The Hypermotard style bike and why???

Ok, now we get to the meat of the decision to be made. Firstly, you may ask, why choose something so impractical as one of these Hypermotards. 

Well lets define a couple of things firstly: 

What is a Hypermotard (as a class)?

Do you know what a Supermotard is? Or Supermoto, or Motard? All of these terms are interchangable by the way... I guess the simplest explanation is it's a hot MX bike with road styled tyres, stiffer suspension with a little less travel, an goes like the showers of... One of the most exciting forms of racing, in my opinion, on the planet. If you haven't seen SuperMoto racing, check this out:

And the FIM SuperMoto Championship:

Now as you can see, these aren't your average dirtbikes. Big brakes, big slides, big jumps and big balls, all performed on grooved slicks.

But these aren't Hypermotards. SuperMotards are light, fast, and exciting no matter which way you look at it. The French and Americans argue constantly over who invented the sport. I don't personally care who came up with the idea first, I'm just glad someone did.

And... here's my all time favorite SuperMotard:

What is a HyperMotard?

So if SuperMotards are small, lightweight, dirtbike based bikes, surely a HyperMotard has to be better? Um... no. Generally they're kind of enigma's. Heavy, underpowered for their weight (when compared to litre bikes, which is realistic due to engine capacity) with short ranges due to fuel tank sizes, and one would think impractical. However, they have massive benefits. 

Wide bars, massive ground clearance, and rake/trail dimensions that allow them to turn extremely quickly. They will, in most real world situations, embarrass their bigger brethren through the corners.

To me, they're the perfect Sunday and about town ride. Bear in mind, my R1 is, in real world terms, ridiculously overpowered for street riding, especially where I live. We have no wide open turns, hell the two twisty roads we have in the region are good for... Not much. Here's an example, some clown on an 05 R1 doing one of the roads...

Mount Stuart

So owning a 195 RWHP 07 R1 (horsepower calculated using Dyno Dynamics conversions to suit a Dynojet Dyno) is kind of wasted on our goat tracks...

Sure a WR 450 Motard would be cool, with all the bling, and all the go fast goodies, but would be even more impractical. I still like riding to my destination. So in reality, a Hypermotard bike would perfectly compliment the litre bike, by my way of thinking.

I toyed with the idea of a V-Max, however, after my experience owning an FJR-1300, I am concerned I would get bored with blazing the tyres, and going really fast in a straight line... I live for that next bend. 

So... A hypermotard styled bike to me is ideal. Mostly because you're always judicious with the throttle on the R1, especially exiting corners, where as something with about 100RWHP lerss, you can hit the throttle stops so much quicker...

Next up, I'll compare the 4 bikes I am looking at...