Hypermotard demo ride at the '09 Sea Otter Classic

By: Jeanette Tran

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to ride out to Laguna Seca to test ride a Ducati Hypermotard. Unfortunately, it was not a demo ride around the track, but it was still an unforgettable experience. Ducati had their booth and demo bikes showcased at the 2009 Sea Otter Classic in hopes to attract the cross over market of bicyclist. Since it was a bicycling event, a lot of the motorcycling community did not hear about the demos so lucky for me the demo sign ups were not crowded at all.

When I first got there in the early morning, one of the first things that I did was go right alongside the bike to check out the seat height. The seat height looked like it came right up to my hip, so I thought to myself, 'Okay, this is doable.' I then talked to the Ducati guys and asked them about the seat height of the Hypermotards, and lucky me they have a few that are actually 1 inch shorter than the rest. We walk back over to the bikes and I hop onto one of the bikes in order to properly test out the seat height. After shifting all of my weight onto the left side, I lift the bike upright and find my right leg completely off the ground. Considering the fact that this bike has a 390lb dry weight, it was surprisingly easy to lift up off the kickstand. Sitting on the Hypermotard I found myself using the 'one cheek off' technique, where I am no longer even sitting on the seat, to keep the bike upright. When I first started riding my own bike (1st Gen SV650), I thought that bike was tall for me because I was only able to tipy-tow on both sides, and had to get accustomed to coming to a stop and placing only one foot down. Since I usually rode the SV with one foot comfortably on the ground when stopping, I figured the seat height for the Hypermotard, in comparison to my own bike, did not make the bike impossible for me to ride. Of course there was still a huge risk of me dropping the $14k bike, but at the same time the motorcycle enthusiast side of me could not turn down this rare opportunity to test ride the Ducati Hypermotard. So I set the bike back down on the kickstand and said, 'Alright, let's do this!'

The bike I was sitting on (the bike I was going to demo), was a Ducati Hypermotard 1100s with dual Termignoni slip on, Pirelli Diablo tires, and also had a nice comfy gel seat. The bike was a beauty and I was so excited I would be able to test ride it. It only took a minute or two to fill out some liability paper work, and have them check to make sure I met the demo ride requirements (Must be 21 of age, M1 endorsement, proof of insurance, and proper riding attire) and then it was time for the pre-ride meeting. The guy in charge of the demo rides called for all of the gentlemen to gather around. I just smile and then chimed in to correct him, 'Gentleman and lady.' I guess it is still not too common to see females come out for test rides on these bikes, but hopefully I am setting a new trend for all the other ladies out there. So after giving me a smile and correcting himself on that comment, he started to give us all an overview of the bike and route so that we would know what to expect. He did a great job in explaining everything that we needed to know and he put an emphasis on wanting everyone to have a really good time out there. After making some comment about coming back and giving them 'cheekbones instead of shin guards' we all headed to our bikes to gear up and get ready to set out.

All geared up and ready to go, I sat on the bike and shifted my weight around like I did earlier, in order to lift the bike up straight. Once I had the bike balanced, I turn the bike on, check for the neutral light, and then went to go and kick the kickstand up. When I did this all I hit was air! I look down and realize that the kickstand is positioned more forward than I was used to on my own bike. Normally when riding, since I am on my tipy-toes with the SV, it is a little harder for me to get the kickstand up. My usual technique would be to plant my right foot firmly on the ground, and then shift the whole bike to the right, kick up the kickstand, and then shift my weight back to center again. I sit there for a minute shifting my weight back and forth on the motard trying to find the right position in order to make my technique work. I make a few more useless attempts to reach my foot out and hit the kickstand and eventually come to accept the fact that the technique I use for the SV obviously will not work here because the hypermotard is higher than what I am used to. Since the bike was a bit higher, with my foot planted to the right, my reach for the left side does not go as far as I would hope. I was minutes away from test riding the Ducati Hypermotard and I could not believe a little kickstand was about to ruin it all for me! Determined not to let this get in the way of my test ride, balancing the bike upright with my left foot, I grab the front break (since the bike was on a slight incline), and put my right foot up on the peg. The next part was the tricky part. I lifted my left foot off the ground, leaving nothing but my body to balance the bike, and quickly kicked up the kickstand before the bike would have a chance to fall over. The balancing act was a success and I am so lucky that the bike felt as light as it did, or else I do not think this newly developed technique of mine would have worked.

