Ducati's Manic Hypermotard V2 SP Cured My Fear of Hooliganism

I tested Ducati's Hypermotard V2 SP on track in Italy, and it was nothing like I expected. This bike is a hooligan enabler but far more than a one-trick pony.

Photo by: Ducati

By: Robbie Bacon

Jun 25, at 7:00am ET

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Ducati turns 100 this year, and for 20 of those years it has been making Hypermotards. But for me, this marks 20 years of not feeling like a good enough hooligan to deserve a Hypermotard.

I grew up fascinated by lads pulling stonking great wheelies at lean angles I was struggling to achieve with both wheels planted. Skids, stoppies, and rolling burnouts for miles; supermoto riders were and still are gods in my eyes. The problem was, I wasn’t good at all that hooligan stuff, and a Hypermotard would only highlight that and make me feel even worse about my abilities.

At least, that’s how I felt.

As a more mature Robbie, I’d have told my younger self to buy the bike you want and that there’s nothing to live up to. But before I had the chance to have a mature, reflective moment to help me reconcile my senseless feelings of inadequacy, I was invited to Bologna, Italy, to test the all-new Ducati Hypermotard V2 SP at the Modena circuit.

Unsurprisingly, this did nothing to quell my feelings of self-doubt. Little did I know, the new Hypermotard is a cheat code for supermoto hooliganism and left me with nothing to reconcile. I did all of the aforementioned stunts on track, except the rolling burnouts. Now you know that I did it; the question is how.

Photo by: Ducati

Sublime Software Meets V2

The Hypermotard’s hardware has never been an issue. The ability for a mere mortal such as myself to exploit in true hypermotard fashion has. That’s not the case anymore, as the latest generation of Hypermotard is laden with all the leading technology we expect from Ducati, but it has been adapted to ensure hooligan antics are more accessible than ever.

What is a Hypermotard but essentially a supermotard on all of the roids, and what do you want to do on a bike like that—back it in. The thought of backing in a $20,995 Ducati sent shivers down my spine, but then I learned about the magical level 2 setting on the four-way adjustable ABS: The slide-by-brake system.

Slam on the front brakes, and I do mean slam—you need to be decelerating by at least six meters per second—and the slide-by-brake system is activated. This lets you be hamfooted with the rear brake, and the ABS will measure the braking force to allow the back tire to hop, skip, and slide. If you’ve never done it, I assure you it feels even better than you imagine. My grin grew throughout the day as I gained confidence and simply got better at sliding the rear.

It was the same story when it came to wheelies.

Photo by: Ducati

The bike is a wheelie machine, to the point that putting in good lap times meant making a concerted effort to keep the front down. I’m not a wheelie machine, unfortunately, and even less so when riding something that isn’t mine. But the Ducati Wheelie Control gave me the confidence to work with the ability I have and push more out of my comfort zone without feeling like I was going to be the guy who flipped one of the most highly anticipated machines of the year. There was an inverse correlation between lowering the four-way adjustable system and the release of butterflies in my stomach.

The same way I became more comfortable letting the back end skip into corners, I was also becoming more comfortable giving the front wheel a breather from the asphalt. Take the Hypermotard V2 SP to some private property, and you’ve got a backdoor stunt school that will take you to the nth degree because you can turn off the Wheelie Control and select ABS 1, which completely shuts off ABS to the rear, while leaving the most minimal intrusion at the front.

I lowered the rider aids as close to analogue as I dared, and with each adjustment, I came as close as I’ve ever come to being called a hooligan. I can’t understate how much fun this bike enabled me to have. In fact, if we’re talking pure, rowdy, fun, almost like it’s the best adult toy in the world—mind out of the gutter, please—I can’t think of another bike that created such a playful energy in me.

Photo by: Ducati

If you don’t need the electronics, I envy you and hope to be in the same boat one day. Maybe if I trained with the Hypermotard V2 SP and its backdoor hooligan electronic suite, I would be in the same boat. But to act the maggot the way I was, you need a powerful engine that doesn’t scare the crap out of you when you twist the throttle.

