2008 Ducati Hypermotard Photo Gallery

The boys at MCN give us the inside scoop on the eagerly anticipated Ducati Hypermotard after turning laps at the track with World Superbike star Ruben Xaus. Check out what they thought about it in our 2008 Ducati Hypermotard First Ride.

Part supermoto, part sportrbike, the 2008 Ducati Hypermotard rates high on the excitement scale.

Mr. Neeves wasn't backing it in with the knee down like Senor Xaus, but he did sample the "S" model, which features lighter Marchesini wheels.

Since its introduction in Milan last fall, the Ducatisti have anxiously been awaiting the relase of the 2008 Hypermotard.

The Hypermotard thrilled our tester and is poised to be the next big hit in Ducati's string of successful and popular designs.

The 2-1-2 exhaust system terminates with Signature Ducati twin under-seat silencers.

Ducati designed cool little flip-out mirrors on the end of off-road style hand guards that also features built-in LED indicators.

The 1078cc mill has a 98mm bore with a short 71.5mm stroke that produces a claimed 90 hp with plenty of low-end torque.

Take a 1078cc Ducati V-Twin, through it in an aggressively-styled industrial-strength motard chassis, open it up on a Sardinian highway, and you've got the makings for a perfect day.

Michael Neeves will never forget the sight of World Superbike racer Ruben Xaus passing him sideways, one-handed on the first gear hairpin of the Mores circuit in Sardinia.

According to Neeves, photos fail to do the Hypermotard justice, as the bike is more muscular and purposeful than it seems in pictures.

Claudio Domenicali, Ducati Product Director, said, "Package the Multistrada engine with a very light chassis and a motard design and you end up with the Hypermotard."