2008 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S
A Return to Motorcycling at its Purest
by Brian A. Hopkins

Exiting a corner on my new Hypermotard, I’m overly aggressive with the throttle and the front wheel rises off the pavement. The bike’s not even vertical yet, as we’re just coming out of the apex of the curve, but the torque on Ducati’s new hooligan bike is positively intoxicating and it launches out of a turn with more confidence than any sportbike I’ve ridden. I don’t back off the throttle and the front wheel just floats there, eventually settling back to the ground on its own as the bike rockets toward the next bend— 

No, no, no … that’s not how I wanted to start this at all. Makes me sound like some sorta racerboy wannabee, which I certainly am not. Though I’ve been known to exceed the speed limit on nice twisty roads (and have the performance awards to prove it), I always try to ride well within my own limits.

 Let’s try again. 

Cruising around on my new Hypermotard, I’ve got several lines from that old song “Sweet City Woman” stuck in my head: “Like a country morning / all smothered in dew / she’s got a way / to make a man / feel shiny and new.” And it comes to me that this is exactly what I’ve been longing for in a motorcycle, a departure from the niche-targeted cruisers, sportbikes, tourers, dirtbikes, et al and a return to motorcycling at its purest level. Give me two wheels, a gas tank, a comfortable upright seating position, and an unobstructed view of the road before me— 

Not bad, but maybe a bit pretentious and overstated. And the Hypermotard really deserves a rock-n-roll soundtrack, not some long forgotten Stampeders’ tune. The young guys’ll mock me! 

Whipping the Hypermotard into a gas station, I’m pleased to see all the turning heads and upraised thumbs. Ducati’s sexy little red screamer is quite the attention-getter, even luring a couple leather-clad Harley-Davidson riders away from their hogs. The hot college girl in the convertible at the next pump gives me the “Gee, I wish you would take me for a ride” come-hither smile and— 

Nah ... It’s all true, but it makes me sound a bit needy and egocentric. I didn’t buy the bike to draw attention to myself. 

Hell, maybe I’d better just start at the beginning. 

When Ducati first introduced Pierre Terblanche’s Hypermotard as a concept bike at the Milan motorcycle show in November of 2005, I thought it was the hottest damn thing on two wheels to come along in a very, very long time. Stripped-down and streamlined, purpose-built, no nonsense, a bike with but one pure intent: to convert energy into forward motion … these were the words that came to mind when I looked at the Hypermotard. Photos of the bike were nabbed for my wallpaper on both home and office computers—which is about as close as I thought I’d ever get to the bike itself. Rarely do such machines ever get built. And even when they do, it’s in limited quantities and at prices totally beyond the budgets of mere mortals like myself. But then Ducati shocked everyone by announcing they would offer the Hypermotard in the summer of 2007 as an early 2008 model with a not-too-ridiculous (for Ducati anyway) MSRP. Oh mama, the game was on! I designated a Ducati corner in my garage, painted it red, and started strategizing. 

I was riding in Canada when the Oklahoma City Ducati dealership hosted a Hypermotard premiere party at the end of June, but a test ride at Advanced Motorsports in Dallas (www.advancedmotorsports.com) in August did nothing but fuel the flames. I had it bad, amigos. You’ve been there, I know. Your old bikes are suddenly passé, and all you can think about is that new Lady Love. In November, I took delivery of my own Hypermotard, a stunning S-model in breathtaking Ducati red -- best early Christmas present I've ever given myself! 

You’ve read the specs, I’m sure, so I won’t belabor them here. Every major motorcycle magazine and website reviewed the bike and raved about it, calling it a hooligan, a hoodlum in motorcycle clothing, a dirtbike on steroids, and the motorcycle your mother always warned you to stay away from. The September issue of Men's Journal even listed the Hypermotard as one of its "97 Perfect Things." 

The bike is best described as the supermodel of the supermoto world, a long-legged Italian extrapolation in a crimson evening gown – what a motard bike might morph into when out on a Saturday night slut-fest. Its lines are pure poetry (if you overlook the beak-like front fender). The motor and its minimal plumbing are there for all to admire, with razor-edged cooling fins and bulbous heads; this is the way motorcycle engines were meant to look. Design innovations abound, from the LED turn signals built into the handguards, to the foldout mirrors, to the aerodynamic tail piece which doubles as passenger grabrail and brake light housing. 

