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"Are you the blokes coming from the bike magazine?" asked the guy next to us as we parked up in the paddock. Damn. He'd seen straight through our clueless expressions, our brand new road legal bikes masquerading as hill-climb racers and our bungling incompetence as we struggled to make our machines ready for scrutineering. "Yes", we mumbled, looking at our boots. "Great, want me to show you the track?" His name was John and, like all the other climbers we met he was dead friendly. He'd also been at this hill-climbing lark for years. And so we took him up on his offer.
Why hill-climbing? Let me explain. The Ducati Hypermotard, KTM950SM and Buell STT represent a push into new and uncharted waters for bike manufacturers as well as biking in general. For a long time sportsbike riders have been searching for bikes that offer the hard-charging thrills we crave without the associated issues 180bhp, a clear road and a lack of self-control can conspire to bring about. We've tried retros and streetbikes. They look great, and the lack of wind protection slows you down, but they generally handle like shopping trolleys. We've tried full-blooded supermotos. Insane fun and all below 80mph, but they come with razorblade saddles, and a tank range that won't see you beyond the end of the drive.
But now for the first time there could be an answer as these three bikes grab the supermoto handling and styling ethos, sling in 1,000cc V-twins instead of 450cc singles, and top the lot off with enough useful practicality to make daily riding a genuine possibility.
All of which answers the hill-climb question. We took the Buell, KTM and Duke to a hill-climb race because a banzai charge up a one-kilometre course offered the ultimate test of bikes like this. Alternatively throwing up sections reliant on sheer grunt with those requiring sweet handling, good handling and balance would sort the men from the boys here in terms of hitting the fun factor squarely on the noggin. And being miles from anywhere gave us the perfect excuse to tackle everything from the city grind and motorway miles to B-road frolics on the way there and back.
The track was narrow enough to make Cadwell Park look like a four-lane motorway and cut purposely through the surrounding fields and (unsurprisingly) up a large hill. There was a flat out charge into the first corner - a 90mph bottle job on cold tyres (no tyre warmers in hill-climbing), which threw you into a vicious steep uphill right-left with evil camber changes all over the place. Charge over a nasty looking crest from here, into a tight left with no run-off and a fence a few feet from the track and then it was a sweeping flat-out charge on to the finish.
As the only person to have ridden all three bikes before this test, and the one who had arranged our entries, Urry handed himself the Hypermotard with its super-taught chassis and smoothly strong motor. This suited me as my money was on the rabid KTM, while Daryll landed the Buell by default as he was out of the country when this lot was sorted out. The STT was the short straw here, but as a man who's spent more time than most with Buells, if anyone could make the most of its oddball charms it was Daryll.
Charging off the line without a clue what I was doing for my first assault on the hill an hour later, the KTM felt like a good place to be. The ride position is incredibly natural as long as you're average height or more, and in terms of performance this is a beautifully-balanced bike. The motor is strong and pulls off the bottom like a Rottweiler chasing a sausage dog but it's so torquey there's stacks of control. And it's the same story with the brakes which are so ferocious they'd spell instant disaster if it weren't for the generous amount of feel coming through the forks. Throw in a slick gearbox and a tight chassis and the only limiting factor in this equation was going to be me. No excuses for a rubbish time then.
Still, despite the nagging worries the KTM saw me up the hill in 38 seconds, respectable enough for a mid-pack result. Next up was Daryll on the Buell STT. With such a short course he had his work cut out simply because of the time needed to change gear on the Harley-engined contraption. There's no getting away from the fact this motor belongs in a cruiser, and a lazy one at that. All the mods in the world can't hide the tractor gearbox, heavy clutch and throttle response.
You leap onto the bike expecting sporty thanks to the chassis and styling, but as soon as you try playing sporty with the motor it all goes haywire as fast gearchanges are met with painful false neutrals, and heavy on/off throttle use heading off the line rewards you with stuttering and banging. Smooth out your habits, however, and you'll find the Buell can still boogie surprisingly well. Although only a supermoto in styling terms (beneath it all the STT is virtually identical to all other Buells) those wide bars did at least give Daryll a fighting chance of hustling the bike through the tight sections of the course.
