Charging up a mountain road, slamming through the gears and flicking from one switchback to the next, I was soon confronted with a horrible, yet common obstacle: torn-up asphalt and a ridgeline created by trucks and buses and weather, right where I had planned to put the Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak, at an extreme lean angle…
But where sportsbikes — and especially the racetrack refugee variety — often want to bounce off large road irregularities and potholes, the Öhlins semi-active suspension on the Pikes Peak will thump on through, absorbing much of the punishment and only sending a little through to the rider, enough to let you know this isn’t the playground it was built for, but actually doesn’t mind playing in. I was more concerned for the safety of the lightweight forged Marchesini wheels than I was for my own safety.
As the flagship road-focused Ducati Multistrada, the current V4 Pikes Peak model is as trick as they come. From the fancy wheels and suspension to the massive Brembo brakes, this bike has all the trick bits — and Race Mode in the electronics. A sporting machine without doubt, it’s named for the infamous American hill climb event where an earlier Multistrada won, a diabolical and dangerous 156-corner mountain climb. If America has an Isle of Man, Pikes Peak would have been it… but the event no longer includes motorcycles after the death of multiple-winner Carlin Dunne
