| | | | Road Test : 2008 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 & 1100S-Hypercool! |  Written: 14/05/2007 : 14:56. Read 20944 times (57/day). | | The integrality of this filed article is for Premium Members. | Since Ducati showed us the Hypermotard concept in Milan 2005 we have been very eager for a ride. Early May in Sardinia and we are finally in the seat of the latest motard designed fun-bike to enter the market. In hyper mode we rode the Hypermotard both on the road and on track. Is this the perfect motorcycle?
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The trend that Ducati is about to define as Hypermotard started with KTM’s 950 SM. It’s a simple recipe really, take an existing 1000cc V-twin engine and add Supermoto styling and manoeuvrability to it! That’s what the new trend is all about, big displacement street supermotards. Like the Buell SuperTT and BMW HP2 Megamoto Ducati have gone air-cooled. But the daddy itself, KTM 950 SM is liquid cooled.
Whilst KTM’s 950 SM and BMW’s HP2 SM (conversion kit with the Enduro) really are big supermoto’s true down to long suspension travel, racy seats and foot-controls made for cross boots, Ducati have gone street with the Hypermotard 1100. Street in Ducati terms also means sport, but the Hyper have got more in common with a roadbike than Supermoto in the handling department. The Hypermotard is basically a naked street bike disguised as a king sized supermoto. Hypercool!
Many of the parts in the engine and chassis department are shared with the Multistrada 1100. Whilst another manufacturer might have kept the rear end design to save cost and just designed a new front end, Ducati have gone all out in the design of the Hypermotard. Everything is new from the genius headlight/front fender section, instruments, hand guard/mirror/blinker, fuel tank, seat and rear section with underseat double exhaust. It’s all very true to Pierre Terblanche’s original drawings and the Hypermotard won the award for best design after the 2005 EICMA show in Milan. The only changes since the concept model are an additional brake disc up front, blinkers moved from the foldable mirrors to the hand guards and the dual silencers have shrunk! To save weight at the back Ducati has made the silencers as small as they could possibly get away with under current noise regulations. At the back Ducati has also designed the Led-light holder to double as pillion grab handles.
On the beautiful Sardinian roads I tackled bend after bend using two different riding styles. The supermotard style with my leg out to maximise front wheel traction and allow for maximum lean angles and normal road riding style with both feet placed on the footrests. Due to the wide handl ...
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