Which he did admirably, crossing the line in 41 seconds. He'd had to work for it though and came back into the pits looking like he'd just run a marathon before collapsing in a sweaty heap as Urry took the start aboard the Ducati. He hightailed it off the line like a scalded cat and bailed into turn one using all the confidence of the Hypermotard's well-sorted chassis before disappearing out of sight around the nasty tight section of the course. It looked good although the end result was a sluggish 50 seconds as it turned out the idiot had tripped the timing beam on the start line as he sat there without realising, merrily racking up a good ten seconds before he set off. How we laughed.
Taking advantage of the break for lunch we stuffed our faces with the finest jacket potatoes the on-site cafe could muster before heading into the surrounding countryside for a good old-fashioned thrash. "Maybe if we time it right we'll roll back just in time for our runs with warm tyres", said an overly-optimistic Daryll who'd obviously forgotten the half-hour we'd spent queuing before our last outings.
Taking the opportunity for a spin on the Hypermotard I was expecting big things. After all, on paper, this bike looks the bomb and Ducati rarely mess anything up when it comes to delivering real performance. But the first thing I noticed as we dawdled through a couple of sleepy villages at 30mph so as not to upset the locals was how awful the bike was at low speed. Below 3,000rpm the on/off throttle response is far too sharp and the clutch too grabby to make smooth progress the easy affair it is on the KTM. Then came the ludicrous bar-mounted fold-out mirrors. Fair cop, they do work, but they also give the bike a wingspan akin to a small aircraft and from the back it looks like you've strapped a canoe paddle across your bars. Not cool in the slightest and useless in town traffic.
Winding the Duke up it all made a lot more sense as, once above the 3,000rpm mark, the motor began to pull like a train. You definitely know it's a twin, but at the same time there's a delicious free-flowing revvy-ness to the air-cooled 1,100cc lump that makes it a joy to thrash down the road.
90mph turns up in no time on the red peril, and at this point you'll be very glad of the trademark trellis frame which holds the whole plot well in shape no matter how hard you happen to catch any unexpected potholes. The eeriest thing about riding the Hypermotard is the disappearing act it pulls. Ride one down an open road, look naturally ahead, and I guarantee you'll see no trace of the bike left in your peripheral vision at all. It's so skinny you don't know you're riding it. Less eerie is the handling. It's not as sweet-steering from the off as I expected looking at it, but, much like the legendary 916 family, does instead need a good shove to send it diving for the apex of your choice.
Back to the track and it was climbing time again. Over the next two runs each we chipped away at the track picking up the pace as we went. So, which went fastest? Third place went to the Buell with a sterling 38 seconds from Daryll who, digging deep in his 'racers book of excuses', claimed a stray pheasant legging it across the track had cost him at least a second. 'Chinny reckon' we thought, until snapper Martin showed us pictures of a large bird strutting across the racing line.
Second went to the Ducati with Urry hauling it to a rapid 37 seconds, which means the 950SM won with a time of 36 seconds and made me look a lot better than I am. Nice one Austrian KTM madmen
Conveniently this is exactly the way the bikes stack up in this test too. The Buell's too darned odd, and too useless too much of the time to be a winner no matter how good it is on its day, the Hypermotard's a whole heap of fun and moderately usable but is let down by awkward low speed manners and limited comfort which blot an otherwise very clean copybook All of which means the KTM 950SM romps home for the win. It's utterly, rampantly, barking, it's easy to get on with from the start, and it'll handle motorways and traffic better than anything here. If you're modern enough to set off in this wonderfully rabid new direction of motorcycling, KTM are still leading the way.
WHAT IS A HILL CLIMB?
