The 2022 Ducati Hypermotard 950 SP. (Ducati/)For 2022, Ducati is making the Hypermotard Euro 5 compliant and passing on the gearbox updates that debuted on this year’s Monster and SuperSport 950. The Hypermotard 950 SP also receives a new graphics package.
The revised gearbox of the 937cc Testastretta 11° features a selector drum that rotates on roller bearings to make it easier to engage neutral at a standstill, and a revised indexer is designed to give more positive gear engagement. Additionally, fifth and sixth gears have four instead of six coupling dogs to reduce the likelihood of grinding gears due to a tooth-to-tooth misalignment, an issue to which 937cc Testastrettas can be prone.
Footpeg! (Ducati/)The 950 SP comes standard with Ducati’s IMU-managed up/down quickshifter, while it remains a $300 option (plus installation) on the base model. Notably, the quickshifter is standard on the 2021 Monster even though it costs $1,600 less than the base-model Hypermotard. Ducati is either feeling generous with Monster owners or stingy with Hypermotard owners. Regardless, based on sticker price alone, a little more parity would seem rational. Is it obvious the author is a bitter Hypermotard owner who ponied up for the quickshifter?
In spite of Euro 5 compliance, the Hypermotard 950′s power output remains unchanged. Ducati claims it produces 114 hp at 9,000 rpm and 70.9 pound feet of torque at 7,250 rpm.
The 2022 Hypermotard 950 SP receives an eye-catching new MotoGP-inspired livery. Distinguishing the SP model from the base Hyper, as before, are longer-travel Öhlins suspension, forged Marchesini wheels, and the aforementioned quickshifter. The SP retails for $17,495.
The SP’s new livery has a certain Ducati Corse panache. (Ducati/)The base model ($13,495) and SP model are also joined by the Hypermotard 950 RVE ($14,395), which features a graffiti-inspired graphics treatment. Each Hypermotard includes sportbike-spec electronics managed by a Bosch six-axis IMU, including wheelie control, traction control, and cornering ABS. Three ride modes (Sport, Touring, Urban) are fully customizable.
The graphics treatment carries over to the side panels, which will have to be eighty-sixed if one opts for the Termignoni full exhaust system from Ducati’s performance catalog. (Ducati/)Regardless of fancy graphics packages, the Hypermotard 950 is a must-ride bike. Be sure to add it to your rotation of summer test rides if you’ve yet to sample its particular brand of Borgo Panigale-an lunacy. Its upright ergos, top-shelf electronics package, and point-and-shoot handling character give it an air of practicality one can use to persuade significant others that it’d be a rational addition to the two-wheeled fleet, while its bonkers engine is anything but rational. With midrange for days, there are few sub-liter non-superbikes that feel as lively as the Hyper below 7,000 rpm.
Now, what could have made all those black squiggly marks on the pavement? Hmm… (Ducati/)2022 Hypermotards will land in US dealerships beginning in September 2021..
