The new Ducati Hypermotard

Some of you have been asking about my new Ducati Hypermotard. A lot has happened already this summer and it has taken me long enough to get around to telling you about it.

As some of you know, I imported a new 2008 black Ducati HM1100S from the Netherlands (Holland to you Americans) about two months ago. I have been so busy getting our house ready to sell that I had little time in the saddle until about three weeks ago.

While I’d been riding the bike quite a bit lately, I had planned to wait until this past weekend after the yearly boys bike trip to send a message about the how good the Duck is. About all I can report however, is how good it is for getting you into trouble… I could have entitled this email, ‘A funny thing happened on the way to the MC meet’. But it wasn’t so funny, actually.

First off – the bike.

I was torn originally between the Ducati Hypermotard and the KTM990 Supermotard (previously 950 to those who know). Everything I read says the KTM SM is a better bike. Better handling, more power, more fun and cheaper. But I have always dreamed of a Ducati, even though the price was hard to swallow and I’m not a real fan of true sportbikes. It wasn’t until I saw both bikes at the Oslo MC Messe last year and was able to make a ‘face-to-face’ comparison. By itself, the KTM is beautiful. But it is big. With liquid cooling and the radiators, it is really a big bike. And it has a lot of plastic, which isn’t really a problem until you see the Ducati.

The HM is in a whole other league. It is very small, thin and light. With the air-cooled v-twin there are no radiators sticking out. And no plastic other than the styling panels. All hand made, it really is a work of art in comparison. Actually, there is no comparison between the two. It is the difference between a picture you buy at IKEA to fill a space on the wall and a Salvador Dali you buy to treasure.

And then I made the mistake of taking a test ride on the Hypermotard standard model (not the S-model you see here) at a local dealer at the end of last summer. I knew I had to have one. You sit on the bike and see nothing of the front wheel or fender. It feels like you are right on top of the road. And the sound – even with the stock under-seat twin exhaust, it has no water cooling to dampen the engine sound. It is raw and barking – just like you imagine your first Ducati. It just sticks to the road like glue until you give it a bit of juice, then the front wheel jumps skyward. I have always admired Ducatis, but they have been too extreme for my taste. Until now. This bike sits you upright and makes you feel like an instant hooligan.

So. The decision was made. I will _somehow_ get a Ducati. I was able to talk my boss into giving me a very cheap company loan and then began checking prices in Norway, Denmark, Holland, Germany and America. I considered all the prices including transport and import taxes as well as gut-feeling of the dealer. While it wasn’t the cheapest (Denmark was cheaper) I decided to buy the bike from Motor Centrum Terneuzen in south of Holland. My good friends Roel & Priscylla buy their Ducatis there and they have a very good mechanic. I talked with them several times before deciding that I would buy the bike from them. I transferred a deposit and they ordered the bike in November, I think. It was one of the first black Hypermotards to come to Holland. With the money saved from buying in Norway, I ordered several extras and had ‘Sjuul’ (Johnny, the mechanic) rework the motor. He opened the cases, balanced everything, lightened the flywheel and increased compression slightly. He also installed the Terginomini twin carbon rocket launchers out the back, removed the CAT, mounted a carbon hugger, a bash plate (with the Hypermotard logo that is only seen when you are on the back wheel) and a Scottoiler. With the money I ‘saved’ – it is so easy to justify these things! Basically, this thing goes like the wind. And looks the biz.