Hill climbing is a battle between you, the clock and the hill. It's all about getting up the tarmac course in the shortest time. The rules are simple, bikes are split into classes based on engine capacity, tyre warmers aren't allowed but you can run any type of tyre you like as long as it isn't a slick. That's about it. Bike's don't have to be road legal, standard, normally aspirated or even have two wheels!
Each rider goes up the hill individually and is allowed to spin their tyre to get some heat into it before their run. Simple.
For more information, and advice on how to get involved, contact the National Hill Climb Association at www.nhca.co.uk
GERHARD FRAUSCHER - KTM
"The 950 Supermoto was a natural progression for KTM. We've made lots of small single cylinder supermoto bikes and a V-twin was the next step, especially for expanding our roadbike range.
We first started designing and testing the 950 in 2003, it was finally launched in 2005. KTM had made its first big V-twin road bike, the Adventure, a few years earlier and the Supermoto was to be the second.
It was designed alongside the 990 Super Duke but it shares the chassis with the Adventure, only a few engine mounting pints are different. It doesn't have as radical chassis geometry as the Super Duke.
When we designed it we were very careful to make sure the 950 kept the supermoto feeling. A bike should be easy and fun to ride and give the rider a good feeling. We wanted riders to ride the 950 Supermoto simply for the fun of riding so we made it handle well and also be comfortable and easy to ride with a good throttle response and an engine with good torque."
PIERRE TERBLANCHE - DUCATI
"We first thought about this bike in 1998, but the market wasn't ready. People are much more prepared for this kind of bike now, so we started developing the Hypermoto brief in 2004 and now here it is.
Supermotos have been around for a long time but none have really hit the mark for the everyday leisure user. The main problems they suffer are that they're too tall, they vibrate a lot, they're underpowered in some situations, tank ranges are limited and reliability can be an issue if they're ridden daily. We wanted to address all of these and provide riders with street performance in a new package.
We always knew the bike had to be aircooled as water cooling would make it look far too messy, and as light looking as possible, preferably see-through in places. It also had to fit as many people as possible.
Overall we wanted a bike that was like a huge single on steroids, the kind of bike that can make you feel like a real hero when you get the most out of it through a series of corners."
ERIC BUELL - BUELL
"The STT is inspired by supermotos but it's different because it's designed so owners can customise it to make it stand out from the crowd. Using our innovative chassis we aimed to give the STT hardcore street fighter attitude with the agility and style of supermotos. It reflects a rebellious and aggressive spirit and offers the rider an exhilarating ride by blending street and track performance."
SPECS - BUELL
TYPE - STREETBIKE
PRODUCTION DATE - 2007
PRICE NEW - £7295
ENGINE CAPACITY - 1203cc
POWER - 84.8bhp@6600rpm
TORQUE - 70.8lb.ft@5900rpm
WEIGHT - 179kg
SEAT HEIGHT - 798mm
FUEL CAPACITY - 14L
TOP SPEED - 130.4mph
0-60 - n/a
TANK RANGE - N/A
SPECS - DUCATI
TYPE - STREETBIKE
PRODUCTION DATE - 2007
PRICE NEW - £7750
ENGINE CAPACITY - 1078cc
POWER - 78.1bhp@7200rpm
TORQUE - 63.6lb.ft@4750rpm
WEIGHT - 179kg
SEAT HEIGHT - 845mm
FUEL CAPACITY - 12.4L
TOP SPEED - 126.4mph
0-60 - n/a
TANK RANGE - N/A
SPECS - KTM
TYPE - STREETBIKE
PRODUCTION DATE - 2007
PRICE NEW - £8949
ENGINE CAPACITY - 942cc
POWER - 95.5bhp@8200rpm
TORQUE - 65lb.ft@6200rpm
WEIGHT - 187kg
SEAT HEIGHT - 865mm
FUEL CAPACITY - 17.5L
TOP SPEED - 134.3mph
0-60 - n/a
TANK RANGE - N/A
