Adamchildchad Forties, 5'7, has been professionally bike testing for 20-years and has attended more than 350 bike launches and covered over a million road test miles. International road racer, with race wins at Oliver's Mount, podiums in NZ and two top ten TT finishes. Chad is just as happy off-road or on a classic bike.
Ducati hasn’t had a street-legal single-cylinder bike in its range for 50 years but it’s marking its return with the most powerful one-pot production bike on the market in the form of the Hypermotard 698 Mono.
Looking every inch like the baby Hypermotard that its name suggests, the Mono is the launch platform for Ducati’s new Superquadro Mono engine, a high-tech single derived from the 1285cc V-twin used in the 1299 Panigale. With 77.5bhp on tap and a high-revving ability that’s at odds with the single-cylinder format, the new engine means Ducati’s range, once exclusively filled with twins, now features singles, twins and four-cylinders – a variety that’s as wide as almost any rival brand.
The press riding launch took place on a go-kart track near Valencia, Spain for both the standard 698 Mono and an RVE version which is littered with extras including a Termignoni race exhaust that takes peak power to 85bhp. Can the new single-cylinder Hypermotard become the new benchmark for the class first time out?
Pros & Cons
Ultra-powerful single promises impressive performance
High-tech rider aids to make everyone a supermoto god
Long service intervals add a dash of practicality
Tall seat won’t suit everyone
Not that much cheaper than the 114hp Hypermotard 950
RVE graphics aren’t particularly tasteful
Quickshifter isn’t standard
Riding Review: 2024 Ducati Hypermotard 698 Mono
Our first ride review of the 2024 Ducati Hypermotard 698 Mono, the first single-cylinder, road-going 'Supermotard' by Ducati which, at 77.5bhp, is the most powerful supermoto you can buy.
Like the bigger Hypermotard 950, the Hypermotard 698 Mono is offered in both base and ‘RVE’ variants with the latter carrying a relatively small premium for its more eye-catching graphics and slightly upgraded spec.
The base model starts at £10,995, which is £1800 less than the entry-level Hypermotard 950, while the Hypermotard 698 Mono RVE comes in at £11,895, your extra cash buying the black, red, silver and white graphics and dual-colour wheels, and endowing the RVE with a standard-fit up/down quickshifter. The same quickshifter can be optionally added to the base version if you prefer the classic red and black of the base model but want the convenience of clutchless changes. If you’re dipping into the options, you might also be tempted by the Termignoni exhaust that hikes power even further, to 84.5hp, although it’s officially for track use only.
Our test model was an RVE with extras, including a race exhaust (£2093), race seat (£165), sump guard (£88) and race footpegs (£275). Start ticking the extras boxes and suddenly you are over the £14,000 mark, which is more than Ducati’s twin-cylinder Hypermotard RVE. If you just want to add the quickshifter to the standard bike, that’s an extra £242. If you opt for PCP, after a 24% deposit, prices start at a reasonable £111 per month.
Ducati has truly shaken off its ‘V-twins only’ reputation now, with multiple V4 bikes in a variety of specs and capacities accounting for nearly half the company’s range. With the Hypermotard 698 Mono it brings another option to the table in the form of the first mass-production Ducati single since the bevel singles fell out of production in 1974.
In more recent memory, Ducati has only returned to the one-cylinder format once, creating the race-only Supermono – 67 examples were built between 1993 and 1997 – using a 549cc single derived from the 888’s V-twin, and featuring an unusual balancer system with a dummy conrod in the foreshortened, sliced-off front cylinder.
Ducati’s new Superquadro Mono engine doesn’t use the same innovative balancer, instead featuring a pair of balancer shafts – one front, one rear – driven by gears inside the crankcase. But like the Supermono of old, it’s an engine that revs much harder than the ‘thumper’ preconceptions of big singles might suggest.
Sharing the whopping 116mm bore of the 1299 Panigale and combining it with a short, 62.4mm stroke creates a hugely over-square (Superquadro means ‘super-square’) single with a 659cc capacity. And no, we’re not sure why it’s called the ‘698’ Mono either, given that capacity. Ducati’s relationship between exact engine capacity and model numbers has always been a little elastic.
