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After a hectic handful of weeks, I sincerely hope today is my last press launch for 2021 – my Delta SkyMiles status is doing just fine for the next two years.

But, don’t take that as a complaint, as this edition of “Gone Riding” sees us getting ready to ride the new Ducati Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak adventure-sport, which brings the 17″ wheelset back to this popular ADV machine.

The launch is taking place in Palm Springs, California – but this sunny SoCal getaway has a bit of rain on the forecast for our street ride today. Even so, I don’t think that will stop us from seeing if this 167hp beast can do the business.

Of course, the question on everyone’s mind will be whether the paint and goodies on the Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak is worth the $29,000 price tag, which is more than a $3,000 premium over the Multistrada V4 S model.

I hope to find that out, and also to see whether Ducati has captured the spirit of its Pikes Peak heritage, which started with a Hypermotard, and ended with a Streetfighter V4.

Per our new review format, I will be giving you a live assessment of the new Ducati Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak right here in this article (down in the comments section), and I will try to answer any questions you might have about this exciting motorcycle. 

Here is your chance to learn what it’s like to ride the Ducati Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak, before even our own proper review is posted. As always, if I don’t know an answer, I will try to get a response from the Ducati personnel. So, pepper away.

You can follow our thoughts on the bike live via FacebookTwitter, and Instagram, and you can see what our colleagues are posting on social media by looking for the hashtag #MultistradaV4 #PikesPeak

Spec-Sheet Comparison of Relevant Models to the Ducati Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak:

  Ducati Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak Ducati Multistrada V4 S BMW S1000XR KTM 1290 Super Duke GT
Power 167 hp 167 hp 165 hp 175 hp
Torque 92 lbs•ft 92 lbs•ft 84 lbs•ft 104 lbs•ft
Weight 527 lbs (wet) 529 lbs (wet) 498 lbs (wet) 497 lbs (wet)
Engine 1,158cc / V4 1,158cc / V4 999cc / Inline-Four 1,301cc / V-Twin
Price $28,995 $25,795 $21,090 n/a

Photos: Ducati

My first proper introduction to the Ducati Panigale V4 S happened in Spain, almost  four years go. Testing Ducati’s first proper four-cylinder superbike around the Valencia circuit was like witnessing a moment in history.

The Italian brand had slaughtered the last of its sacred cows, and laid them as tribute on the alter of speed – Ducati was serious about winning in WorldSBK, and had built a machine designed for that specific duty, with a whatever it takes attitude.

Our first outing with the Panigale V4 S showed that Ducati was on the right track. The bike was potent, not perfect, but potent.

Now here we are again, testing the 2022 Ducati Panigale V4 S at another Spanish race track, and I have to revisit those thoughts from my first meeting.

Potent? Yes, certainly. The 2022 Ducati Panigale V4 S only hones the formula further in terms of on-track potency for the Italian brand’s superbike package.

But how close does this new Panigale V4 come to perfection? That is why we were in Jerez de la Frontera, to look for the unobtainable dream.

Our conclusion? For those who can afford to put one in their garage, the 2022 Ducati Panigale V4 S is two-wheeled nirvana. Let me explain.

Sitting in the technical briefing for the Ducati Streetfighter V2 press launch in Spain, you can almost hear a tinge of regret in the voice of Ducati VP of Sales, Francesco Milicia, as he talks about the popularity of the Streetfighter 1098 and the length of time it has taken Ducati to follow through with a sequel.

Fastly becoming an iconic and unique piece in Ducati’s long history, social media is inundated with Streetfighter fans, which has only been fueled further with the debut of the Streetfighter V4 model.

While the V4 model is purely new hotness (and an obscene motorcycle on the street), in many ways, the Ducati Streetfighter V2 is the bike we have been awaiting, for roughly the past decade.

Instead of using the new Desmosedici Stradale V4 engine, the new Streetfighter V2 uses the older Superquadro v-twin power plant. Perhaps the most impressive v-twin engine we will ever witness in the sport biking realm, the Superquadro motor was long tipped to birth a Streetfighter model, but it never materialized.

Ducati tried to fill the niche with the Monster lineup, which was a move that was perhaps truer to the original ethos of the Monster name, but betrayed what has long become the realm of that more docile roadster model. 

The Monster 1200 R was the best attempt to bridge the gap regarding Bologna’s lack of a true sport-naked, but compromises are compromises, and the itch wasn’t scratched. The market rebuked.

As a result, Ducati was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch brands like KTM and Aprilia re-ignite what has once been thought of as a novelty category.

Whatever lunar motions changed the tide inside of Borgo Panigale, those movements parted the waters so the Streetfighter V4 could come to fruition, and Ducati was awarded with strong sales for its 200hp+ “street bike” with wings.