Ducati’s trademark single-sided swingarm reveals the Hypermotard’s Multistrada heritage, but the Hypermotard’s suspension components are top-shelf: fully-adjustable remote-reservoir Ohlins shock out back, with massive 50mm Marzocchi long-travel forks up front. The forks are also fully-adjustable and feature anti-stiction Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) coating. What all this means is the Hypermotard has a ride that soaks up road imperfections like your grandma’s Depends soak up … well, let’s just leave that to your imagination. If you’re used to the short travel suspension of a sportbike, the Hypermotard’s ride is going to feel plush, perhaps overly so. But if dirtbiking or dualsporting is your thing, you’re going to feel right at home. 

The first thing you notice when straddling the Hypermotard is that the bike itself disappears beneath you. This has everything to do with the upright seating position and the bar end mirrors, which afford a totally unobstructed view of the road. You have to look down to see the digital instrumentation. For those who’ve always dreamed of flying, this is probably as close as you’re ever going to get to that sensation. Even if you’re not one of the millions who suffer that dream archetype, you’ll find that the Hypermotard is a return to motorcycling at its most intimate, where forward motion is effortless and immediate. One of the things I’ve always appreciated about motorcycling is my immersion in the environment through which I’m traveling. The Hypermotard “puts me in it” like nothing I’ve ridden before. 

Hit the button under your right thumb and the computer takes over and starts the bike. There’s no need to hold the starter button. Once the starting sequence is initiated, the ECU makes all the decisions about fuel mixture, how long to turn the starter motor, etc. As the 1078cc v-twin spins up, you notice the second significant feature of Ducati’s Hypermotard: it sounds absolutely divine. Twist the throttle, the exhaust blats out defiance and the v-twin resonates up through your thighs with a rhythm previously known only to the God of Thunder. 

The bars are wide, dirtbike style. Couple them with the bike’s forward weight bias, the fact that the seat places your weight up against the tank, the extremely lightweight forged-aluminum Marchesini wheels, and the bike turns effortlessly. The sticky Pirelli Supercorsa III tires are positively planted. The motor is only cranking out about 90 horses (my bike actually features the optional Termignoni exhaust with upgraded ECU and airbox, adding about 5 more horsepower), but it generates an extremely satisfying 76 foot-pounds of torque, which absolutely launches the bike from a standstill or out of a corner. The thing is ridiculously easy to toss back and forth, guaranteed to have you giggling like a school girl. 

The fuel injection is near perfect, probably the finest I‘ve experienced on a motorcycle. Power delivery is smooth and instantaneous, and the stock gearing seems spot on. The Hypermotard’s front brakes, Brembo Monobloc calipers taken straight from Ducati’s 1098 Superbike, are incredible, far more stopping power than the little 400 pound hooligan bike needs. Brakes are one area, however, where you’ll never hear me complaining about overkill. If you’re unfamiliar with the new Monobloc technology, the calipers are made from a single casting (as opposed to the usual two pieces bolted together) for flex-free response. When these babies take a bite on the brake disc, it’s like a scene from Peter Benchley’s Jaws. Just for grins, the stock brake lines are steel-braided. 

The digital instrument cluster features everything you need for both street and track applications: speedo, tach, clock, lap timer, odometer, trip meter, diagnostics, low fuel warning, oil temp, battery level, and so on. All of these functions are controlled by a switch on the left handlebar. One nice feature is that the bike displays miles traveled since you hit reserve, a number you’ll want to watch closely since the Hypermotard isn’t known for its fuel economy and the tank is frustratingly small (3.3 gallons). I seem unable to travel much more than about 70 miles before hitting reserve. Though I haven’t run the bike out of gas yet, I’m guessing 100 miles is its limit. Others are claiming about 120, but evidently I’m a bit heavy handed. 

For this reason, the bike is totally impractical for anything other than fun with a capital F. Don’t buy it for commuting or touring. Buy it for ripping around town impressing your friends, laying down rubber on track days, and totally disobeying speed limits through your local twisties. My only other complaint about the bike is the mirrors. Totally cool in theory, much less so in practical application. They’re hard to keep adjusted. They vibrate. They make the bars so incredibly wide that you’ll be smacking them on things. And everyone who gets near the bike knocks them out of place. If you drop the bike, shattering the mirror and breaking the handguard to which it mounts, you’re looking at over $400 to replace it. 

But if you’re like me and suffer not only the archetypal dream of flying, but also that one in which you’re constantly seeking someone or something, that elusive element of perfection, that Muse of Motion at its most elemental and pure, then the Hypermotard might just be what you need. Motorcycle-usa.com called it “a bike so pure in execution and intent that it truly is the heart and soul of motorcycling.” I’d have to agree.