I combined the trip to NL with a work trip to ESTEC and had the company pay for the van & ferry over. Very clever, eh? After my conference, I picked-up Roel and we made the road trip south to Terneuzen. I was very glad to have Roel with me for my formal induction as a member of the Ducatisti club. Both Roel & Priscylla have been great friends and really helped me realize my dream. Special thanks to you both! And the folks at Motorcentrum Terneuzen have also been really great to work with – special thanks to Isabelle & Sjuul. I highly recommend them if you want friendly professional service for the purchase of a new Ducati, MotoMorini or Moto Guzzi. (www.motorcentrumterneuzen.nl)

How does it ride? With 870km on the clock, I still do not quite have it broken in yet. But this thing flies! Ok, I have never owned a proper sportsbike and never will. But on the bumpy & twisty backroads that I ride on here in Norway, the Hypermotard is amazing. I really have to recalibrate my thinking about what a bike can do. The acceleration, the torque (the seat-of-your-pants slingshot effect), the lean angles (I still haven’t reached the limit although the back tire is fully scrubbed in) and the brakes. The brakes are scary exciting. I have been riding for years and feel like I am a pretty good rider, but this bike makes me feel like a beginner again. All-in-all, it is everything I hoped it would be!

As an engineer, I love this bike. It is hand made and you can tell in little ways when you take it apart. It is nothing like the Jap bikes I have owned and nothing like my Harley. But it is really quality. Ducati has done a great job of increasing the quality of their bikes. Even the electrical connections are modern, watertight and well-routed. This bike is a ‘keeper’ for me and I hope to hand it over to Magnus one day. A large part of the pleasure of this bike is owning it as well as riding it. And that is good, because I will probably be just looking at it for the rest of this summer…

A funny thing happened on the way to the bike meet –

So, what’s the story?

Well, last Thursday I took off work and rode to the nearby town of Roa to meet my friend Magne on his red Pan-Euro so we could ride together to the mountain town of Gaustablikk. There we were to meet the 11 other guys for our annual boys biker weekend. Aaaahh, how I had been looking forward to it. The weather was absolute and forecasted warm & sunny all weekend.

Magne was late and had never seen my bike before. As he knew the way, we took off immediately at a good pace with him in the lead. In fact, faster than I normally ride. But that was ok as we had some miles to cover. Heading out of Roa we zipped thru the cars at the first roundabout and zooom! Magne took off. When I caught up with him on the straight and he gave me a wave to take the lead. I thought, ‘What the hell. I’ll show him what this thing can do.’ Wham! I was off like a rocket. Around the bend, under a bridge, I caught a glance of 157km (~98mph) on the speedo then slowed down and waited for Magne to catch-up. He was behind a car when I took off and that is probably what saved him.

Just as I dropped back down to the speed limit of 80, a gold SAAB sedan roared up beside me with lights flashing and a young guy in a floral-print shirt waving me over. Shit! I got that watery feeling in my knees you only get when you know you been busted big-time. Off with the helmets, out with the licenses and papers. ‘Please wait here while we review the video, sir.’ Shit! They had video. After about 10 minutes, one of the undercovers took me to the front seat of his ‘cruiser’ and the other handled Magne at the bikes.

The short of it is that they followed us from the roundabout. All of it on digital video. By analyzing distance between two points and elapsed time they could calculate my average speed of 123km/h. Hell, I thought, that’s lower than I expected. Lucky they didn’t have a laser on us. Unfortunately, the limit for losing your license is 116 in an 80. So, after much discussion in half-Norwegian/half-English I learned that they will retain my license for the next 5 to 7 months. Bugger. Magne was a little luckier. His average speed was 112 – just 4km under the limit. So, after taking my license, the nice officers (and they really were _very_ nice. Nothing like police I had ever met) wrote me a note so that I could drive home and promised to send me a love letter in the post within 3 weeks. Later I thought how lucky I was that they didn’t mention my cut-down license plate or the fact that my bike didn’t have a CAT.

Magne & I milled around for awhile wondering what to do. I considered joining the boys regardless. But any little hiccup would probably end up in jailtime. And my insurance wouldn’t likely cover any accident without a valid ‘lapp’ (as we say in Norwegian). Magne offered to ride home with me to drop off the bike and lemme ride bitch on his Pan for the weekend, but that didn’t suit my style. Besides, the money I saved by not going on the trip would have to be used to pay for my imminent fine. So, after a manly bear hug and some regrets, we parted ways. Magne off to the sunniest weekend in Norwegian history and me taking the long way home over the mountain. I stopped and took the picture below on the way over the mountain. It was a fantastic ride as only the last ride of a short season can be. But if I am not smiling too much you will understand why.

