Project Ducati Hypermotard Part 1

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The Ducati Performance exhaust kit is quite complete coming with the exhaust, tail tidy, ECU, higher flowing airbox lid and all hardware.

AMS’s work on the tail of the bike got rid of a bunch of weight and even more ugly.

Since Project Hypermotard is intended to be a daily driver and a road trip machine, we wanted to keep the all inclusive Ducati factory 2 year warranty and not mess up our bikes reliability.  The solution was really cool.  Ducati, like Toyota’s TRD, Mazda’s Mazdaspeed and Nissan’s Nismo, has its own high performance division Ducati Performance. Ducati performance parts are not only really cool but they do not affect the factory warranty.  This is the perfect solution for us. Our first step of mods was mild and more in-line with cosmetic upgrades.  We basically ordered a full complement of Ducati Performance carbon parts and upgraded the stock exhaust.

The Ducati Performance Exhausts are made by Italian performance exhaust manufacture Termignoni.  For the Hypermotard there are two offerings, one that emulates the stock exhaust that is 2-1-2 configuration with twin mufflers.  This exhaust is more street styled and is quieter.  For performance reasons, we opted for the race configured 2-1 exhaust.  The 2-1 exhaust features stainless tubing with a carbon muffler with a titanium end cap.  The 2-1 exhaust is a whopping 15.5 lbs lighter than stock and has improved ground and cornering clearance. The muffler has a removable DB killer plug to quiet the system down if you want the look without the noise.

The exhaust comes with a higher flowing air box lid and a special ECU tuned for the exhaust system.  New rear panels for the tail are also included. What we didn’t like was that we had to take off our sexy S model carbon tail panels and replace them with the plastic ones compatible with our exhaust.  Ducati makes optional carbon panels for the exhaust but we had to pay extra for them!

Although we did not dyno the bike at this point, Ducati claims a 6% hp boost and most people see around a 4-5 whp boost with the exhaust.  Most importantly, the exhaust brings the weight of our bike down to an amazing 371 lbs!  That’s pretty darned light for an 1100cc big bike and about equivalent to some dual purpose bikes with an order of magnitude more performance!  The weight is removed high and rearward in the chassis, probably the best place to remove it for handling purposes.

When riding the bike, we left the DB killer off as we think that a loud bike actually helps safety as it focuses the attention of nearby car drivers on you!  The exhaust, ECU and airbox lid made a noticeable seat of the pants difference in power, remember most people can feel 5 whp on a 2500 lb car, on a 371 lb motorcycle is it definitely noticeable!  The power was increased smoothly across the board and the thumpy beat of the 90 degree twin was musical.