Ducati enters the supermoto scene with a bang. That'll be the mirror on a car's door then...
You hear stories about soldiers who, in the heat of battle, commit acts of either unbelievable bravery, or just plain insanity, depending on your point of view. Going above and beyond the call of duty, they often get a medal to honour their bravado.
I would like to nominate Ducati's photographer for such a medal. Anyone who is prepared to stand in direct line of fire of Ruben Xaus and 177kg of sideways Hypermotard barrelling towards him at 50mph just to get 'that' photo is made of sterner stuff than me.
Aggressive, minimalist, exciting and thrilling to ride is how Ducati is billing the Hypermotard. It may have essentially the same chassis and engine as the Multistrada but that's where the similarities end. The Hypermotard is the Mr Hyde to the Multi's Dr Jekyll and when it sipped the magic potion in Ducati's lair the Multistrada shed 17kg, gained some extra power through lightened engine internals, a new dry clutch, new brakes, data logging system, a lap timer and a look not entirely unlike a pterodactyl.
In a radical move for Ducati the Hypermotard has mirrors that actually work. The two dinky bar end jobbies fold out, giving the rider a perfect view of the road - and create a ten-foot 'wingspan' for the bike. Thankfully for filtering they also fold out of the way easily.
But practicalities don't end there. It also comes with a comfy seat (good enough for the claimed 125 mile range) and a 30% lighter clutch action compared to other Ducatis using the 1100 air-cooled engine.
But who cares about such matters? This is a niche bike aimed at people who want to go screaming bonkers on a Sunday afternooon. And despite the Sardinian roads being a bit damp the bike was a riot.As you would expect from such a stripped down machine the Hypermotard is very light and nimble. For the first few miles the front end feels quite odd, but this is just a case of getting dialled into the supermoto geometry, and you soon get used to it. Rather than just lean you have to steer the bike, or at least put more input into the mix than you expect, for the initial turn-in. But it's no big issue and once you get used to it the Hypermotard handles very well.
Click here for the Ducati Hypermotard review page 2 of 2
