Ducati Hypermotard 698 Mono India launch soon

-Officially teased

- Powered by a Superquadro Mono engine

-Makes 77.5bhp and 63Nm

Ducati India has teased the Hypermotard 698 Mono on its social media platforms, announcing its imminent launch. The Hypermotard 698 Mono is the company’s new single-cylinder bike in decades and is expected to be launched in India in two variants- Standard and RVE.

The highlight of the Hypermotard 698 Mono is the 659cc, liquid-cooled Superquadro Mono engine. The big single makes 77.5bhp at 9,750rpm and 63Nm at 8,000rpm. This makes it the most powerful single-cylinder engine in the world. Slapping on the optional Termignoni race exhaust liberates more power and torque, with these above mentioned figures climbing up to 84.5hp and 67Nm, respectively.

It gets a six-speed gearbox and a slip-and-assist clutch and while the RVE has a quickshifter as standard, the base variant can be fitted with one by paying extra money.

The design of the bike borrows cues from the Hypermotard 950, which itself looks pretty mental, so that’s a great base to start with. The Hypermotard 698 Mono has similar, purposeful design which can be seen in shape of the LED headlight with a long beak underneath it, a slim fuel tank, and a neatly fused side and tail section. The twin exhaust pipes are located just under the tail piece, in true Ducati Hypermotard fashion.

The chassis is made up of a steel trellis frame and a steel-tube subframe, with an aluminium swingarm. It has an adjustable, Marzocchi USD fork and a Sachs monoshock to handle suspension duties. The bike has been kitted with Brembo M4.32 brake calipers at the front that bites onto a 330mm disc, while at the rear there is a 245mm disc with a single piston floating caliper.

Ducati has also thrown in a decent set of features such as three power modes, cornering ABS, four ride modes, traction control and a much required wheelie control. The settings for the above mentioned systems can be accessed via a 3.8-inch LCD instrument cluster.

It’ll be interesting to see if Ducati India goes aggressive with the pricing of the Hypermotard 698 Mono when it is launched in a few days.