The air-cooled, two-valve...
The air-cooled, two-valve dual-spark engine on the Ducati may be low tech, but its sheer size makes up for many shortcomings.
We've covered the Hypermotard before ("Motard Madness", Sep. '07), though we had the S model with forged Marchesini wheels and Ohlins rear suspension at the time. Our test mule this time around was the base model with cast aluminum wheels, Marzocchi fork (without the DLC coating) and Sachs rear shock. Weight difference between the two is six pounds (433 for the S, 439 for the base). The first thing you notice when you sit on either of these bikes is that the vertically challenged need not apply. The Ducati actually has the lower of the two seat heights, coming in at 33.3 inches from the ground-a whole inch less than the Aprilia. Both bikes have a very off-road-like seating position, with the Hyper placing the rider far forward on the seat, "practically above the front tire," as El Jefe put it. Compared to most other bikes the seating position of the Dorsoduro would feel front-heavy as well, but not so compared to the Hyper. In contrast to the Ducati, however, the single seat is slightly narrower and the bars are more evenly spaced, providing for just a slightly more comfortable ride. In the twisty stuff that extreme forward riding position of the Ducati gives an almost telepathic connection to the front of the bike, inspiring confidence to place it practically anywhere you want. Wide handlebars on both bikes give plenty of leverage to toss the bike to-and-fro and the standard Marzocchi/Sachs suspension pairing on the Ducati-both fully adjustable-do a fine job keeping the Pirelli Diablo Corsa IIIs hugging the road. Meanwhile, the Aprilia is no slouch either, though both front and rear are only adjustable for preload and rebound damping. Despite this, the Dorsoduro only feels hampered by its suspension when pushing to the limits.
Gear selection is important on the Hypermotard as the tall gearing can be sluggish coming out of a corner. Add to that the vibration coming from the engine at low revs and it's all the more reason to be in the sweet spot (4000 - 7000 rpm) as much as you can. Power drops drastically after 7500 rpm, so there isn't much to be gained by pinging the engine to redline. Riding the Hypermotard means taking advantage of the gobs of torque because doing so successfully borders on intoxicating. With a lively torque output it's a good thing that the Brembo four-piston calipers do such a fine job of bringing the action to a halt. Braking power has never been an issue with Ducatis, but we still would have liked a bit more feel, especially when modulating the brakes.
The 750cc, liquid-cooled four-valve...
The 750cc, liquid-cooled four-valve engine of the Dorsoduro hides its displacement disadvantage with current technology.
Though the numbers may make the 750 twin of the Aprilia to be a non-performer, sometimes the butt dyno is the one more riders should pay attention to. The Dorsoduro shares the engine and chassis with the Shiver, the former being completely unchanged. This is a good thing as we've praised the performance of the Shiver engine in the past. Thanks to its throttle-by-wire system, the Dorsoduro retains the power modes (Sport, Touring and Rain) used on the Shiver, with the same fuel maps as well. We found the Sport map to be extremely sensitive to throttle inputs-often times jolting us back over even the slightest bump in the road. We resorted to Touring mode for most of our riding, which slows the opening of the throttle butterflies and delivers 75 percent power until approximately 3000 rpm, where full power is again restored. For our money, a setting in between Sport and Touring would be perfect. As for Rain mode, well, it made us yawn...