The engine’s design, along with exotic materials, low-friction internal coatings and a high 13.1:1 compression ratio, contribute to the impressive 77.5hp peak at 9,750rpm, with a rev limiter that doesn’t interrupt proceedings until 10,250rpm. For comparison, KTM’s 690 SMC-R – surely the new Hypermotard’s closest rival – has a bigger 693cc engine and peaks at 73.8hp and a much lower 8,000rpm.
The Ducati’s torque is 46.3lb-ft at 8,000rpm, reflecting the downside of such a high-revving engine. For comparison, the KTM makes 52.4lb-ft at 6,750rpm thanks to its larger capacity.
As we’ve come to expect from Ducati, there’s a vast array of rider aids: three power modes, four riding modes, wheelie control, engine brake control, IMU-controlled cornering traction control, cornering ABS, engine brake control, and launch control are all standard. What’s more, the ABS has a ‘slide by brake’ function in two of its modes, allowing the rear wheel to be ‘backed-in’ to corners in true supermoto style while preventing the slide from getting out of control. And while the wheelie control generally aims to maximise performance by keeping the nose on the ground, it also has a ‘Wheelie Assist’ setting to help keep it aloft when you’re showing off. For use away from public roads, of course.
We endured mixed conditions for our launch test in southern Spain, which actually proved beneficial. During the morning the damp and cold conditions on the 1.5km supermoto track persuaded me to select Wet mode with low peak power (58hp), ABS level 4 (that's the max), Ducati Wheelie Control 4 (also the max,) Ducati Traction Control 4 (out of 8) and a mid-setting for Engine Brake Control. I'm giving you all this detail because the hidden beauty of the Hypermotard 698 is its pin sharp electronics and rider aids, so it was worth dialling them in before the lapping began.
The package is so good you can ride around a damp track in relative safety, learning the layout while allowing the road-going Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV tyres to come up to temperature. The Wet mode throttle response is docile and doesn't have the sharp, off-the-bottom feeling of some single-cylinder bikes. In fact, that all-important, closed-to-20%-open throttle connection is lovely… for a single. You can feel the DTC working: there’s a small slide from the rear Pirelli, and then it’s safely caught and brought smartly back in line. Suddenly, track riding in half-wet, half-might-be-wet gets a whole lot more entertaining, and feels completely safe.
Later in the morning, with the track drying, I opted for Road mode. That’s full power (77.5hp), slightly lower levels of electronic intervention and still that exquisitely smooth and accurate throttle connection. As the pace picked up the 698 felt less like a big single and increasingly like an immaculately balanced, parallel twin that loves to rev. Peak power is up at 9,750rpm, which is high for a single, but it will easily rev past 10,000rpm to the limiter 250rpm beyond.
On track, this rev-ability equates to fewer gear changes than a normal supermoto single and allows you to hold on to the rpm between corners – ideal on a tight and twisty circuit, or a tight and twisty road it’s safe to assume. It’s slightly unusual and counter-intuitive to rev the nuts off a single and, at first, I instinctively changed up too early. But you soon learn to be less sympathetic and treat the 698's seemingly friction-free Superquadro Mono like a twin.
In the afternoon we opted for the pricier RVE model complete with a Termignoni exhaust (and air filter and racetrack-only wheelie control) that elevates peak power to 85hp though shoves the asking price up another £2093. I doubt many UK tracks' noise meters will allow the full race system given it chucks out 108.5 dB at 10,000rpm, but the backfire between rapid downshifts on the RVE's quickshifter is hugely addictive.
Even in Sport mode and with 85hp on tap, the power delivery still isn’t aggressive. With the DWC wheelie control deactivated, the front lifts easily in the first three gears, but the 698 still drives smoothly and off the bottom. Supermotos have a reputation for lacking a degree of refinement, but the 698 changes all that. The fuelling, electronics and vibration-eliminating balance shafts bring fresh Ducati sophistication to the class. It will be interesting to see how it performs on the road, especially as the high revving nature of the desmo-valve motor should give it a greater top speed than the competition.
