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The American dream is alive and well in Berlin right now, as BMW Motorrad has pushed itself into the American touring market with two heritage-based motorcycles for the 2022 model year: the BMW R18 B bagger and the BMW R18 Transcontinental dresser.

Built around an air-cooled boxer-twin platform, these two machines are built for one purpose: to take some marketshare off of Harley-Davidson – the company that defines the category.

Many brands have attempted this exact feat, and few (if any) can lay claim to success, which makes the entire R18 lineup a bold move from the Bavarians, and one that has our focused attention.

Ready to see if the Germans can learn to speak American, we headed to Denver, Colorado to ride both the R18 B and the R18 Transcontinental on the open roads of The Rockies.

After a long day in the saddle, and with nearly 200 miles on the trip computer, the result? A mixed report card. Come read our review, and let me explain.

Hello from a mile-up, as Asphalt & Rubber is in sunny Denver, Colorado to ride two bikes from the BMW Motorrad lineup: the BMW R18 B bagger and the BMW R18 Transcontinental dresser.

Two birds of the same feather, both bikes are built off the BMW R18 platform, which means that they have a mammoth 244-pound air-cooled boxer-twin engine at their core.

Built to tackle the American v-twin touring scene, the BMW R18 bikes have Harley-Davidson squarely in their sights.

Can the Germans take on one of America’s most iconic brands? That is what we are here to find out, with a day’s ride through The Centennial State.

In 2019, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb announced the halting of its motorcycle classes, after the death of Carlin Dunne highlighted the high-speed perils of racing on the 156 turns of the all-asphalt course.

Completing a two-year review on including motorcycles back into the Pikes Peak racing program, the race organizers have concluded that bikes will indefinitely be absent from the Race to the Clouds going forward.

The future for motorcycles racing at Pikes Peak is under question, according to local reports about the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

The news comes from the Colorado Springs Gazette, which says that Executive Director Megan Leatham told the city and US Forest Service in an email after the crash that she thought the race would be the last for motorcycles on the mountain.

As one would expect, the discussion about the future for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and whether motorcycles would continue at the event, is far from a definitive conclusion, but the possibility of the motorcycle race ending is very real.

It is with a very heavy heart that we have to report the passing of our friend and colleague Carlin Dunne, who died today while racing at the 97th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Carlin was on his way to a record-setting lap with his Ducati Streetfighter V4 prototype, and according to eyewitnesses (which we should preface have been very unreliable throughout the day), he had just passed the final turn on the course a small distance from the finish line when his bike encountered a bump, crashed, and went off course.

The “Race to the Clouds” consists of 156 turns, 12.42 miles of tarmac, and a summit for 14,110 feet. It is no small undertaking. To prove that simple point, one only needs to watch the on-board footage from Pikes Peak racers.

Today’s example comes to us from Carlin Dunne, who last weekend took his Ducati Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak race bike to the top of America’s Mountain, with a race-winning time of 9:59.102.

The Pikes Peak race course proved challenging for all of the competitors involved, and you can see from the on-board videos that Carlin has more than his fair share of close calls where he loses traction – especially in the top half of the course.

Today saw the 96th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, with riders and drivers once again racing to the clouds, just outside Colorado Springs.

This year’s race was framed as Ducati vs. KTM, with the Australian claiming the outright record at Pikes Peak, after Chris Fillmore took his KTM 1290 Super Duke R up to the summit in 9:49.625.

Looking to reclaim its crown, Ducati came back to Pikes Peak after a short hiatus, enlisting the help of Carlin Dunne (of A&R fame) and Codie Vahsholtz.

The duo would square off against Cycle News test editor Rennie Scaysbrook, who would ride again on his KTM 1290 Super Duke R, while Chris Fillmore would take on the middleweight class with a KTM 790 Duke, in a quest to post a sub-10 minute time on the smaller bike.

With the 2018 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb framed as one of the most exciting in recent memory, the event surely didn’t disappoint.

There is no place like it anywhere in the world.

A jewel in the Centennial State’s crown, Pikes Peak – America’s Mountain, towers over Colorado Springs like a matriarch. It is a natural representation of America itself – big, beautiful, bold, and intimidating.

The mountain, almost mystical in its presence, serves not only as a source of local pride, but of speed.

For one day every year, the mountain’s tourist road transforms to one of the world’s most daunting racetracks—156 corners, 12.42 miles of adrenalin-charged terror as men and women blast up the side of the mountain as fast as they dare, finishing some 14,115 feet above sea level.

The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, scheduled for June 24, 2018, is one of the most dangerous races on the planet. No run offs, no gravel traps. It’s just you, your machine and a mountain getting steeper by the second.

There is no race like it anywhere in the world.

Ducati is returning to Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for 2018, with plans to reclaim its title as King of the Mountain. To do so, Ducati has enlisted the help of former outright record-holder Carlin Dunne, as well as current middleweight record-holder Codie Vahsholtz.

In their assault to the top of Pikes Peak, Dunne and Vahsholtz will be riding modified Ducati Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak motorcycles. Wanting to know more about these beasts, we reached out Ducati North America, to see what light they could shed on the v-twin race bikes.

They came back to us with an interesting list of changes, to make these the fastest Multistradas you have ever seen.

Ducati is set to return to America’s Mountain, announcing today that it would race in the 2018 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with riders Carlin Dunne and Codie Vahsholtz.

Carlin Dunne (who is today’s big birthday boy) is a former record-holder at Pikes Peak, and was the first rider up the 156-turn course in under 10 minutes, while Codie Vahsholtz is the current middleweight record-holder at Pikes Peak.

The return to “The Race to the Clouds” will also serve as a launching point for the Ducati Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak model, which will have to compete with an increasingly faster volley of competition.