Next Bike Sdn Bhd unveiled the twin-cylinder Ducati Hypermotard 796 at the Naza World of Bikes showroom at TTDI Plaza yesterday. A 2010 model in Ducati's stable, the 796 made its world debut last September at the EICMA International Motorcycle Show in Milan.
Sitting a rung below the Hypermotard 1100, the 796 was designed to offer a more affordable entry point into Ducati Hypermotard motoring, with reduced weight helping to make up for a power deficit over its bigger sibling.
Stepping in for the 1,078cc Dual Spark Desmodromic motor powering the 1100 is a smaller air-cooled 803cc L-twin engine. There's no running from the fact that smaller engine equates smaller output, and the 796 makes do with 9hp and 27.4Nm less than the 1100, producing 81hp @ 8,000rpm and 75.5 @ 6,250rpm.
However, offsetting the motor's reduced juice is also reduced bulk, as the 796 tips the scales at a dry weight of 167kg, a full 5kg less than the 1100. Overseas reviews that we've referred to indicate that the 796 indeed felt nimbler, if a little less powerful, than the 1100.
Putting power down to the rear wheel is a 6-speed transmission married to an APTC wet multi-plate clutch with hydraulic control. Holding that wheel in place is an adjustable Sachs monoshock absorber with an aluminium single-sided swing-arm - a signature Ducati design. Up front, a pair of 43mm Marzocchi forks provide forward wheel suspension.
Stopping power is not compromised either, with Brembo 4-potters clamping 305mm semi-floating discs on both sides of the front wheel. The rear wheel is braked by a 245mm disc with a Brembo 2-piston caliper. Holding the various pieces of the 796 together is Ducati's tubular steel Trellis frame, said to be a light yet rigid design.
The Ducati Hypermotard 796 is available for viewing at all Next Bike showrooms nationwide, and is for sale at a retail price of RM79k++.