The 890 cc 90-degree V-twin powerplant in the Hypermotard plays a major role in defining the bike's character. Gone are the lumpy, aggressive, and raw engine characteristics of Ducati’s old, and in that place is a smooth, easy-to-use twin, with power everywhere, and I mean everywhere. The numbers—120 hp at 10,750 rpm and 69 lb-ft of torque at 8,250 rpm—only tell part of the story, and that’s down to the engine’s Variable Intake Valve Timing (IVT) system, which makes the Hypermotard pull like a horse from idle, before you start hitting peak hp figures and realize there’s a second hitter of power that begs you to keep the engine singing.

Photos by: Ducati

The engine pulls like a V-twin but has enough up top to let you ring it out more than you’d expect on track. These dual power delivery qualities encourage both hooliganism and inch-perfect track riding, but it’s the smooth, predictable nature of the engine that made me feel confident whether I wanted to flick the front up or wring out 3rd gear with my knee down, but the latter wouldn’t happen without solid hardware beneath me.

More Than A Hooligan

I don’t know who among you has ridden a full-on supermotard and tried to string together corners on a track, but at the start, it feels bloody alien. Nothing is in the right place, the center of gravity feels like it’s above your head, and there’s a long, long way to lean. I expected the Hypermotard to be all of this, but, well, hyper.

Don’t get me wrong, supermotos handle superbly but can take a while to get used to, but the Hypermotard V2 SP manages to do all the supermoto antics, while giving the front-end and cornering confidence of a sporty naked, almost as soon as you hop on. So, as soon as you get tired of wheelieing, you can lock in to put down a good lap time. It’s as simple as changing your intention.

You still have to get over the fact that there’s a long way to go before getting your knee down and, in the beginning, that's easier said than done. But once I gave my trust to the machine, I was rewarded tenfold. I started treating the bike more like I would a supersport or a sports naked, chasing lines and lap times. Whenever my body had had enough, and the times on the GPS lap timer were getting longer, rather than shorter, I reverted to being a hooligan.

Photos by: Ducati

The bike kept its composure regardless of whether I was trying to shave tenths or back it in, and that is largely down to the reason there’s an ‘SP’ in its name. The special parts on this bike worked together to elevate the entire experience, but if I had to pick the stand-out components, they’re gold and from Sweden. The NIX30 front fork and STX46 shock did more than just keep the bike composed when I was acting a fool; they gave me the confidence to push for better lap times throughout the day and kept the bike from getting out of shape. But I always had a safety net, thanks to another special part.

Biting into the twin disc setup with Brembo’s M50 monoblock calipers never got old, in the sense that I was shocked that each time I tried to shorten my braking distance after the 130 mph straight, I made the corner. Not only did I make it, but I could trail into the second-gear right-hander with so much confidence, thanks to the feel from the upgraded master cylinder, that I was encouraged to push my limit the next time I entered the braking zone. My overinflated sense of ability was no doubt encouraged by the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa tires, which felt like someone had doused them with glue before each session on track.

All the aforementioned features would be rendered useless if the Hypermotard were a fatty, but Ducati wouldn’t let that happen. The bike’s relatively high center of gravity made me hesitant to flick it aggressively on track, at least, that was the case at the start. But as the day went on, the Hypermotard’s low overall weight gave me the confidence to turn the bars in anger. This wasn’t just good for peeling tenths off my lap times, but also feeling encouraged to indulge in my hooligan side at any moment because I didn’t fear the weight coming back and throwing me off the bike. Ducati quotes SP’s wet weight (without fuel) as 390 lbs, which is about 6.6 lbs lighter than the standard version.

Photos by: Ducati

How much weight you save with the SP isn’t as important as where it’s saved. This model’s forged wheels lower its unsprung weight, and undoubtedly make it feel more flickable and agile, lending to its on-track capabilities. Most of the weight savings over its standard sibling likely come from its lithium-ion battery, whereas the carbon fiber front mudguard makes a greater stylistic impact.

Depending on how you treat the Hypermotard V2 SP, it can be a bike to chase lap times or something to do all the stupid fun things you’ve ever wanted to. Of course, it comes with some compromise; it’s not going to be as composed as a Streetfighter V2 nor will it be as nimble as a full-on supermoto, but the way it manages to be so capable in both areas is shocking, and makes its hefty price tag easier to swallow.

