The Ducati Diavel has stormed through the curves and canyons of the Crow’s Nest Highway between Princeton and Hope, until I’ve caught a seven Harley procession riding in staggered formation… again. As an experiment I cruise with the group for a time — nearly minutes. An opening in traffic and the Diavel launches past in a gale of carbon fiber violence. I’m unsure of the Diavel’s taxonomy, but this is clear; it is not a cruiser.

After hefting the Honda Varaderos through the Baja, I came to a conclusion – I hate big bikes in sand. Of course, taking the back way out of Slab City is what you’d expect of a desert; sand and deep sand at that. The surprise? Perhaps, we’ve been too quick in dubbing Ducati’s Multistrada 1200 S Touring “the Princess”.

In Part 1 of our two part Multistrada 1200 S review we examined the bikes Urban and Touring modes. This instalment we unleash Sport mode and take the Multistrada 1200S onto BC’s fire roads before making our conclusions.

Purported to be a bike of “endless transformations” the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring aims to be the biking answer to all riders, but beyond the one-size fits all ethos does the new Multi live up to the hype? In Part 1 of our two part review we examine Urban and Touring modes to find out.

I’m shooting through the corners on a vicious tide of acceleration, noise and quick gratuitous gear changes. An angry right hand sees the bike smash towards the horizon as time dilates like a once cool Matrix special effect. The Ducati Streetfighter 1098 willingly responds, launching me into the next penal code with a twitch of remorseless unforgiving throttle. With the first ride there’s no doubt that Streetfighter doesn’t mean naked or softer; this is a superbike… stripped.

Costa Mouzouris brings us the 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 796 Launch Report from Bologna, Italy, enjoying the European roads and a bit of a shower.

There’s a lot of buzz about Ducati’s upcoming Adventure oriented Multistrada replacement, but do we really have to wait? We at OneWheelDrive.Net have gotten impatient. Well, that and our 640 Adventure is waiting for parts, so can our long term loaner Hypermotard stand in?

There it is, the scrape of hard knee puck plastic against pavement – proof positive of the Ducati Monster 1100S’s prowess. At coffee shops the world over Monster owners will high-five over lattés celebrating what great riders they are, the truth is in the bike though.

The parking lot encircling the hotel was packed, despite it being a weekday. Among a sea of rental fleet specials, a leviathan tractor trailer was parked, taking up four parking slots and the adjacent lane. …

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5dbjg
In the tunnel a mid-90’s blue Cavalier pulls along side. Glancing to the right, through the glass, I see the driver mouthing the words, “Is that the new Monster?” I nod. He gives …

Back in 1971 Shirley Bassey was singing “Diamonds are Forever” and Ducati had just released the GT750, a product of Fabio Taglioni’s (Dr. T’s) prediction that motorcycle displacements were on the rise. The engineer …

The “236” leading to Big Basin outside San Francisco narrows from two lanes to what can generously be described as one and a half. The surface is a “squirm” of tar snakes, wetted to …

Riding into the city the dome of the windscreen reflects the Lion’s Gate Bridge’s lights in a moment of cinematic grace reminiscent of David Bowman’s face shield in Kubrick’s 2001: Space Odyssey. The clocks are …

It’s a scene from a script.  The Ducati 1098S ascends the Angeles Crest, while below a fierce wildfire consumes hectares of brush in L.A.’s Griffith Park.  Cut to news footage of residents evacuating the southern …

My shoulders are molten slag, my wrists are twin torments worthy of the inquisition, the Rocky Mountain air has taken on a hypothermic edge, and rain torrents through my perforated leathers so hard it stings …

There is power here; I felt it first riding along the serpentine asphalt that serves as the entryway to Laguna Seca.  Now, stepping out onto the pit lane the energy intensifies, the new-age types might …

Dear Ducati,
What would possess you to create a bike like the Multistrada 1000?  This is not a motorcycle so much a dopamine pump directly to the fun-centre of the brain; a two-wheeled narcotic of Hunter …

This morning, it seems, someone swapped my regular of dose of Raisin Bran with a big bowl of stupid.  The scrape of the knee-puck is official notice; I’m being an idiot and my actions are …