Desmopro News

It wasn’t the outright course record that we had hoped for, but Carlin Dunne set a superb 10’00.694 time up the mountain on his Lightning Motorcycles electric superbike, besting the top gas-bike time of the day, a 10’21.323 that was set by Bruno Langlois on his 1205cc class Ducati Multistrada 1200 S.

The first major motorsport event to see an electric motorcycle out perform its gas counterparts, the 91st running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will surely be remembered as a turning-point for the historic race, and also for motorsport in general.

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Spotted at California Speedway last week, 3 time AMA National Champion Micky Dymond on this beautiful motorcycle from the Falkner Livingston/Akrapovic Pikes Peak International Hill Climb team.

The weekend before last I had the privilege of riding, back to back, two great motorcycles: the 2010 Multistrada and the brand new 2013 Multistrada.  After a short three years in production we have here a rather long list of changes in the 2013 model.

There are two main technical advances on the 2013 Ducati Multistrada 1200. One is a package of upgrades to the engine, but the second is the real headline: “Skyhook” suspension, semi-active electronics have arrived in motorcycles.

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I’m a keen observer of the obvious, so let me start by saying, WOW, it’s beautiful here. This, and I haven’t even been on “the mountain” yet. Friday’s weather is clear, sunny and some scattered showers up in the mountains and our plan is to group ride to lunch and end the day at FanFest, which is in downtown Colorado Springs. The ride group is small, about 20 and consists of mainly Multistrada’s, many of which have come to Pikes from far, far away. Conversations often go something like this – “We may stop by North Carolina on our way home from Pikes” “Really? Where do you live?” “Texas”.

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Ducati's Hyperstrdad gives us a new alternative to KTM's reigning 990 SMT - and to its big brother Multistrada. Or does it?

The Grand Australian Roadtrip, put very simply and honestly, is a ride celebrating the innate desire that we riders have to ride a motorcycle on open highways under a blue sky. About having that freedom to stop when we want, where we want. The feeling of opening the helmet lid to let the cool wind hit your face and the scent of the pines invigorate you. That’s what it is, this road-trip. That and because it is cool to think you are MadMax for 23,000 kms! If you dont know who that is, read here!

For Charity? No sir. I believe that charity is a personal thing; I will do good to feel good. I will not to do good to be judged as a good person by my audience. I also do not believe in casting what my underlining objective of the trip is within an altruistic cocoon. And this is not to demean the plethora of good motorcyclists who ride for charity. My best wishes to them, and Godspeed.

But then there’s much more to this road-trip beyond the basic instinct of riding and taking corners on a motorcycle. It is a personal challenge, like all my previous road-trips have been, only tougher. The challenge is to be on the road for days at end. The challenge is to find my breaking point as I ride, take photos, take videos, blog, update social media, meet the expectations of sponsors, of my audience, of friends and family, and to manage my ‘office’ back home in Delhi (the xBhp HQ), which by itself is one of its kind in India where many a motorcycling ideas, events and motives have taken birth.

I will try to produce the best photos I can, posting them regularly on the blogs of this website. And posting them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and 500px. I will also be hopefully Instagraming a bit....

For the rest of "About The Grand Australian Road Trip, click HERE

Next week's MCN (out September 26) features the world first test of Ducati's semi-active suspension Multistrada 1200.

This wildly advanced motorcycle provoked an office discussion about Ducatis in general: should every true motorcyclist have owned one at some point? Is it the badge of a pukka enthusiast?

To vote in the poll click HERE

There’s a quote that goes ”I like living on the edge. It’s less crowded and the view is better” Nowhere is that more fitting than the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. While riding up to the summit I decide that the difference between this event and the Isle of Man TT is that this race requires a level of commitment that the IOM does not. There is no run off, no room for error and even if you give yourself a wide margin , the mountain might take even that, by adding rain or snow or oil from a blown motor. If it goes wrong, and it did seven times on Sunday, the view changes dramatically. But get it right, you become King (or Queen) of the Mountain and you are literally, on top of the world... 

For the rest (and why they needed a snow plow), click HERE

The odometer spins easily through everyday life, accumulating tens of thousands of clicks on workaday commutes and grocery store runs. In contrast, motorcycle journeys are personal mileage, forging more intimate connections between man, machine, and road. They remind us of who we are, and during the best of rides, who we will become.

This particular thousand-mile ride unfolded in Tuscany aboard a definitively Italian motorcycle over the course of a week. The excursion was organized and executed by Edelweiss Bike Travel, the Austrian outfit whose 30 years in the touring business has previously focused on BMWs and Harley-Davidsons.

The inaugural run for the Ducati/Edelweiss collaboration kicked off in Bologna. Known as The Red City for its crimson-hued roofs, Bologna is also a metaphorically apt place to begin a motorcycle adventure. Its labyrinthine colonnades radiate from a central wheel, a hub - not to mention it is also home to the manufacturer's global headquarters, where every Ducati is born before being shipped to dealerships around the world.

For the rest click HERE