Ducati Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak vs Multistrada 1260 S - What’s Different?

Ducati India launched the Multistrada Pikes Peak edition to coincide with its record-breaking victory at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb competition. True to its name, the motorcycle comes with various features that make it the most agile Multistrada money can buy. At 21.42 lakh (ex-showroom pan-India), the Pikes Peak edition is priced at a premium of Rs 3.36 lakh over the 1260 S. So, let’s take a closer look to see what it packs over the Multistrada 1260 S.

Design

While the Multistrada 1260 and 1260 S look more or less the same, the Pikes Peak edition wears a racing-inspired livery on the bodywork. The Pikes Peak variant features a shorter carbon fibre-plexiglass windscreen, whereas the 1260 S comes with a much larger touring windscreen. Carbon fibre is also present in the front mudguard, front fuel tank cover and front side bulkheads of the Pikes Peak edition. The seats feature an exclusive red stitching to demarcate it from the 1260 S. These additions make the Pikes Peak edition look a whole lot sportier than the 1260 S, or even the standard Multistrada 1260, for that matter.

Mechanical Underpinnings

The Multistrada 1260 S features Ducati’s SkyHook semi-active control unit actuating the 48mm Kayaba inverted front forks and Sachs monoshock, both of which are fully adjustable. For the Pikes Peak edition, the Bolognese bike manufacturer has employed Ohlins inverted forks at the front and Ohlins TTX36 monoshock at the rear. These are mechanically adjustable. Another addition that the Pikes Peak edition packs is the lightweight Termignoni exhaust system.

While the 1260 S rolls on five-spoke lightweight alloy wheels, the Pikes Peak edition gets forged aluminium wheels, which are 3kg lighter than the ones on the 1260 S. All three variants come shod with Pirelli Scorpion Trail II tyres. At 229kg kerb, the Pikes Peak edition is 6kg lighter than the Multistrada 1260 S.

So how is it different from the bike that won at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb?

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Ducati left no stone unturned to make the race-spec Multistrada 1260 as fast as possible. They got rid of all the unnecessary bits like the hand guards, engine protector, headlights and taillight. They also used forged magnesium wheels in the race-spec motorcycle to reduce unsprung weight, and also to improve agility. The race bikes featured a stock engine with a race-spec ECU remap topped off with a custom Termignoni titanium full exhaust system for unrestricted power flow. Sadly, Ducati has not revealed the power figures of the race-spec Multistrada. To give you a perspective, though, the stock version of the 1262cc Ducati Testastretta DVT liquid-cooled L-twin motor produces 158PS at 9500rpm, and 129.5Nm at 7500rpm. The Multistrada 1260, 1260 S, Pikes Peak edition and the race-spec motorcycle feature the same 6-speed transmission with Ducati Quick Shifter (up and down).

The race-spec bike uses the same suspension setup as the production Pikes Peak, albeit tuned by Race Tech with height adjustment as well. It also uses Brembo M50 callipers that bite into the stock dual 330mm front discs with the aid of a WSBK-spec master cylinder. The braking setup for the rear wheels is believed to be the same 265mm disc seen on the stock motorcycle. Finally, Ducati also equipped the race-spec bike with custom-made Rizoma rear-set footpegs instead of the stock units for better cornering clearance.