for what could have been (we hold out hope it’s all a cheeky ruse) the 2020 Ducati Multistrada 1260GT is nonetheless rumoured to debut some rather interesting new technology which – looking at the bigger picture – is far more important.

Radar cruise control (ARAS – Advanced Rider Assistance Systems if we’re being PR about it) uses a variety of sensors front and rear to understand its environment and feedback to the rider accordingly, such as obstacles or fast-approaching cars.

Put simply, it aims to predict an accident before it happens, hopefully giving the rider a fair chance to avoid it.

The debut of this technology will be no mean feat since Ducati alone has been working on this since 2016 in conjunction with the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of the Politecnico di Milano University. 

The study has led to the development of a warning system based on a rear radar, able to identify and point out vehicles present in the blind spot, or traffic approaching at high speed from behind. Read more about it here.

Though the platform of the technology has been mulled over for many years – decades in some cases – we’re now watching a race between both Ducati and KTM to see who can get it out first, with the Austrian firm also expected to debut their own version with the forthcoming 1290 update.