LAUGHTER HOURS

This! This is the greatest single of all time!

- Kartik Ware

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. While a certain orange-clad set of people from Austria have been disguising gritted-teeth grimaces as smiles since November 2023. That's when Ducati unveiled the Hypermotard 698 Monowith the most powerful production single-cylinder motor in the world, a title that KTM held for its 690cc LC4 engine for a long, long time. For my part, I've been slowly stewing in anticipation, waiting to get my hands on the Mono. Why? Because I believe, even for a hot-blooded company like Ducati, it takes more passion to build a mad single like this than an all-conquering superbike. And the result is mono-cylinder mirth delivered desmo style.

Within a few minutes of riding the bike, I knew that this was not a machine for beginners. Ducati might be famous for its L-twins and V4s, and this might be 'just' a single, but it's every bit as potently rabid as you'd expect a performance-chasing Ducati to be. On one occasion, the Mono flew past 170 kph, and it suddenly felt like I was on Harry Potter's broom with a handlebar. The Mono's narrow, tall and light physique is quite unique, and is easily the most honest rendition of the supermotard genre to ever go on sale in India.