I was very excited to see and sit on the Ducati Multistrada sports tourer on the Ducati stand at the bike show at the Excel centre. I am a rider that likes to have a balance of comfort and speed when I go touring. I am currently riding a Honda CBF 1000 and was looking for something a little taller as I am 6'3" and 18 st. Having previously owned a Suzuki DL 100 Vstrom I thought the multistrada would offer the same riding position that I was happy with on the DL. My next move was to take out the Duke for a test ride, and I must say this was something I was looking forward to immensely. I duly turned up at the Ducati outlet in Ashford and was greeted by a very nice salesman. He did all the necessary paper work and I was off on a Multistrada demo bike. First off I was confronted by the very forward riding position, for a tall man a little awkward, but I did not let that deter me as I thought I would be able to adjust. So I took the country road option and over the course of about three quarters of an hour I was pretty happy with the performance and handling of the bike. It lent into the corners nicely and pulled well at all the right times. I had a small concern when I had to brake quick and hard to avoid an oncoming car coming toward me overtaking on my side of the road. The brakes were certainly not as sharp and responsive as my CBF and I had to push the brake pedal a long way down to stop in time. My next plan was to put it through its paces on the motorway and I duly headed for the M20. When I accelerated up the slip road on to the M20 you can get an idea of how I felt when reaching the brow of the hill I was greeted by a completely empty 4 lanes in front of me. The Duke very quickly got up to 100mph but I was having real trouble with the buffeting wind, so I tried to get some protection from the small faring but to no avail. Well I had a clear road so I wound it up to what I was expecting to be a blistering speed in excess of 140mph. Disaster! it maxed out at 119mph with no more in the pipe. I could not believe it; the DL 1000 Vstrom was good for 130mph and the CBF 100 that I have now maxes at 149mph. I limped back to the dealership and was met again by the sales manager who was ready to take my cheque. I got off the bike and went into have a chat with him about me experience on the Duke. But to my concern I had a real bad tingling in my hands, this could only have come through the vibration of the bike. I had this sensation for almost 20 minute's. In summarising I was disappointed with the Multistrada. For a big person it offers little comfort and lakes top end power, but I was more concerned with the vibrations and the affect on my hands. I am again looking forward to having a test ride on the BMW GS 1200 in a couple of weeks.