Into The Clouds

THIS ONE'S BATTLEREADY STRAIGHT OUT THE BOX. YOU SURE YOU CAN KEEP UP?

- Sherman Nazareth

Rarely does a motorcycle from a different genre dominate a certain racing series with absolute and utter disregard for any form of logic or discipline. Oddballs and novelty acts are welcomed by racing fraternities to up the entertainment ante, but rarely do they exceed expectations. Ducati cares little for any of this. Ducati just threw a dripping meatball at the world of reason. Ducati’s hellbent on world domination and no form of discipline is going to stand in its way. It’s not like the Multistrada 1200 wasn’t already short of implicit perfection and visceral lunacy. Then came the Multistrada 1260, and now we have the Pikes Peak edition of that. But before we delve into the naughty little bits that make the Pikes Peak edition so special, let’s explore how this new model came to be.

For all motoring enthusiasts out there, the Pikes Peak International Hill climb, or as its more affectionately known, ‘Race to the Clouds’, is the holy grail of Hill Climb races. Originally, this race was part dirt and part asphalt, but due to civil regulations, it’s now turned into a fully paved road. Here’s where we hark back to my first statement in this story. Since this is a fully paved road, a highly specialised road racing bike should be the quickest one out here, right? Wrong. Ducati’s managed to tweak just a few bits on what should technically be classified as an ADV bike, or a Sports Tourer in the least, and shattered the motorcycle record for this race. This new Pikes Peak edition of t