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Taking your Hyperstrada Off Road

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psimon55

Joined May 2013
45 Posts | 0+
Woodland Park, CO
I am starting a thread dedicate to those of us who (foolishly?) take our Hypers off the pavement. I am inspired by this dude who did the continental divide trail on a hypermotard:

Gear | time to get rolling

Let's talk suspension settings/mods, DTC and ABS setups, tires, post pics...

I have only done dirt roads so far, but plan on taking it up some passes here in Colorado. Anyone else got their Hypers dirty yet?
 
I plan on doing some dual sporting with the Hyperstrada as soon as I get it protected and put on some TKC 80s. I'm talking some decent forest roads, not dirt bike stuff, unless I accidentally end up there
 
maddoggie501 said:
I plan on doing some dual sporting with the Hyperstrada as soon as I get it protected and put on some TKC 80s. I'm talking some decent forest roads, not dirt bike stuff, unless I accidentally end up there
Click to expand...

...you'll allways end up there:)

BTW, I think turning the bike into decent offroading will require upgraded suspension and other wheels.
 
Geirolaf said:
...you'll allways end up there:)

BTW, I think turning the bike into decent offroading will require upgraded suspension and other wheels.
Click to expand...

I agree, especially the suspension part. I might talk to race tech about it to see if they have any suggestions.
 
When you say upgraded suspension are you talking about how stiff the stock suspension is and needing to soften it up, or the travel of the suspension, or am i totally off the mark? With the tires i was talking to my ducati tech and he said if the tires are not to the same spec and you have traction control on the bike will freak out. I didn't quit understand how the traction works when your leaned over but he said it has something to do with that.

There are some rides up in alaska i would like to do that are on less than un-improved dirt roads.

Thanks

Anthony
 
I fully intent to Adventureize my Strada that is why I bought it and all the haters that say Ducati’s are too pretty to get dirty or say you can’t go anywhere with 17” wheels well I say they can go suck it come follow me on their 1200GS and big KTMs!!

Like I said in the TCK80 thread I am looking at the Metzler Karoo 3 on the rear and the Metzler Sahara 3 on the front in a 130, we are so limited in size choices right now. I would do the TCK80 with a little prodding but the longevity is my only issue and I want to give the new Karoo 3s a shot.

Suspension wise I think I’ll do what S10 did to start putting 5WT oil in the forks to start then evaluate from there with real world jeep trail testing, not single track.

Woody’s Wheel Works here in Denver has built Spoke wheels for lots of Ducati’s on Excel rims over the years for Multistrada and Hypermotards so if need be they can be had albeit for a price.

I personally have been hounding the aftermarket folks about farkles like better sump guards, water pump guard, radiator guard, engine guards, larger foot pegs and bigger fuel tanks with mixed results. Venders like Touratec, Altrider, Twisted Throttle, Strada Avvneturose, Woody’s Wheel Works and California Cycle Works along with Belleview Ducati near Seattle home of the Adventure Hypermotard.
I should be able to post up some dirty pictures after this weekend……
 
Jerdog53, we have so many great off road rides in the southwest, it would be a shame not to utilize the bikes full potential. I sold my adventure tourer and a dual sport Husky for this bike and I plan on making it work. I think I'll try a short dirt ride today and see how bad the front suspension really is. It's a bumpy rock road with some washout ruts. No problem with any adventure bikes in the past. Just stand up and enjoy the ride.
 
Have not done any offroad, but if it is anything like the ST, crawling around in 1st and 2nd brings the temps up and fan runs nearly all the time.

I really like the Hepco & Becker bashplate protection on the ST, it has survived many big hits, but no jumping. Alpine tunnel is a good example of rocks to be careful of.

Also this motor is a beast in the lower gears, at least in Touring and Sport, have not tried urban. The ST has "T" mode and pretty gentle for walking around in rocks and offroad trails.
 
jerdog53 said:
I fully intent to Adventureize my Strada that is why I bought it and all the haters that say Ducati's are too pretty to get dirty or say you can't go anywhere with 17" wheels well I say they can go suck it come follow me on their 1200GS and big KTMs!!

Like I said in the TCK80 thread I am looking at the Metzler Karoo 3 on the rear and the Metzler Sahara 3 on the front in a 130, we are so limited in size choices right now. I would do the TCK80 with a little prodding but the longevity is my only issue and I want to give the new Karoo 3s a shot.

Suspension wise I think I will do what S10 did to start putting 5WT oil in the forks to start then evaluate from there with real world jeep trail testing, not single track.

Woody's Wheel Works here in Denver has built Spoke wheels for lots of Ducati's on Excel rims over the years for Multistrada and Hypermotards so if need be they can be had albeit for a price.

I personally have been hounding the aftermarket folks about farkles like better sump guards, water pump guard, radiator guard, engine guards, larger foot pegs and bigger fuel tanks with mixed results. Venders like Touratec, Altrider, Twisted Throttle, Strada Avvneturose, Woody's Wheel Works and California Cycle Works along with Belleview Ducati near Seattle home of the Adventure Hypermotard.
I should be able to post up some dirty pictures after this weekend"¦"¦
Click to expand...

Jerdog, thanks for all the great tips. I am going to try the D616 as I ride mostly on roads and I think the TKC80 is too dirt oriented. The Karoo 3 only comes in a 170 and I haven't been able to find one in stock. It's great to know that Woody's in an option if all else fails.