As such, an encore was necessary. Enter the Ducati Streetfighter V2, and why I flew halfway across the world – to Seville, Spain – to ride this new motorcycle and see if it is any good.

When I first met the Aprilia Tuareg 660, it didn’t make much of an impression. It was the 2019 EICMA show, and the bike was quietly on display in a glass box, covered with plants and vines.

The display was so nondescript, that thousands of attendees and hundreds of journalists passed by the Tuareg 660 without even noticing that it was there.

Nothing is subtle about the Tuareg 660 now though, as the middleweight adventure bike is riding the wave of success that has come with Aprilia’s previous two models from its 660cc platform.

Add into that notion how popular the middleweight ADV space has become recently, and we can begin to see why the Aprilia Tuareg 660 is one of the most anticipated motorcycles for the 2022 model year.

So to test its mettle, Aprilia brought us to the Italian island of Sardinia, where the winding mountain roads make for challenging and technical riding on the street.

And to get our feet dirty too, we tackled some rough gravel roads/trails, as well as an off-road circuit that Aprilia created with a good mix of sandy, rocky, wet, and bumpy conditions.

Is the Aprilia Tuareg 660 any good? Ask 31 riders and you will get a Baskin Robins of answers back in this highly personal two-wheeled space.

But, the Aprilia Tuareg 660 does seem to inhabit the Goldilocks zone of the middleweight ADV space that should impress many, and leave quite a few riders reaching for their wallets. Let me explain.

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.

Editor’s note: Breaking my collarbone just a couple weeks before the press launch of the new Ducati Monster in San Francisco, I asked the most discerning Ducatisti I knew to take my place and test this new street bike fro Asphalt & Rubber.

Colin has seen more than a few Ducati’s in his garage over his many, many years, so he knows the history of this iconic motorcycle name, and yet he has enough “other” bikes in his garage so as not to be a complete Italian snob. Enjoy his words, and the properly English accent they were written in. -JB

First a confession: I feel like an imposter. I am neither a moto-journalist nor a professional rider. But, I do have some qualifications.

I own an eclectic collection of Ducati icons from the 80s and 90s, and many other newer Ducatis have passed through my hands over the last 30 years including a beautiful, raucous, guttural, black Monster S4RS in the late aughts.

Now a second confession: that Monster was the only bike that ever really scared the crap out of me.

The ferocious power and torque and no electronics meant the front wheel needed no excuse to leave the pavement; usually when I least expected it and was not paying attention. This was a design feature not a fault.

It was…is…the reason people wanted that Monster. For me, it was exciting but exhausting. It had to go.

What do you say about the Aprilia RSV4? The past 13 years have seen a number of changes come to the RSV4 (and seen a number of letters come and go, as well), as Aprilia has been consistent in its effort to keep the RSV4 at the pointy end of the liter-bike spectrum.

The 65° V4 engine has grown from 999cc from its debut in 2009, now to 1,099cc in 2021. Similarly, the electronics package has gotten smarter and faster. And of course, the design has (debatably) improved with the latest trend of aerodynamic aids.

This constant unyielding iteration is unseen elsewhere in the motorcycle industry, which instead prefers to succumb to the ebbs and flows of more clearly defined model generations.

This unique approach has allowed Aprilia to constantly keep the RSV4 at the pointy end of the liter-bike segment, but has it paid off for the 2021 model year RSV4 and RSV4 Factory machines, though? That is the topic of today’s story.

To find the answer to whether the Aprilia RSV4 has gotten better with age, and remains at the top of the superbike pile, we took this motorcycle to one of the most iconic tracks in the United States: Laguna Seca. 

We were not disappointed in the result. Let me explain.

For the next two days, we will be working from Salt Lake City, Utah where we will be getting our first chance to swing a leg over the new third-generation Suzuki Hayabusa.

Built off the second-generation model, Suzuki insists that this bike is “all new” in design, and that is because this bird has been gone over with a fine-toothed comb to make it the ultimate Hayabusa ever from the Japanese brand.

The next iteration of an Italian legend, the Ducati Monster sees a clean-slate design enter the very hot middleweight-twin category for the 2021 model year.

The Monster faces steep competition in this space, with plenty of stout offerings coming from European brands, which aggressively balance features against price.

Ducati has given us a strong offering though, with the new Monster making 110hp and costing south of $12,000 – right in line with the other heavy-hitters in the segment.

But what about what is not included in the spec-sheet? Well, that is why we are in San Francisco today, riding the 2021 Ducati Monster on a fun coastal route to see how it rolls in the real world.