New Multistrada riding impressions, anyone?

I have to admit I didn't think I had any hope of riding the new MTS 1.2k yesterday. I didn't get down to AMS D until 2:00 PM. Ran into Frisco there and chatted for a while. His impressions were: fast, powerful, comfortable position except for slightly low bars, suspension absorbed everything you put in the way. There was still a list for a 15 minute ride, so I decided to head to ESC to check on a parts order, and see what the test ride list looked like there.

When I got to EuroSport, there wasn't another customer in the entire shop. I put my name on the list for 3:00PM, Tony showed me how to navigate the DES menu, I got on the bike and rode around FTW for a half hour on my own. That still wasn't much time, but I got a little taste of each of the four modes.

Urban mode - Smooth acceleration and rock steady riding over washboarded, open-seamed, chuck-holed, patched, traffic-dotted, manhole cover-infested, and generally crappily-maintained streets of West FW going South on Riverside with a few left/right detours to warm the tires up and check the brakes - totally secure feeing on turns while trail braking, tips into turns effortlessly, slow speed stability like a clockwork windup toy, no hiccups from the engine, no need to slip the clutch. L on I-30 East svc road....

Touring - and up the on-ramp, a smooth 40 - 85 mph pull in 2-3 secs, great wind protection sitting fully upright in my BarcaLounger. Slow it down and cruise at 70. Try 6th gear - ok it works, back to 5th. Off at Brentwood Stair for a downhill sweeper left at the light at Woohaven.

Sport mode - Left hand turn hard and uphill on Bridge street - a harsher feel in the throttle response, ride - as I blast up the hill going West. Too soon for this I decide, get back to...

Urban mode - as I make a right to cut through a neighborhood to get back to Randol Mill. Some nice twisty parts, with a left turn onto a downhill sweeper that somehow reminds me of the Corkscrew, except for the @#$%^! parked cars. Stop at Randol Mill. What time is it, anyway? The clock on the dash says 3:32PM. Right!...

Sport mode - 0 - 97 mph in 4th before I decided, "57 over is fast enough on a test ride" U-turn... back West throught the sweeper at a more reasonable speed ( only 15 over), takes me a while to get back to where I turned. Suddenly the road surface gets pretty rough, so it was time to try

Enduro mode - rough road goes away. Like Urban mode, only softer, maybe too soft for asphalt, and no ABS so maybe not the best choice, but would be interesting to try on gravel or loose stuff some other time...

Urban mode - and back North on Riverside to ESC.

Best features: wet, slipper clutch (nothing to spend money on here; it's quiet, and it works invisibly); transmission, engine power and smoothness (depending on mode you're in); suspension (like it was set up for me - amazing!); effortless handling.

Undecided about: brakes (not enough different conditions during the ride to test), ergos (seat back may be a little cramped for track days/ sport riding). Maybe pushing the bar forward a little would help.

Negative: Centerstand and exhaust leave you nowhere to put your heels when riding agressively (hanging off) - a problem which can be worked around with a pair of footrest adapters from Ducati Designs, and by not buying the S Touring model with the centerstand in the first place - but forget about rearsets on this bike, because the bracket is integrated into the alloy midframe.

I experienced only one negative and plenty of Grin Factor during my 30+ minutes on the new Multistrada. Granted that's not enough time to get a complete impression from such a technologically complex motorcycle. So for the rest of you that have ridden it, would you care to share your thoughts?