Word has it that Ducati’s been hard at work in the lab, gearing up for a new bike drop – and if the whispers are on the mark, we’re looking at the potential of a single-cylinder Hypermotard for the coming 2024 model year.
Coverage from Motorcycle Sports states that their readers found a photo on Moto.it; in the image, we see what appears to be a tweaked Ducati machine – a Hypermotard, to be precise, featuring fresh styling that was undergoing various tests on Italy’s roads.
While there’s not enough of the tail end to see if we are dealing with a single-cylinder situ, Autocar India supplies the inclusion of a USD fork (complete linked monoshock), and Motorcycle Sports reminds us that we’ve already had notice of a new, liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine that Ducati filed with the NHTSA last year.
This new heart will purportedly carry anywhere upwards of 659cc of displacement – though Miguel Fragoso reminds us that this is not set in stone:
… even if the cubic centimeters were 630, it would still make sense as half the displacement of the Testastretta V2. Such an engine could have a power output of at least 70 hp, if not 80, which would make it quite possibly the most powerful single-cylinder engine on the market, replacing the KTM 690.”
– Miguel Fragoso (Motorcycle Sports)
What do you think Ducati has in store for the rest of their World Première 2024 episodes?