10,000 Miles with Hyperstrada

RSL what is that rear fender you have there? It looks shorter than my stock.

RSL said:

Now that I have ridden my 2013 Hyperstrada (purchased new in 2015) for 10,000 miles, I have formed some opinions.
1) Very reliable bike. I don’t carry tools. Despite how the bike is abused on potholed and broken backroads the bike holds together well, never a loose bolt or nut.

2) Durable wheels, in spite of impacts, thousands of bad road surface impacts.

3) Not a touring bike. 400 miles and I’m done for the day. However, I knew this when purchasing it and had no expectations of riding cross country.

4) Not a dirt bike. 17” front wheel, very little ground clearance and exposed rear exhaust loop all conspire to limit the bike to the real easy stuff. That said, add knobby tires, skid plate and exploring the easy stuff off-road is indeed fun.

5) Great gas mileage, as I can easily get 50 mpg.

6) Easy to bring with me everywhere. Narrow, reasonably light and easily tied down.

7) For the backroad exploration I so enjoy, this bike is a delight.

8) For twisty highway hooligan fun, this bike is very good.

9) The changes to the suspension and seat have transformed the bike for the better noticed immediately and with each mile of riding.

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So good to hear of the solid reliability of your bike. Gives me hope for the future with my ... still new to me ... new used bike.

I would agree with most all your points except #3 about touring. I don't feel a bike needs to be comfortable for a 400 mile day to qualify as a touring bike.

Obviously the Strada is no GoldWing, FJR or GS, but I do feel it's not too bad doing 200 to 300 miles a day ... with plenty of breaks along the way!

It really helps to NOT be on the Slab and riding fun, twisty back roads of course. But even stretches of fast two lane aren't too bad, IMO.

But I'm still a Noob and have only put about 1200 miles on my bike ... so maybe I will "revise" my opinion when I put another 10K miles on it! Only managed 200 miles in a day so far ... MORE TO COME ... with luck!

Our Bay Area rides rarely cover more than 250 miles/day and often less. Once in a while we do a 400 mile day ... but not often. Our rides are mostly 3 day rides with a few 2 day rides. NO one day rides ever. Nice Sierra ride coming later in October, will report back, hopefully a few pics to share.
RIDE ON!

I saw the evotech tail tidy but your actual rear fender looks quite a bit shorter than my stock 2016 939 fender. Looks like the hypermotard fender. I like it.

Thanks! Just ordered from Ducati of Omaha for $27!

MartyGarrison said:

Thanks! Just ordered from Ducati of Omaha for $27!

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Love me some Ducati of Omaha!

I've always been a bit weird, I love LONG rides but I have yet to see a touring bike that I'm interested in riding. In fact, I somewhat enjoy doing trips on bikes not meant for that purpose. My old bike, a Honda 599 went on several 400+ mile rides with me including a backroads road trip to and from LA. Could have used a better seat but otherwise it was fine.

In comparison the Hypermotard is fantastic. I find the riding ergonomics for my 6'3" frame to be extremely comfortable, and coming from am mountaing biking background, the stance is confidence inspiring (possible more so than is good for me). I've done a few days over 500 miles and aside from general fatigue I've not really found anything about the bike uncomfortable.

I'll be doing a cross country trip next year to celebrate my 40th year on this planet with a ride to and from Colorado, taking time to ensure I can spend as much of that ride as realistically possible off the interstate. The Hypermotard to me is the perfect machine for this.

I'm only 300 miles away from 10,000 myself and aside from a bad O2 sensor and a recent trip into limp mode (dealer is investigating as I type) the bike has given me no issues and lots of grins.

Ooof, I'm not sure 1,000 miles in a day sounds like much fun anyway. Roadtrips I enjoy tend to be 400 - 600 mile days with a focus on fun roads versus highway. First trip I took on this bike was Portland and back allowing two days to ride up and two to ride back. It was great and definitely convinced me I picked the right bike!

Did an 800 mile day on the Hyper in August. Planned some mountain roads on my way to SmallSat but construction denied me, so I had to superslab way more than I wanted. The bike is not fun at this distance per day and 80-90 MPH. Probably won't do that again. Return was 2 days and way more mountain roads and about 1000 miles, parts of it epic. These are the roads I love this bike on.

N4teTheGreat said:

I've always been a bit weird, I love LONG rides but I have yet to see a touring bike that I'm interested in riding. In fact, I somewhat enjoy doing trips on bikes not meant for that purpose. My old bike, a Honda 599 went on several 400+ mile rides with me including a backroads road trip to and from LA. Could have used a better seat but otherwise it was fine.

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Your Honda 599 is a great bike and if set up for LD riding, really not bad, IMO.
I've done plenty of "touring" on smaller bikes too. 60,000 miles on my Suzuki DR650: Colorado, AZ, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, LOTS OF MEXICO and ALL of California numerous times.

Owned a few "light"ADV touring bikes too ... DL1000 V-Strom and Triumph Tiger 1050. 90K on the Vstrom. (a Suzuki press fleet bike!)

Did the UP and Down of Baja on a XR250R (mostly OFF road) and 10 earlier trips throughout Mexico on various bikes from XL600R, XR400, DRZ400E, XR650L, XR250R and KLR650.

Did several cross country rides mid/late 80's on my BMW R100RS, Ninja 750 and TDM850. Honestly, the Vstrom was the best of them all, then comes the DR650. My Hyper is "not yet rated".

N4teTheGreat said:

In comparison the Hypermotard is fantastic. I find the riding ergonomics for my 6'3" frame to be extremely comfortable, and coming from am mountaing biking background, the stance is confidence inspiring (possible more so than is good for me). I've done a few days over 500 miles and aside from general fatigue I've not really found anything about the bike uncomfortable.

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Nate, you have YOUTH on your side! ... and being a cyclist means you are Iron Butt champ over any regular MC rider. TOUGH ... you guys do not feel pain!

I can't figure how big guys fit on the Hyper ... I'm only 5'7" and barely fit on it and it's cramped in seating and puts me TOO CLOSE to bars with little room to move. I've adapted but riding position is not ideal but actually fairly comfortable. (mysterious!)

Was out yesterday 3 hours riding Marin roads. Did pretty good, very little fatigue.

For me the Strada will be used on 200 to 300 mlle days, usually 3 day rides all over California, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and AZ. (90% California)

N4teTheGreat said:

I'll be doing a cross country trip next year to celebrate my 40th year on this planet with a ride to and from Colorado, taking time to ensure I can spend as much of that ride as realistically possible off the interstate. The Hypermotard to me is the perfect machine for this.

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Lots of bikes could do fine on your Colorado ride ... and most "average" riders would look at the Hyper and say "impossible" But we know better!
Go for it Nate!

As you know, on a bike almost anything is "possible. In 1975 I rode a Vespa 150 from Lima, Peru' to Huancayo, Peru'. From sea level up to 9K ft. (up near Macha Pichu)
Really no big deal at the time.

Rode a 350 Jawa two stroke from Oaxaca, Mex to Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, did same trip on a Honda 50 step through! Snapshot of my youth, now I'm fearful, weak and slow ... but wasn't always that way.

Keep on keeping on!