Every so often, a motorcycle manufacturer comes out with a new design that moves the state-of-the-art forward a significant and noticeable amount — a "game changer" if you will. With the new Multistrada 1200 S, Ducati's engineers have significantly advanced motorcycle design by merging Italian style and excitement with high technology to produce a versatile new type of motorcycle that is very fast and sporty, while remaining comfortable and practical. In fact, a Multistrada 1200 S Sport even won at this year's Pikes Peak Hill Climb. It is in recognition of this multi-talented milestone machine that we name this bike as our first "Motorcycle of the Year."

Bologna's famous pork sausage, Mortadella, is blended with ingredients intended to make it distinctive and spicy, as well as appetizingly hot. You could say the same about the bikes from the Bologna suburb of Borgo Panigale.

If you want to stand out in a crowd, Ducati certainly has the answer. That's my first thought as I ride into a parking lot full of big, bad chromo-cruisers on a bright red Ducati Multistrada. The Duc's avant-garde bodywork and trellis frame give it the look of something that might have fallen off a passing spacecraft, while the retro-Wurlitzer styling of the two-wheeled juggernauts on display is as earthbound as a '59 Caddy.

I have to be honest with you, folks. My boy-racer days are well behind me. Though I still covet a brisk pace across endless stretches of tasty twisties, there are usually packed saddlebags and often the world's greatest copilot along for the ride. Yep, these days I'm content to be absorbed by the lure of the open road and actually strive to stop occasionally and smell the proverbial roses.

The motorcycle manufacturers are always very imaginative when coming up with new names to create a new market. But though this name game usually succeeds in the marketing world, it's also a source of mystification for many motorcycle enthusiasts. Why am I talking about this? Because a couple of days ago some biker called my Triumph Tiger a crotch rocket and today another biker pointed at the Multistrada and said, "Nice funbike." "What do you mean?" I asked.