Ducati Hypermotard Intro Party

[socalrob]

Went to the Ducati Hypermotard party Thursday night at ProItalia here in LA. They are only about 3 miles from my house. The party was open to people with deposits on a Hypermotard, which I put down about a week ago. I found out at the party that one person has dropped out, so now I'm #41 on the local list for an S model, & they are expecting 41 S model bikes in this year.



The bike looks very nice. Ducati seems to nail red as a color. The finish was near perfect.



The wheels are the same forged aluminum marchisini on the 1098 & the brembo monoblock brakes are also off the 1098, with the exception of reducing he rotors to 305 mm. Probably a good thing as I hear the brakes are borderline to powerful for the bike (the design engineers wanted a single rotor but marketing put 2 front rotors on), but after owning a BMW with servo brakes I should be good to go.



BTW, note the big 50mm USD front forks with a black low friction coating on the sliders, kind of a nice change from the gold bling of Ohlins.

Of course there are is an Ohlin shock on the rear.


One thing I was not thrilled with is finding out those scoop holes in the fairing are fake. I'd rather not have them if they serve no use other than design.



Another quible was the exposed thin wires on the inside of the brushguards (wires for the turn signals in the guards, which are nice & big & bright when on). The charcoal canister on really cheesy stamped bracket looked so bad that I might even take it off, & I generally believe in clean air.


Here is a shot of yours truly on the bike. I'm 5ft10" & found the bike to be not too small & not too big & the ergos all felt good.


Almost forgot. They started the bike up (test rides to start on Tues) & the stock pipes were very nice. Much louder / better sound than stock BMW, not sure how that happens, but I doubt I'd buy aftermarket pipes, at least at first. Here in CA messing with exhaust is a problem as the law can get on your case for it.


All in all, did not see anything to slow me down. Got the official Ducati accessories catolog, they have a nice tail pack, "racing" seat, slipper clutch, & other stuff, so if I save on exhaust, I'm sure there are ways to still spend some $$.


390 lbs dry, 90HP, 76 lbs torque 1078CC L twin. Maybe the perfect 2nd bike for urban riding.

[ScooterCop]

I was at Cliff's BMW Ducati in Danbury CT yesterday and they were giving test rides. There was a line waiting for the test rides like it was the newest ride at Disney. Everybody coming back had big ol' smiles on their faces.

Good luck and I hope you get yours sooner than later.

[fnfalman]

I just checked it out at Socal Ducati in Brea. The stock exhaust is surprisingly nice sounding. I'd still put a set of Termig on it if it were mine. How can you ride an Italian V-twin and not release that thunderous sound?

Anyway, it's good looking and very small and light. The desmodue engine is perfect for the bike. Ducati was right for not putting a testastretta into it. More power isn't an answer for everything. Balance is where it's at. I'd be interested in comparing it to the KTM 950SM and the BMW MegaMoto though. These two bikes are more in its league than the typical thumper or mid-size supermotos.

[socalrob]

I should still look at the Duke, just that I don't really get excited about the KTM style. Each his own kind of thing. Also am looking for something with less power (thus the aircooled 2 valve Duc seems good to me) that I can wring out a bit more without being in jail.

Also, there is no good Aprillia dealer anywhere near me (I've heard the Marina Del Rey one is no more), and I haven't heard great things about the KTM dealer in Pasadena. The closest bike dealer to my house (like mayber 3 miles max, I could walk it) is ProItalia, which seems to get pretty good work of mouth.

I'm looking at the HMT as being a more fun style monster, not really a supermoto (don't think its light enough). I am thinking its the Ducati that best fits what I'm looking for.

[Just-Beeming]

Mr. Beeming and I ran over to our local dealer on Saturday afternoon...where a sales rep gave us a *wink wink* sneak peak. (seems the general public could not see it until Sat evening...and we were headed to the beach).

It is really lean looking, very 'robo-cop' or should I say 'transformer' front face to it. I thought the design was clever with the integrated turn signals and fold back mirrors. It has a super naked rear. 1100 cc on a 390 lb bike....I don't need a physics lesson to figure out what that means.
It was much more impressive "in person".

Very interesting bike.
I love new stuff.

Just-Beeming