Hypermotard Demo Day

Will (from TLzone) let me know about a HM demo day and I managed to sneak away from the library for long enough to sample some desmo goodness:drool

Pilette was there taking pics:hail




Will and I in line to get on the bikes:banana


Easy to spot which is Will's, his would be the one with the lunch bag on the back (I was jealous).



We started out on standard model HM's, though Will's was modded with the Ducati Performance seat, exhaust and best of all a tail bag - I was envious in deed:laugh

#4 was to be my steed for the first session








Will with #8


And we were off!
me


Will


The standard Hypermotard was incredibly refined and smooth. It had great pull from 2k rpm on up with the sweet part being from about 4k+ rpm. Easy dial-a-wheelie in the first three gears with no real effort. The brakes were fantastic and I thought the suspension was quite good too, at least for not having been setup for my weight and all that. I was a little unimpressed with the cornering, it never felt very neutral and didn't really want to hold a line. The tires were nearly-new bridgestones of some sort and I'm about 99% sure they were to blame. On the plus side it was extremely stable and without the slightest hit of a wobble at any time. The stock seat was much too soft (felt the seat base though the foam) and terribly shaped. Not comfortable and didn't facilitate moving around on the bike very well. The stock exhaust actually barked pretty good and had an excellent tone. I was impressed!



Then after enjoying lunch at the bike shop, we went out on the S models. Mine had the Ducati Performance seat and twin Termi's. Will's had the same seat a single Termi (I think), a fancy clutch setup and a scotts/ohlins rotary steering damper. Both had some very nice Pirelli tires, I was really looking forward to seeing if my suspicions about the crappyness of the bridgestones were to be confirmed.

Will on the S model with me in the background (blue and white Arai).



The S model with the Pirellie's felt like a different bike. Turn-in was much lighter, once turned it it was totally neutral and held a line beautifully. It handled like a dream and was still totally stable (and mine didn't have any sort of damper). The forks felt better on the S model, I couldn't really tell a huge difference in the shock, but again since neither were setup for me differences in setup would make a far greater difference than the subtle differences in suspension quality.

I dunno, I think the price is about right - 11k for a spiffy italian twin seems in line with everything else these days. At least you won't need to spend any $$ upgrading the brakes - they are pretty amazing! Its still way more than I can afford of course and you can get more performance for less $$ with various Japanese options, but they just aren't quite the same A used T would be a better value I suspect and for most types of riding a T might be a better bike with its top end hp advantage and greater fuel range:thumbup

I dunno, it would be all day comfy for me i'm pretty sure, but then I've not really found a bike that isn't (1k mile days on TLS, 919 etc no problems ).

Jensen, it definitely didn't feel anemic. Its a very different experience than say Duken's FZ1 and I imagine your R1. With the FZ1 it was kind of a bore until you got the revs way up, on tight stuff, at least with a rider of my ability it wasn't too great and always felt a bit awkward. Dito for my TLS and 919. All these felt really, really at home on 90mph+ sweepers and the motor on the FZ was really happy if kept above about 8k rpm. The HM is sorta the opposite, insane torque right off idle, super flickable in tight stuff and just carves it up. I never got a chance to really go fast on it, but did get above 70mph a few times and by then its starting to feel a touch out of place as you catch a lot of wind. I suspect most sport bikes would leave it for dead on 90+ mph corner exits as its top end power isn't terribly astounding and its aerodynamics are not great. On a road like the Tail of the Dragon the HM would absolutely destroy a sport bike with an equal rider I think.

Its not a supermoto to be sure. More a sport-standard with SM styling imho. Its not going to be going off road, jumping or anything of the like (or at least wouldn't be well suited for it). Its also much too heavy for SM racing, but would be awesome on a tightish roadcourse. Its snap and acceleration felt a lot like a good running CRF450, just instant power and instant wheelies. Its extra weight and extra power seem to pretty much offset eachother. Its big advantage over a SM is its way, way, way more comfortable, much more stable at speed, much higher speeds possible, way less maintenance etc. I'd happily ride a HM from here to CO in 2-3 days. I'd not even consider that on a competition oriented SM. Even an SM610 would be a bit taxing on such a trip.

The HM is so compact and has such wide bars it feels a whole light lighter than than a TL or FZ1 when riding, but a whole lot heavier than a CRF450R.

The demo guy also runs a 1098 sometimes and does a lot of track work. He said he was quite a lot faster at Louden on the HM than the 1098. On higher speed courses the 1098 takes the lead.