The Hypermotard series is growing long in the tooth, and while everyone expects the Ducati’s smaller Superbike to get revamped in 2013, here is some evidence to suggest that the big news at EICMA this year will be an all-new Hypermotard model. Expected to have a water-cooled motor, best guesses would have the new Hypermotard using the 849cc Testastretta power plant, which would dovetail nicely with the supersport-sized Superbike getting an ~800cc variant of the new Superquadro motor.
Ducati has made a tradition of using its aging Superbike motors in the rest of its line-up, which helps the Italian company extend production run efficiencies and amortize tooling costs. The same technique was first tried with success on the Ducati Streetfighter line, and has since been used on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 and Ducati Diavel. The motor in the 2013 Ducati Hypermotard 848 is surely the same lump that is found in the Ducati Streetfighter 848, which should make for a nice broad and useable power band, suitable for street/urban riding.
From the photo we can see that the trellis frame remains on the HM858, while the muffler is mounted using a traditional side-exhaust setup. The tail seems very similar to the Multistrada’s, with a luggage platform looking to be present. The handlebars also seem to retain the same foldable mirrors and hand guard arrangement found on the current Hypermotards.
Our last observation is that the fuel tank appears to be very minimalist, though it is unclear how much bodywork is missing in this shot (note: the huge gap near the motor’s chin). How this model will fit in Ducati’s model range, presuming that a smaller Multistrada is on the way as well, remains to be seen.
Source: Il Ducatista
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