[slickwill]

Today I visited "MotoSports" the local Ducati dealership to see what they could do for a deal on an 848 (I'm just "researching"). I sat in there for awhile just talking to the salesman and petting the shop cat. A friend that rides a very clean 800SS walked in and we talked for awhile. I was getting ready to leave when the salesman said, "have you ever ridden a Hypermotard?" I told him I hadn't, he said that I should. So one signature later he was saying, "you know where the good roads are, have fun."

First off- Luckily the salesman warned me about the Brembo Monoblocs. Wow, I want a set of those on whatever I own from here on out. Those things are awesome. More stopping power with one finger than my whole hand will give on my brakes. After getting back on my bike I kept almost running into things because I wasn't braking enough. Monoblocs Rock!

Secondly- It took me a bit to get comfortable with the seating position, about 7 seconds. Way better for normal every day riding, and yet, I never felt completely at ease, I'd like everything to be lowered an inch. It was just foreign to me. Not bad, just foreign. I could get used to it and wish that I could afford to do just that.

Nextly- What's not to like about an 1100cc Twin? Other than not enough revs, not much. What a torque beast. A little extra throttle (very little IMO) found me leaving a stop sign on one wheel (freakin' squids). Okay, so that scared the bejeebus out of me. 5th and 6th gear above 65mph it really felt like it was losing steam. That's where you could tell that it gives up a solid 25hp to my old 600, so that would be 35hp to a new 600. Around town though the first three gears are positively hooliganish. I kept looking down and I'd already be going 60mph without feeling like I'd even got moving yet. All that torque is veddy, veddy, sneaky. It was silly fun.

After that- Ohlins suspension front and rear, felt nice but I'm no expert. Mostly it just looked really sweet. I wonder if it can be lowered an inch?

Even more after that- The bar end mirrors are WAY more useful than the pointless mirrors on the 848. I really liked them. Just remember to fold them out before starting unlike me.

Then- The speedo is really small, really. A digital tach with stupid little bars and no marked redline. There is a nasty red light that flashes when you get there but I was busy looking at the road. It had a little mode selector switch to get even more info like the other Duc's, I saw odo, water temp, and who knows what else.

Nearly lastly- It was probably only 75 degrees here today but I never noticed any excess heat anywhere.

Lastly- I could only ride one if also had a sport bike. It would be awesome as a daily ride, commuter, track play bike, but I couldn't own just a Hyper (or any other motard) I'd need something else for my other moods. I can live with just a sport bike, I couldn't live with just a Hyper. It would have to be a second bike. Did I mention that the brakes were awesome and that it had ridiculous torque?