It is a shame really. My truly one moment of total hooliganism was caught on camera. Funny thing is, I told Marianne two days before that this bike would either be the death of me or the end of my license. I guess I’m glad it was the latter and not the former. But, it could have been worse. Someone I know borrowed a CBR1100XX Blackbird from a friend and had a moment of insanity on the E6 – also caught in full digital panoramic glory. 168 in an 80. He lost is license for two years and will be going to jail later this month for a 3-week ‘vacation’ at the state’s expense.

There are two real lessons I learned from this experience: (1) Don’t speed on state roads in Norway. ie. those roads with a green number background. All three people I know that were busted by an undercover video surveillance car were caught on state roads. And, (2) most importantly, follow your own rule for how fast to go. I knew we were going faster than we should have, but continued at that pace anyhow. Next time, I go at my own pace regardless of what my friends are doing. Ultimately, I am the one responsible for my own speed.

While this bike has cost me a fortune, I still really love it. It is a work of art in the engineering sense, like nothing you will find on a Japanese bike. If I had the KTM and lost my license, it would be just another toy that I couldn’t play with. Even though I cannot drive the Ducati til next summer, I love looking at it and tinkering with it and look forward to learning all I can mechanically about this bike.

And - it goes like hell! Other than my old dirt bike, I cannot remember when I had such fun on a motorcycle.

And how did my lovely wife handle all this? Well, she hasn’t divorced me yet. Marianne knew how long I dreamed of this bike and finally relented when I decided to buy it. When I was busted, Marianne just happened to ring my mobile while we were standing around and the cops were reviewing the video. Somehow Marianne has a sixth-sense of when something happens to me on the bike. The last time this happened was some years ago when I crashed my Pan European in Corsica and she rang me while I was in the ambulance. When she heard I was caught on video, the first thing she asked was, ‘Did you look cool on the vid?’ (Well - ­of course I looked cool!)

Yeah, I’m a pretty lucky guy.

More summer riding

But, my summer riding season is not completely lost. My father and I had already planned to join a group of 8 Norwegians on a planned tour ‘round Russia with supplied Ural sidecars. This is an 8-day trip put together every year by the Ural company and is headed by my good friend Vidar Gullerud, the importer for Urals here in Norway. Luckily I still have my American and German drivers licenses (not that they have asked for verification of our MC license yet!) and will still be able to go. At the end of July we fly to Prague then to Ekatarinburg. We will visit the Ural factory and the Ural museum before heading out into the country for backroads riding and camping. I am _really_ looking forward to it (especially now) and so is my father. Should be great!

Since I cannot legally ride on the roads now, I have been taking my sidecar out in the woods as much as possible. Five year old Magnus is usually strapped in as my navigator. On Saturday we went really off-road on an 8km loop which is a rugged cross-country ski track. I was amazed how well this two-wheel-drive sidecar could climb and navigate just about everything (much better than my old 650 single drive version).

But, the one thing it cannot do very well is deep mud. Only twice since owning it have I been stuck and both times it sank in soft mud. Both times with Magnus. The first time I was able to get it out. This time it was sunk down to the axle - even the exhaust was buried. Magnus and I had to hike out of the woods and I returned later with my neighbor to manhandle it out.

So, while I am having a bit of bad luck with my biking summer, I am still having a good time. For the first time I am really happy with my bikes and do not have plans to buy any more (I think Marianne is still doubtful). But it’s true. I put a lot of thought into the three bikes I now own – the Ducati, the Ural and the HD Road King – and I hope to pass them onto my best friend one day. Bikes are kind of like kids; you love them for their own special reasons. I am finally content with the bikes I own. Those of you who know me may find that hard to believe.

Keep the shiny-side up!

Tant