The reason this bike feels like you’re getting two for the price of, well, two has a lot to do with 20 years of development, fantastic standard features, and a sprinkling of special parts. But there’s room for improvement.

Not Without Fault

It’s hard to fault the Hypermotard V2 SP, but in one area—the quickshifter. I had issues with the quickshifter throughout the day, whether it was a strange application of power, total loss of power—disconcerting while wheeling—or getting stuck in a gear and needing to manually use the clutch to get unstuck. I generally had two or three issues per lap, but after speaking to the technicians, we decided to move my shift lever up, and this greatly improved things.

I suspect the case is of an overly sensitive sensor, meaning accidentally applying slight pressure to the shift lever engages the quickshifter; however, there isn’t enough pressure to slot in the next gear. Disabling the quickshifter eliminates the issue entirely, but I’d encourage owners to play around with the positioning of their shift lever before opting to disable the system. There’s no guarantee that you’ll bump into this issue, and I wonder if I would have had the same issues if the test had been on the road instead of the track.

Photo by: Ducati

The other thing to note, for serious track riders, the footpegs ground when pushing on. I asked Ducati’s engineers about this, and they explained that the bike is supposed to be a 60/40 road/track bike, with the bias being to the road. While I’m sure plenty of these models will see track time, I’d wager the majority won’t. Again, keeping this model on the twisties might mean that you won’t bump into this issue.

I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t tell you about these issues, but likewise, it’s only fair to tell you I finished each session with an ear-to-ear grin. This was particularly true after adjusting the shift lever. Even with the issues I needed to work around, I finished my day on track with a totally different opinion on the Hypermotard V2 SP than I thought I’d have.

The Verdict

As I sat on the bus on the way to the Modena circuit, I got lost in thought about what the Hypermotard would be like. I pictured an uncompromising, aggressive beast of a motorcycle. I envisioned myself neither being able to do hooligan antics, due to a lack of ability, nor rip it on track, due to the fact that it’s essentially a porky supermoto. I also thought the majority of my fun would come courtesy of an unruly engine that struck both fear and excitement into me.

I was wrong on all counts.

At the core of everything was the engine. It has bags of torque, but still feels refined and smooth. It never put the fear into me, and instead encouraged me to use it as diversely as possible, whether that’s revving it to the limiter or short shifting in the meat of the power. This was the thing that encouraged me to flick between hooning and setting lap times with the slightest notion.

The fact that I felt comfortable pulling stunt antics and turned into more of a hooligan than I’d ever been on any motorcycle wasn’t down to the magic of Italy; it was down to a blend of software and hardware. The Hypermotard V2 SP is like a backdoor hooligan school, and the best part is that you can graduate to become a hooligan in rider aids, too. I couldn’t see this aspect of the machine ever getting old. Should you happen upon a private road on your ride home from work, the Hypermotard V2 SP would instantly transform your evening with a dopamine hit.

Photo by: Ducati

Although the hooligan aspect is a dopamine hit, and not the way you’d want to ride 100% of the time, the fact that the bike is so capable and composed when you want to up the ante on the twisties adds another, more usable dimension. As long as your friends aren’t trying to be road Rossis, I don’t envision anyone getting left behind on the Hypermotard V2 SP. But with a $21,990 MSRP, is all this enough to warrant such a price tag? For some people, absolutely.

What do you think?

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Comments

It goes without saying that you have to have a healthy bank account to consider this bike; even if you do, you probably shouldn’t consider it if you semi-regularly go on long trips. The 3.8-GAL fuel tank will become a pain in the ass when you’re riding spiritedly, and you’ll have a literal pain in your ass from the seat.

But if your game is commuting, weekend blasts, and the odd bit of track riding, there’s no reason not to consider the Hypermotard V2 SP. Sure, highway commuting won’t be as comfortable as on other naked motorcycles, but all will be forgotten come the weekend. The ultimate takeaway is that this is a far more dynamic and user-friendly bike than I imagined, and if it doesn’t plant a smile on your face, you need to check your pulse.