Ducati Hypermotard 950 Bike

Ducati Hypermotard 950 Bike Overview

Ducati’s Hypermotard has been ticking the ‘hooligan’ box for the Bologna firm since 2005. The supermotard-styled machine uses a middleweight version of the firm’s V-twin engine in a tall, skinny chassis, with long travel suspension, supersports brakes, wheels and tyres, and minimal rider luxuries.

This latest 950 version has a water-cooled 90° V-twin 937cc motor with desmodromic valves and ride-by-wire fuel injection. It’s also laden with electronic rider aids, including traction control, cornering ABS, wheelie control and launch control – plus an excellent up/down quickshifter. Plump for the SP version, and you can add in Öhlins forks and shock and forged aluminium wheels, while the base 950 comes with Marzocchi forks, Sachs shock and normal cast rims.

The original supermotards were full-bore motocross bikes with 17-inch wheels, race tyres and sportsbike brakes, and the Hypermotard echoes that theme closely. It will wheelie like crazy, is super-quick around a go-kart track, and is skinny and lithe enough to make mincemeat of any city traffic. It’s frankly a bit rubbish on longer rides – 100 miles on a motorway will put you in a proper bad mood. But keep it on twisty back roads and in town, and there’s nothing better to get you grinning!

There is also an upgraded version of the £10,995 Hypermotard 950, the 950 SP which costs £14,295.