Now having successfully gotten the kickstand up, I started up the bike with its one push starter button and was ready to head out. Trying to find that sweet spot (friction zone) between the throttle and the clutch is usually difficult enough when you are on a new bike, so image how much more difficult the initial take off would be when you also have to concentrate on balancing the bike. Initially when I took off, I got a lot of pure engine revving because I was still trying to find that friction zone. Now on the road, I was getting choppy spurts of acceleration because I was not used to the quick throttle response. However, the bike was easy enough to get used to, and in less than a minute my ride was completely smooth'well, almost.

Every time we came to a stop sign, I just prayed that I would not drop the bike. I would coast the bike to a stop shifting my whole entire weight off of one side of the bike in preparation to put my foot down. At each stop I found myself shifting left and right trying to find the perfect balancing position. We stopped about 4 or 5 times along the demo route, and I think I had experimented with about 4 or 5 different techniques of sliding off the bike in order to not drop it. It wasn't until the last stop that we made that I was finally able to comfortably shift my weight in order to have a smooth stop-and-go motion on the bike. That goes to show that it is possible for me to ride a Hypermotard comfortably if I wanted to!

During the demo ride, we hit a nice stretch of twisties and I felt the bike just falling into the turns. I have never ridden anything but a street bike and a dirt bike before so being on this bike was a whole new feeling for me. The bike felt more nimble than my Ninja 250 and needless to say had a lot more power. I was able to throw the bike down into the turns effortlessly and flick it right back up into the next turn with no hesitation. Unfortunately we were not able to truly test the limits of the bike because after all it was a factory demo ride, and not to mention there was a cop lurking around in one of the pull offs probably hoping to catch one of us speeding. So after about 15 minutes of mellow riding, it was time for the group to turn around and head back to the staging area.

We all pulled into a dirt parking lot and made a loop to turn around. When we pulled into the parking lot, the riders in front of me completely slowed down and I was met with an unexpected traffic jam. At this point, stupid me decided to test the power of the bike's Brembo breaks and I automatically pull the front break lever without even thinking. The next thing I knew, the bike was tossing me sideways and I could feel the back end sliding out. Surprisingly, as quick as all of that had happened, I had already regained control of the bike and was right back in line behind the rider in front of me. I was sure that I had scared the riders around me, but apparently the guys just ended up making jokes about me getting sideways on the bike, and being all cool backing the bike in and all. Little did they know, I just gave myself the scare of a lifetime! Never in my entire life did I ever think a 1100cc bike would be at all forgiving, but this bike was forgiving to me, and I am so grateful that I do not have a huge bill from Ducati in the mail for a bike I do not even own.

We eventually made it back to the Laguna Seca, and pulled into the staging area. As we were pulling up a stop, I saw that the lead rider was already off of his bike and watching the other riders pull in. I quickly wave my hand in the air to get his attention, and he came running over asking me what is wrong. I sheepishly told him that I just need help setting the bike back down, so then he grabs the front of the bike and cuts the engine allowing me to sit there on the bike, yet again struggle with the kickstand. After I was finally able to put the kickstand down, I slid off the bike knowing that I had just completed the most nerve wrecking and amazing demo ride I have ever experienced. Despite all of the stop signs and intersection juggling, as well as scaring myself silly in the dirt, I finally came to understand what they were saying at the beginning of the ride about cheekbones because I was hitting mine smiling from ear to ear! It is amazing how much you can learn from a demo ride, not just about the bike you are riding, but also about your own capabilities and limits as well. As much as I love the Ducati Hypermotards, I probably wouldn't ever ride one again unless I owned it, or if it was a little lower.

Now it is time for my own quick review for the bike. First off, the mirrors are great because they are placed at the ends of the handlebars, which allowed for me to be able to see clearly behind me without a shoulder or elbow obstructing my view. The bike seating position was nice and upright so most of the body weight is positioned towards the front of the bike like a dirt bike. The foot pegs of the bike were comfortably positioned, but at the same time it had a hint of aggressiveness a sport bike would have. This undoubtedly allowed for the bike to just fall into the turns with ease. From what I could tell, the suspension of the bike was amazing as well because the road conditions were not perfect and had bumps and grooves everywhere, but I barely felt any of it while riding over them. Overall the bike is insanely fun to ride and from that short demo I did, I could not find anything I did not like about the bike - performance or design wise. So besides me not being tall enough to ride the bike comfortably, or the fact that I do not have $11-14k to buy one with, I would definitely love to own this bike.

I know they could have easily denied me the opportunity to test ride because of my height, but they did not. Many thanks to Ducati for allowing me to test ride their bike!

Published: Apr 22, 2009

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