MC Comparison: 2007 Ducati 1100 vs. 2007 Triumph 1050

Almost everybody's got one: a road that stands out in their mental Rolodex of two-wheeled experiences, a personal stretch of undulating asphalt where everything just seems to click together.

It might be a series of curves a half-hour from your home. It might be the road where you learned to ride decades ago. Or it might be states, countries, even continents away. If you don't have one yet, there's no need to get your Under Armour in a bunch. Ride long enough, and far enough, and you will.

But what, you might ask, should I ride on the way? Quite possibly one of these two all-purpose, universally capable motorcycles. 'Cause you'll need a machine comfortable and versatile enough to manage the not-so-secret roads along the way.

And when you get there-well, your mount needs to kick butt. It needs the usable power and the sportbike chassis chops to make the trip worthwhile, without sacrificing go-anywhere, do-anything range, comfort and versatility.

It's a little depressing to equate these two go-anywhere, do-anything machines with SUVs, their suburb-choking, CO2-spewing, four-wheeled doppelgangers. But two-wheeled SUVs are what the Tiger and the Multistrada are: adventure-touring motorcycles with the look and feel, if not the actual off-road capability, of much tougher, more back-country-ready machines.

OK, maybe Porsche SUVs. Because both these bikes have essentially abandoned their off-road pretensions by dint of their wide, street-spec 17-inch wheels. These allow use of the latest, stickiest rubber-and also allow expert riders to send sportbike-mounted racer boys home muttering to themselves, their tailsections tucked between their legs.