I sent Ducati of Belleview an email but they did not reply. I am also looking for engine/radiator/exhaust protection without any success.
 
psimon55 said:
Jerdog, thanks for all the great tips. I am going to try the D616 as I ride mostly on roads and I think the TKC80 is too dirt oriented. The Karoo 3 only comes in a 170 and I haven't been able to find one in stock. It's great to know that Woody's in an option if all else fails.

I sent Ducati of Belleview an email but they did not reply. I am also looking for engine/radiator/exhaust protection without any success.
Click to expand...

I bought my bike through Ducati Bellevue. They get their parts through the above suppliers and work with some to develope. I talked to AltRider which is in the area and they were going to try and get their hands on Bellevue's strada so they can develope some after market parts. They asked for my bike but I am too far away. James is Ducati Bellevue's parts manager, so if you call ask for him. He is easy to work with.
 
I gotta say, I get stuck in some form of traffic on my Strada every morning and I'm very impressed with the heat dissipation. Every sport bike I owned cooked my calves and thighs during FL summers just idling for a stop light. But, chuggin along below 30 in 1st/2nd is not fun. I think really loose/slow trail work would be a lot of clutch work, even in Urban mode.

You adventurous types should give these stock Skorpion's an honest trail test. It would be nice to know their limits in the off chance I have to get dirty.
 
I am very impressed with the K60 scout on the ST, but we have a 19" front.

However, they do make a 120/80/17 front.
Largest rear is 150/70/17, which might not be the best. The mileage on these tires is unreal. Over 10,000 miles with plenty of tread tho somewhat squared from lots of hwyway. ST weighs 650 lbs or more with camping gear and panniers plus topcase loaded. Would think the lightweight HyperStrada would get bunch better wear.
 
Well I just came back from a dirt ride up the back of Sandia Mountain. It's a bumpy, rocky road with hard pack dirt, no loose sand. I must say the stock Scorps were not an issue. They did great. I may not need to do the TKC 80's unless sand is present. I set the bike up in Urban mode and had DTC and ABS turned off. I cruised mostly in 2nd gear at about 20 mph. The engine got up to about 215 and just stayed right there. The front end beat me up. It seems to have little compression and to much rebound. Hopefully either Race Tech or Progressive will come out with a fix. I stood on the pegs the whole time and will be looking for a larger set of pegs, like Piviot Pegz. Im only 5-8 and the bars were about 1 inch to low so my back started hurting since i was leaned over a bit. However, I was definitely impressed with the bike and those minor issues can eventually be fixed. It did just as good as any BMW or Triumph Explorer bikes I have owned. The good thing if it fell, I could probably get it off the ground. Those other bikes took 2 to 3 guys to lift them. Very happy and will look to fix the front end as soon as possible. Might even try the 5 wt oil trick others have had success using.
 
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Righting the bike on your lonesome has got to be a huge deal for the adventure crowd. I don't know much about the enduro lifestyle but I've seen plenty of GS/KTM's that would take 3 guys to lift. I was 140 in college and could pick up my '00 R6 by myself (yes, multiple times). It was about 420 dry, if I recall. I'm sure the bags and wide bars would help with getting some leverage.

Maybe the hard core ADV guys have a "don't ride alone" motto but, I don't scrub a ride if I don't have a buddy. In fact, sometimes it's kinda nice to ride solo.
 
maddoggie501 said:
(snip)
However, I was definitely impressed with the bike and those minor issues can eventually be fixed. It did just as good as any BMW or Triumph Explorer bikes I have owned.
Click to expand...

Good to hear that maddoggie.

I went on a long ride last weekend on my Monster, it was 500 km trip and 200 km of those was on a really bad road condition, which I didn't expect. It was not off road, but normal road that has been neglected and not maintained by the local government and has deteriorated to almost off road like. I could only ride at 10-30 kph. Anyway, that trip made me sure that I would need a Tiger 800 XC or 800GS or a Sertao if I want to carry out my plan to ride around the country, cause I don't know how the road conditions are.

But your post sure gives me hope that a Hyper can handle bad road condition :D

The dealer here still doesn't have the hyper yet, they said late June or early July.
 
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We have a lot of dirt, sand and gravel roads that I will eventually explore. I just hate to get a sparkly new bike dirty. Yes this bike can be picked up easily by one small individual. I'm 5'-6" 160 lbs and had to do it. :eek: It has something to do with being short and trying to get the kick stand up. Hence the lower seat now and no center stand to get in the way. There I said it, I fell over.:D
 
S10, I haven't seen the K60 scout front in a 120/80/17 their site only lists 19" and 21" for the front the rear lists a 130 rear that could go on the front"¦

Reifenwerk Heidenau

I suspect that the radiator guard for the Multi12 will fit the Strada maybe somebody that has both bike like WildBill can confirm this same with the foot pegs. Speaking of footpegs SW-Mototec makes a reasonable priced set for the Multi12.

phpO1H0VS.jpg




I rode the Rampart Range road yesterday afternoon that runs along the foothills south of Denver all dirt with wash board, gravel and had no issues with handling! The suspension was fine for my buck 50 weight and better than I'm used to. Not having much experience with well suspended bikes I don't know what I'm missing. I did get the DTC to go off a time or two spinning the back tire and did not get busy with it enough to have the ABS go off, still getting a feel for the girl, couple of guys on big thumpers gave my quite the eye most likely thinking what the heck is that. Lots of twistys up in that area for big grin factor as well! :D
 
On page 8 of the owner's manual is says "this motorcycle may be used on dirt roads or for off-road riding"


You have no excuse now!
 

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