FEATURE
Just like cassette tapes and mullets, Motards used to be massive. As a kid, I'd say one in three of the bikes we rode to school on were of a long travel, park bench, kick-start disposition. I never went down that route, but over the years I had a few blasts on converted 450cc motocross bikes, making about 40bhp and weighing naff all. They were a right laugh, and a seasonal highlight was watching the British championship round at Cadwell Park.
The mad thing is that as fast as the supermotard scene came aroundthem is a massive emphasis on fun and performance above anything else. Ducati's Hypermotard 950 is a bike I know relatively well, having ridden it on a few occasions. The model's launch was out in the Canary Islands on a private race track, and slinging that thing around there was one of the best rides I've ever had, putting to bed any doubts I had that the big-barrel behemoth would be too large for its own good. It sounded epic too, letting rip with the twin and bouncing it off the limiter. Skids, wheelies, endos et al were the order of that day, building a level of adoration for the model I didn't realise was possible. In that context, at that test, it made so much sense. I guess that's why I was hyped to hop on one again and explore its idiosyncrasies on a bunch of back roads.
