HYPERMOTARD launch event - May 2007, Sardinia
a report of the new bike by Wilf
I’m sure you’ll read all the reviews in the world press about Ducati’s new bike and the launch event and you’ll see the photos of Mr Xaus making everyone else look like they are on their CBT test, but I am not a professional rider, I’m not and international racer or motorcycle journalist. I’m a normal rider, with a normal set of riding skills, so I thought a few paragraphs of my experience at the launch of Ducati’s new Hypermotard would prove useful.
I recieved a call from Ducati UK to say they were inviting just 15 dealers and distributors from the world network to the official press launch and I was one of them! So, along with Andy from Riders and Kim from Ducati Dublin (who is also a keen photographer, so i'm sure some info will be on their site soon too) we were off to sunny Sardinia to try it out...
The test day was split into two sessions, road riding on the HYM1100 in the morning, and a track session on the HYM1100-S in the afternoon.
My initial expectations were of a stripped down Multistrada, maybe a bit lighter and not so good for riding over 80 mph or for any more than 30 minute Sunday morning blasts. I was expecting a bike of pretty limited use in the UK, certainly where I live in Hampshire (mostly fast A roads)
The idea of a supermoto really appealed to me, until I got one (Husky 610). Whilst they are great on the super twisty B roads and country lanes, in reality I don’t use these roads very much, so I soon found the fun on the B roads and back lanes was overcast by the boredom and frustration on the rest of the Hampshire roads. So I approached the Hypermotard without the full on excitement of other new Ducati’s.
Well… I’ve been wrong before! (more than once actually!)
First impressions of the Hyper: This is nothing like a Multistrada, power, handling, feel, riding position, brakes, ALL different.
The finish, quality of components, attention to detail is superb, simple things like mirrors that are fully adjustable, don’t vibrate and work!, proper triple clamp fork yokes holding a tree trunk size set of forks, compact and simple digital dash with controls on the handlebar switchgear, and tapered handlebars, all make the bike looks very compact and functional and not over styled.
First ride…. I was a bit nervous to say the least, I was in the company of some regular supermoto and enduro riders and as a sports bike fan I wondered how I would keep up! I expected to feel perched on top of the bike and a little too high up to be comfortable, there was no way my knee sliders would suffer this weekend! But, the Hyper seems to have such a low centre of gravity that it was easy to move about just round the hotel car park, it certainly didn’t feel top heavy and has actually got quite a small bike feel to it.
The first thing I noticed was how smooth it all was, there was no fuss, no shaking or bumping, very little vibration and the suspension doesn’t dive or squat like I would expect. It has a nice balance of power from the air cooled 1100 motor, it pulls hard from about 4500 revs and the red rev limiter light is un-missable as it flashes away on top of the dash. I was really surprised how good it was as a road bike. Within a few miles, sorry Kilometres (trying to be in keeping with the moment!) I could really throw this bike about, knee sliders wouldn’t get a day off after all! The mountain road was a series of fast corners and tight hairpins, hard braking in and hard acceleration out was the way to go, TOP FUN! Knees and foot pegs scraping, I was loving this bike, the handling is most unlike a supermoto or a superbike, it does seem to be a new thing completely, and my jouno skills (or lack of them) are letting me down now, so I can’t really describe it perfectly.
Stopping at the top of the mountain we had chance to compare notes. I haven’t ridden a bike before when all agreed we would rather be on this than a 1098!
Now I am aware that this was Ducati’s launch, and the roads were chosen to make the Hyper as good as it gets, but even with this consideration, I was really enjoying riding this bike and certainly looking forward to my first ride out with my friends on their big superbikes, they are going to get a BIG surprise!
The last section of the road ride was on dual carriageway, just for about 15 kilometres, but it was a good chance calm down a bit and see what the hyper is like when you’re not going mad. It pulls well to about 160 kph (about 100 mph) where we settled and cruised, the biggest surprise is how little wind resistance you feel, the headlamp fairing (well sort of) works, there is little buffeting and I found myself sat there comfortable, pushing back on the seat a little and leaning back made it an easy bike to sit on the motorway with, it’s no ST and not build for the motorway but it won’t let you down when you do need to blast along on the dull roads. Next stop.. the track….
This is where I was getting nervous.. 5 bikes on track per session, so everyone watching. Here was my chance for the guys from Ducati Corse to recognise my skills and offer the MotoGP ride for next year!... Well didn’t quite go like that…
First lap and I didn’t really know how to ride this thing!!! The S models they had given us for the track had crazy brakes (Monobloc’s from the 1098) and they were fitted with fantastic 2-1 full Termignoni race systems (hmmm forget the earplugs these just sound too good). Having only ever ridden superbikes on the track, I stuck to what I knew, knee out, hang off and see what happens, well it worked, kind of, the hyper turns so fast and with everything scraping the tarmac the bike just didn’t care, driving out of corners and the motor is fantastic, any more power and you wouldn’t be able to get away with it, but as it was you can open the throttle fully and the back just skips and slides a little out of each of the hairpins and drifts easily on the last fast left hander onto the finish straight. Now I’m NOT a fast rider, I don’t have the skills or nerve to do these things on a superbike, I am very much a ‘wheels in line nicely thank you” rider but the hyper makes it so easy. But the end of the day I couldn’t believe how comfortable we were all finding it, the chassis lets you know exactly what is going on so you have a great feeling of total control, very re-assuring and amazing fun. The front and rear where sliding in and out of corners but it was so at home that it wasn’t alarming or scary. I left the track session, as all of us did, with worn out toe and knee sliders and a great feeling that we’d had a genuinely unique riding experience.
My conclusion... This is something new. I’ve ridden superbike, supermotos and bikes like the KTM Superduke and multistrada, but this is different, truly something new. If you’re looking for a bike that most riders can ride, enjoy and feel they are getting somewhere close to the best of, then its worth a good long test ride. If you’re coming from a big superbike it will take a few miles to adjust to not having an endless supply of power but the Hyper will lift the front in 1st and 2nd without being asked twice and will outbrake just about everything. You will have to feed it with fuel every 80-100 miles which could be a pain if your doing big miles and I’m not sure I would want a pillion rider for a long journey, but for a fun, genuine alternative to a sports bike (that most of us don’t use properly anyway!) then it’s worth getting a ride and seeing for yourself. You won’t win ‘pub top trumps’ with our mates on superbikes and you won’t care what rear wheel dyno horsepower it makes, it doesn’t matter with a bike like this as you just won’t need to justify why you chose one!
Call to book your test ride soon! you really should try one of these!.. Wilf
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