Motorcycle Explorer July 2016 Issue 12 | Page 158

The Seat Very plush and with a high finnish in the stitching, narrow at the front with a broader back to allow you to shift around. It does help with the height, having a narrow front as you don’t splay as much and the amount of room lets you shift to stop your bum getting sore. It’s a split seat so there is a noticeable ridge section at the back of the rider seat to meet the pillion seat. The pillion seat has the same stitch styling and branded Ducati title but more importantly, it’s broad and deep. The pillion seat does not offer the same amount of ‘wiggle’ room as the rider but they never do! Liane stands at 5’8” and with the pillion seat set higher than the rider she was more than happy with the view on the MST. When we dropped the hammer (a tad, honest!) she would simply duck n tuck to keep in from the wind. A tip would be to give your pillion a leg tap before opening access to the 160bhp so they don’t get a kinetic punch in the face and saves you getting a slap across the back of the helmet! Liane reported no problems with the rear pegs and leg comfort and mounting and dismounting the bike was a breeze. She does feel that smaller pillions may have a bit of ‘mounting a horse’ technique but experienced two up riders are not going to have a problem and will have their own mount / dismount signals and techniques. I tend to park up and get my feet down, then put my elbows out – elbows out let’s Liane know I’m happy for her to hop off the bikes. Mounting I get a tap on the shoulder and I’ll simply nod and put my elbows out again. It just saves you being caught off guard.