Despite the relentless nudge toward water cooling and impenetrable fuel injection systems, as recently as 2008 Ducati put a capstone on their air-cooled desmodue development. The torquey 1100 is in a naked supermoto package and is widely regarded as some of the most fun to be had on two wheels.
2008 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S for sale on eBay
The 1078cc dual-spark engine provides 90 horses and 76 ft.-lbs. torque, propelling the Pierre Terblanche design to a theoretical 137 mph and 12-second quarter mile, provided the rider can find a way to hang on. The multi-role machine has a trellis frame, 50mm Marzocchi forks and Öhlins monoshock on the single-sided swingarm. Flickability is enhanced by the 390 lbs. dry weight and 17-inch Marchesini alloys. Under the Brembo monoblocks, 305mm front disks and 245mm rear fire the retro-rockets.
Offered by a New Hampshire dealer, this Hyper has a little over 18,000 miles and looks clean and original. Maintenance and damage history is not addressed in the eBay classified but would be worth a phone call. The stalk mirrors are little surprising since Ducati put a great deal of work into the folding bar-end mirrors most 1100S’s came with. Could have been the previous owner’s response to the too-wide bar-end design.
The Hyper’s sharp design more than made up for the small tank’s short range and lack of wind protection, and the bike again put Ducati in the forefront of the large motard chase. The two-valve desmo is easy on the maintenance staff and the aftermarket has lots of ideas about how to improve things. For 2010 the Hyper evolved into a higher-compression single spark engine, and a 796cc model was offered. But in a specialty that often regards purity of concept very highly, if you could keep only one Ducati, for cognoscenti the earlier 1100S is often the answer…
-donn
Snowcat from youtube had one of these, it was such a pos for breaking down ductati bought it back from him full price and he signed a waiver never to talk about it ever again.
AJ, Snowcat had an 821 Hypermotard.
In no way, other than the name, is it the same as the model mentioned above. The 2008 and really, the 2010-2012 Hypermotard EVO models are some of the most outrageously fun and reliable bikes Ducati built.
I have a 2008 1100S and it is waaaaay too much fun to ride. Reliability has not been an issue with just normal maintenance. It is just about to turn 10,000 miles, I bought it used with 6,xxx miles on it, about 3 years ago. It is not my only bike to ride, obviously.