One point Ducati's launch team (deliberately, probably) brushed over is that while the 698 might be the most powerful single-cylinder bike on the market, it doesn’t have the highest peak torque. The three rivals from Austria all use the same motor which trumps Ducati’s single. According to Ducati, 70% of its torque is available from 3,000rpm and 80% from 4,500rpm to 10,250rpm. These are impressive figures, and it certainly has a handsome mid-range, but its super-short stroke doesn’t generate the bottom end wallop of the competition. It's smoother, more refined and hangs onto its power longer, but for sheer gut-churning grunt, it’s left in the shadows.
Keeping weight to a minimum has been Ducati’s goal with the Hypermotard 698 Mono and by using a trellis frame that weighs just 7.2kg, allied to lightweight Marzocchi 45mm forks coming in at 8.1kg and cast alloy wheels instead of wires, saving another 0.5kg, the company has managed to create a machine that weighs just 151kg ready-to-ride, albeit measured without any fuel in the tank rather than in the brimmed state that an increasing number of rivals use for their measurements. A full tank would add around 10kg to the total.
A dual-sided swingarm with a Sachs rising-rate monoshock deals with the rear suspension, and both ends are fully adjustable.
Braking duties are dealt with by a single Brembo M4.32 front caliper and a 330mm disc, aided by a single-pot Brembo and 240mm rear disc and the aforementioned cornering ABS with multiple modes.
While Ducati has upped the ante for the supermoto class in terms of engine performance, the Bologna factory has set a sky-high new benchmark with 698 Mono's rider aids. Comparatively, the competition is in the dark ages. Bosch cornering ABS, engine brake control, traction control, wheelie control, launch control and innovative slide-by-brake strategies combine to allow all riders, no matter what their skill and risk level, to enjoy the bike in safety – complementing the rider, not hindering the fun.
If you’re new to supermoto: add some lean-sensitive traction control and ABS, set the wheelie control low so the front just hovers over the track, and enjoy. As your skills and confidence grow, you electronically trim the bike to how and where you ride.
The Slide-by-Brake Bosch corning ABS is a real game changer and comes with four possible settings. Setting 4 gives conventional lean-sensitive ABS, meaning the rear tyre won't break free or back-in. Level 3, which I used in the wet, is for supermoto novices and allows a small slide. Level 2 allows the rear to back-in on the brakes, but not lock. Level 1 is for experts and has no cornering function; the rear wheel will lock but the front still has ABS.
Getting a bike to back-in is a hard skill to learn. You have to brake heavily, smash down through the gears, balance clutch and rear brake, and do so with enough aggression to break traction. It’s not easy to get right, but very easy to get wrong – all the way to high-side city.
With Slide-by-Brake set at level 2 I could brake heavily, downshift to a low gear, release the clutch jump on the back brake – and allow the electronics to do the rest. They don't turn you into a supermoto guru overnight. You still need to be able to brake hard, unload the rear tyre and turn into the slide but with practice you start to feel the rear tyre break free without worrying the day is about to get messy. Amazing. Even with hot Pirelli slick rubber, I was able to predictably slide the rear into first-gear corners like I might on the PlayStation.
Ducati has also fitted a DWC wheelie control which optimises acceleration, resulting in a hover wheelie. However, Ducati offers a track use only map, which comes with the race exhaust and allows much higher wheelies backed up by a safety net of face-saving electronics. The bad news is that it is only sold for the track with the race kit – sorry.
Even without the elevating genius of the electronics, the chassis works superbly. Both ends are fully adjustable, and both the standard and RVE share the same suspension components: Marzocchi up front, Sachs on the rear. We tweaked the suspension for track use on slick Pirelli rubber, but on the standard bike we ran stock settings.
Ducati has made the 698 work for both foot-out riders and those who stick to knee-down on trackdays. I prefer the knee-down option and even with a tall seat and long- travel suspension (215mm front, 250mm rear) attacking the track on the 698 Mono should feel awkward but doesn’t. The fuel tank is in the conventional position (it's underneath the seat on many rivals) and there’s noticeable weight over the front, so that when ridden reasonably hard it feels more like a conventional sports-naked. You can feel what the front Pirelli is doing, you don’t feel distant from the contact patch.
Mid-corner the pegs did tickle the track on the very odd occasion, but this was only with slick tyres fitted. Even at big lean the Ducati felt planted and didn’t drift wide which some bikes with long-travel suspension can do when ridden hard. On the exit, that wonderfully smooth power delivery – and those cunning electronics – gave the rear tyre an easy time.
