What's life going to be like with Ducati's Hypermotard 698 Mono? I'm going single to find out

It was back in October 2023 when I first heard about Ducati’s allnew single. I’d been invited to interview Engine Director, Stefano Fantoni and during the hour-long discussion, he introduced me to the Superquadro Mono – Ducati’s first single in 30 years and created, essentially, using one barrel from
the Panigale 1299.

The resulting architecture meant that the 659cc Superquadro Mono has a gaping 116mm bore just like the twin-pot superbike but with a slightly longer stroke (62.4mm) to give it massively oversquare dimensions and an insatiable ability to rev.

As Stefano went on to tell me about its fat torque curve, with over 80% of its 46lb.ft available from 4250rpm all the way to the 10,250rpm redline, I longed to experience it and prayed it’d be wrapped inside a gorgeous modernday Supermono.

So when it was announced that the new engine would be powering a new supermoto, I was a bit confused, but no less eager.

After a whole summer spent with the Monster SP, I got my hands on the new Hypermotard Mono a whole 11 months after first learning about it – and as the best of the weather was coming to an end. Just my luck.

No matter, the Hypermotard 698 Mono is unashamedly singleminded (no pun intended) so using it to blast across town on my commute to and from the office was the perfect way to get to know the model Ducati hope will act as a shot of youth serum for their customer base.

This one’s the RVE model which means it comes with a bi-directional quickshifter, as well as ‘street artwork-inspired’ Graffiti colour scheme.

After clambering aboard (at 904mm, it’s certainly tall), I instantly adopt supermoto attack position, perched as far forward as possible and arms spread wide.

This stance engages something in my brain that says ‘banzai!’ and spend the next glorious half hour giving it huge handfuls of throttle, braking late into roundabouts and, basically, behaving like a bit of a
wazzock.

Had my collar been felt by an officer of the law during the ride my defence would’ve been ‘it wasn’t me, it was my bike’.

Whilst this is wonderful for putting a smile on your face during an otherwise dreary cross-town commute, it has made me wonder whether this single-minded aggression will wear a bit thin after a while, or will I discover hidden depths? Time will tell…