More than that, it pulls evenly throughout its rev range, without noticeable steps or gaps in the power curve. Given a longish run it will pull up to stable 192km/h at an indicated 9100rpm, yet it's quite happy trolling around town between 3000 and 5000rpm.

The 618cc L-twin vibrates strongly above 8000rpm, about 170km/h in top gear, and its best cruise is just above the torque peak, around 7000rpm at 150km/h.

The engine's only failing is its over-sensitive throttle, coupled to a jerky transition from trailing throttle to power-on that can upset the bike's composure a little in the middle of a tight corner. It's typical of first-generation spritzer systems and you quickly get used to it – although it can lead to stuttery progress on very bumpy roads.

Despite its looks, this is not a dual-purpose bike.

The power is fed through a grabby clutch and a five-speed gearbox with a short, positive, rather noisy gearshift - especially from first to second, which was also characteristic of the Pantah.

A little concentration and some patience soon yielded seamless shifts in both directions; this bike's drive train responds well to a little finesse on the rider's part

It's thirsty, though, especially when ridden hard, slurping almost seven litres of unleaded per 100km, about the same as we got on the recent launch of the BMW R1200 RT tourer, which has twice its capacity and close to twice its weight.

The chassis' family likeness to its bigger sibling is clearly recognisable although some of the rough edges visible on the 1000 have been cleaned up on the smaller bike.

It's welded up from a number of short, straight lengths of high-tensile steel tubing and like a Birdcage Maserati, its structure is far stiffer than its skeletal looks would suggest.

The swing-arm is more conventional: two rectangular aluminium extrusions welded to a central casting. It's controlled by a fully adjustable Sachs monoshock with an unusual rocker linkage and a full-length connecting rod down to the swing-arm itself.

Front suspension is by 43mm upside-downies, seemingly devoid of adjustment. They don't seem to need it, however.

The bike's long-travel suspension is firm but supple at each end and seems to soak up the worst bits of our bumpy test track without upsetting the chassis' composure, even at 100km/h where the usual rate is 90 – or even 80 for stiff-legged race replicas!

Single front disc

The front end still dives extravagantly under hard breaking, which says a lot for the bite and power of the Multistrada Dark's single 320mm front disc with its four-pot Brembo calliper.

It hauls this compact 183kg motorcycle down in short order and the bike remains stable under really hard braking. Even the rear brake is better than on most sports bikes, with adequate power and reassuring feel.

The bike is just as stable under power; the harder you push it the more settled it feels, although the wide handlebars give it very quick steering – one tester thought it was too quick, especially when riding with one hand.

The set-up has one quirk, though: if you shut off the power without braking, as in going over the crest of a hill, the bike will shake its head almost imperceptibly, almost as if the airflow over the moveable section of the fairing is influencing the steering.

It's difficult to pin down and more weird than worrying but it's there.

The Multistrada is a surprisingly effective sports bike; if you keep the revs up it'll stay with much bigger machinery through corners (the tighter the better) and its tall, narrow chassis gives it as much ground clearance as the tyres can use.

It's also a superb commuter and a useful light tourer – a decent all-rounder for anybody making his first move into exotic motorcycles. In fact, by Bologna standards, it's a most unexotic little bike.

It is surprisingly compact, however. I was most comfortable sitting right back against the step in the seat – although even then I found the screen was too close for me to get properly inside its bubble, which led to quite a lot of buffeting on the high-speed runs.

Relaxed comfortable posture

Seated like that you lean slightly forward to the controls in a relaxed comfortable posture. Thanks to its tall seat, by sports bike standards, you can look well ahead to the next corner or over the next few cars in traffic.

The saddle is broad, flat and well padded for comfort but narrow up front near the tank so even shorter riders can get their feet flat on the ground.

The two-piece fairing is taken directly from the original Multistrada and its styling looks just as odd on this bike as it does on the litre-class version. It's distinctive, though, and will always get you noticed.

The black semi-matte paint on the Dark variant is also strikingly different, a little difficult to keep clean but worth it just for the Cool Quotient

Inside the upper fairing, and also moving with the steering, is the instrument pod, a simpler version of the one fitted to the bigger Multistrada, mounted high up on the fairing bracket to bring it closer to the rider's eye line.

There's a large analogue rev-counter, a row of warning icons and an LCD monitor giving speed, oil temperature, time, odometer and trip meter – in other words, the important basics.

The screen is easy to see even in direct sunlight but the pod is rubber mounted and dances around at more than 8000rpm, making the display difficult to read when the engine is working hard.

The display functions are controlled by two large buttons on the pod's upper edge that are easy to find and use while you're wearing gloves.

Unintimidating

The Multistrada 620 is so much more than a smaller version of the original. It's more than an entry-level commuter, although it will do that very well, and it's more than a lady's bike even though it's ideally suited to the finesse women bring to riding.

It's an unintimidating hooligan tool; you'll find yourself doing very naughty things with it because you can without scaring yourself in the process. No matter how conservative a rider you think you are, it will lead you gently, almost imperceptibly, astray.

Temptation on wheels.

• Test bike from Ducati Cape Town.