As you would expect, the 904mm seat height isn’t accessible for everyone, although there's an optional lower seat that drops it to 889mm. The KTM 690 SMC R has the similar suspension travel (215/240mm), but the seat starts at 892mm stock. I’d also suggest the KTM is thinner and therefore more manageable. Even with the low seat fitted to the 698, it’s still taller than its bigger brother, the 870mm L-twin Hypermotard. It's worth noting that Ducati offer a suspension lowering kit, which drops the bike 40mm from standard.
I’m short (172cm, nearly 5ft 7ins) but I didn’t have too many problems with the Ducati on the standard seat, as the bike only weighs 151kg, wet with no fuel. It’s not like a tall adventure bike that hits the scales at over 200kg and has a huge fuel tank. In fact, the Ducati's dimensions weren't intimidating to me at all, and that's because lightness can often trump height, and Ducati have tried to save weight wherever possible.
As this was a track only test, we didn’t get the opportunity to test comfort, tank range or fuel economy. The 698 Mono houses a 12-litre fuel tank in the conventional position, and Ducati quote 4.8l/100km or 59mpg. Ducati are usually accurate with their claimed mpg, which means around 140-160miles between fill ups.
On track the Ducati didn’t vibrate or send tingles via the pegs and levers, despite the high revs. However, we only rode in shorts stints and will have to revisit the 698 again on the road to test comfort, over distance and at high speed.
While the Hypermotard 698 Mono is packed with electrickery when it comes to rider-assists it doesn’t pamper you with luxuries – this is a stripped-back machine aimed at maximising rider enjoyment, not cossetting you with distracting tech.
There’s a simple LCD dashboard display tucked behind the numberboard-style front cowl, without any of the colour TFT frippery that’s common elsewhere, but it is ‘Ducati Link Ready’ to allow phone connectivity for infotainment. The RVE gets a quickshifter as standard, optional on the base model, and the options list also includes the Termignoni race exhaust, a race seat, ‘motard’ footrests, various protective parts and an array of carbon-fibre and billet aluminium cosmetic bolt-ons.
The compact 3.8-inch LCD display is a little small compared to other models in Ducati’s range but, compared to the supermoto competition, it’s way ahead. I preferred to change the modes and the settings in the pits, stationary, not out on track as they are not as immediately clear or straightforward as they are on larger bikes in the Ducati family. There is a lot of information to squeeze onto a smallish display. Furthermore, you can’t fully turn off the rider aids on the move; this has to be done at a standstill, which Ducati says is for safety reasons.
I think the Hypomotard 698 Mono's price is justified by its level of finish, tech and outstanding track performance but, for over £10K, shouldn’t a quickshifter come as standard? And while I’m grumbling, the span adjustable levers are still too far away on minimum settings, but I do have hands the size of a 10-year-old.
All the key rivals to the Hypermotard 698 Mono are from the KTM empire – with the closely-related 690 SMC R, Husqvarna 701 Supermoto and GasGas SM 700 offering the most direct competition to the Ducati in terms of style, performance and price.
I have always loved supermotos but they have always been niche, a tad basic and taken plenty of skill to ride as they’d been designed. Ducati has broken the mould and set a new benchmark for this class with this new Hypermotard 698 Mono.
The free-revving Superquadro Mono is a wildly oversquare peach of a single, the most powerful one-lunger you can buy. It works equally well at low and high speeds, thanks to a hunger for revs and excellent fuelling at low speeds, and even has wide, 10,000-mile oil change intervals. The chassis is light, more like a conventional naked bike, which can still cut it on track, knee down or foot out.
But the individual rider aids and overall electronics package set the Ducati above the competition. They won't turn you into a supermoto legend overnight but they will make supermoto riding more accessible for more riders – they teach and help you develop as a rider. They help make the 698 a machine capable of offering safe fun for inexperienced riders or being a winter training tool for a MotoGP megastar. Not many bikes can do that.
We still need to test the Hypermotard on the road. Will it, for example, lack some mid- and bottom-end compared to the competition? But on first impressions, Ducati has done an outstanding job with their first single-cylinder supermoto.
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