Ducati Hypermotard 698 Mono Review
This is the all-new 2024 Ducati Hypermotard 698 Mono. we certainly know that it can definitely do the crazy Supermoto track thing.
But what it’s got me wondering is at £10,995 starting price, is it actually an interesting alternative to a regular sporty naked bike for the road? You see, on paper, it certainly looks like it should be a lot of fun.
Engine Performance
Now we’ve got to start off by talking about this engine, the new Super Quadro Mono, which is effectively one of the cylinders from the V-twin in the 1299 Panagali.
As such, you’ve got some very over square dimensions.
So the bore is much wider than the stroke is long.
And typically what you’ll find with that engine is that it makes most of its power at at the top end at the sacrifice of some bottom end and torque.
Power Output
So yeah, you’ll see it revs up to 10,000 RPM. And one of the benefits of that is that it makes quite decent peak power. Hypermotard 698 Mono
So 77 and a half horsepower, which for a 698 single is pretty impressive and actually makes it, according to the Ducati press release, the most powerful production single-cylinder bike ever made.
Now, 77.5 horsepower might not sound like a great deal if you put it in the context of general road bikes.
But keep in mind this is a Supermotos, so it’s pretty slim, pretty light. And so I think for most riders, certainly for road use, It’s going to feel like enough.
Rev Range
Now, perhaps the more seasoned Supermoto rider might enjoy that immediate bottom-end punch that you get more so from something like the KTM 690.
But I think for the rest of us, especially if you’re considering this as a road bike, then actually having a little bit of softness lowering the revs might be beneficial.
It’s nicely fueled and not too abrupt, and so it’s actually quite easy to get on with in a way that you might not expect if you’ve previously ridden big singles.
And look, don’t get me wrong, it really does start to buzz like a single when you properly rev it up. Hypermotard 698 Mono
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But also it’s surprisingly smooth down in the bottom half of the rev range under 5,000 RPM.
And so if you just pottering around, it purrs away nicely, and I feel like I could ride it all day long without annoyance.
Quick Shifter
Now, as you’d expect from Ducati, the quick shifter on this bike is absolutely on point.
And although you do have to spec it as an accessory on the base bike or pay for this RVE edition where it comes as standard, at least if you are going to pay your money for it, it’s going to be good. Very crisp, very quick.
And also, despite the fact that this bike is running the standard stock exhaust system, not the £2,000 track special, when you’re shifting down and it’s blipping,
it is making some really nice pops at the exhaust that add to the entertainment, even if you’re just stopping at a junction like this. Hypermotard 698 Mono
Lightweight Build
Now, I don’t think it will come as a huge surprise to anybody that this bike is pretty slender when it comes to the weighing scales.
It’s 150 kilograms without fuel. And so with a 12-litre tank up front, you’re realistically looking at about 160 all in.
And whilst for a Supermoto, that probably is on the heaviest side because it’s a large capacity bike in the Supermoto spectrum, if you’re comparing it to a general road bike or a naked bike, it’s really very light and pretty much lighter than anything else you could consider.
Handling
And so look, in terms of the effect on the handling, it’s just joyous. It’s a bike that you can put exactly where you want it and changes in direction are about as easy as it gets. Hypermotard 698 Mono
And that’s also aided by the fact that you’ve got a really decent chassis spec here.
Braking Setup
So braking, for example, it’s a four-piston, radially mounted caliper up front with a Brembo radial master cylinder.
And so it stops exceptionally well with plenty of wheel through the lever.
And yes, it is only a single disk, but it’s a nice big 330 mill disk. And I think I’m right in saying that that’s basically one of the disk from the twin disk set up on the Panagali V4.
Suspension
Now, the fork is from Marzocchi. It’s a chunky 45 mill upside down fork, full adjustability as well. Hypermotard 698 Mono
The Mono shock is from Sacks, and while both are fairly long, so it’s not a bike that really hugs the road, you can feel the qualities there.
And also the adjustability, if you’re going to push this bike a little bit harder on the track, for example, is exactly what you’ll need.
Wheel Setup
Now, the 17-inch wheels front and rear with it being a Supermoto, cast aluminum, and they’re shod with Pirelli’s excellent Diablo Rosso 4s, which are great sporty rounder for the road.
And yes, handling is up there with being about as fun as it gets.
And this is all wrapped up in what I think is a really nice-looking bike There’s got some of the best bits of its bigger sibling, the Hypermotard 950, but just in this slimmer overall size, which I think possibly suits the genre of bike better.
I think of the two, it might be my pick, especially in this RVE paint job with the extra graphics. Hypermotard 698 Mono
I know they’re not particularly subtle, but then a Supermotor isn’t meant to be.
Then if you realistically compare it to something like the KTM 690 and the other bikes built on that platform, the Husqvarna 701, the Gasgas 700, those are pretty much as a Supermoto should be, big dirt bikes with road wheels and tires.
They’re basic, they’re simple, they’re plasticky in the finish, whereas this is everything you’d expect from Ducati with a lot more attention to detail and a feel to the bike that just has this extra quality.
Riding Modes
And it also has to be said, it goes beyond and above what you’d expect from your average Supermoto when it comes to techy features like riding modes and rider aids.
There are four modes to choose from, so sport, road, urban, and wet.
And within that, you’ve got four levels of traction control, four levels of ABS, four levels of wheelie control, engine braking control, launch control, a wheelie assist feature if you expect the track exhaust because it’s effectively a track feature, but it allows you to maintain a fairly high wheelie.
And then, yeah, the excellent up and down quick shifter that we’ve already talked about. Hypermotard 698 Mono
Safety
Look, if you want a Supermotos style bike with a few extra safety nets that’s pretty much on a par with any other modern road bike, then under the hood, This has got the works.
Design and Build Quality
The thing is, though, all bikes have their compromises and trade offs, and I think one of them on This bike might be in the cockpit with the dash with a fairly simple LCD display or inverted LCD display, as opposed to the full color TFT displays that are becoming more and more common now for road bikes, even fairly aggressive price points.
And look, I think this is probably what you’d expect for a Supermoto bike.
They do tend to be a little more simple, and it’s perfectly usable, and it’s easy enough to manage all the modes and whatnot.
But if you are somebody who really likes to have lots of screen space for the menus and connectivity and navigation and stuff like that, then this isn’t a bike that really offers that capability. Hypermotard 698 Mono
Still, you could argue the solution is pretty simple, which is to put your phone on the with a quad lock or something like that and use an app like Calimoto for your navigation.