Bird of Prey: Ducati Hypermotard 1100S “Raptor”

Ducati 1100 Raptor from Marc Wilmington…

Back in 2007, the boys from Bologna blurred the lines between motorcycle genres when they introduced the Hypermotard 1100, a supermoto-style machine with a V-twin heart. In actuality, this 90-bhp “Multistrada-on-meth” was a new breed of motorcycle.

“Although the Hypermotard’s DNA is rooted in supermotard-style Singles, designer Pierre Terblanche knew that this bike needed to be something different. A true motocross-derived SM is a hard-edged, unforgiving motorcycle. It’ll rip up and down the tightest roads, embarrassing sportbikes along the way, but what do you do the rest of the time, when the curves in the road get pulled straight?” –Cycle World, 2007

With that big 1078cc air-cooled Desmo twin, the Hypermotard had a “pathological penchant for wheelies” (MCN), while the chassis and brakes gave it an insatiable appetite for twisties.

“It handles like a 600 supersport motorcycle and has the kind of brakes a club-level motorcycle racer would kill for.” –MCN

Enter our new friend Marc Wilmington (@analoguejunkie2020), who’s owned some 30+ bikes since the little Suzuki TS50X two-stroker he bought as a 16-year-old. Most of his machines have been modified with “varying degrees of bolt-on bits,” but Marc decided it was time to step up to full custom builds. A 2009 Hypermotard 1100S (the up-spec model) would be his point of origin.

“I chose the Hyper for its big air-cooled motor, which in turn would make for a clean narrow bike without the fuss of radiators, fans, water pipes, etc. I wanted an aggressive stance with a sharp edgy design — you know, something manufacturers may put out as a concept bike before it gets watered down by the boardroom.”

The result is “Raptor,” which drew a great deal of positive attention at the Bike Shed Show this year. Marc says the fiberglass bodywork was a “baptism of fire,” but the hundreds of hours of work (and “overflowing swear box”) were well worth the effort. It was one of the more striking builds at the show, and Marc says it’s good fun on the backroads.

“With a wet weight of 172 kg and a tweaked ECU, Raptor gets on with it round the twisties, fun under a ton with bags of torque.”

Below, Marc gives us the full story of the build in his own words, and stay tuned for his other build, “Kermit,” coming soon! Photography credits go to David Lloyd for the outdoor shots and our own Roberto Garagarza (@roga______/) for the indoor ones.

In the Builder’s Words…

As a 16-year-old I bought a Suzuki TS50X and that was the start of my biking journey. Thirty-something-bikes later — all of them modified with varying degrees of bolt-on bits, but nothing really custom level (with the exception of Kermit) — I decided to buy a 2009 Ducati 1100S Hypermotard with a view of creating something more form than functional.

I chose the Hyper for its big air-cooled motor, which in turn would make for a clean narrow bike without the fuss of radiators, fans, water pipes, etc. I wanted an aggressive stance with a sharp edgy design — you know, something manufacturers may put out as a concept bike before it gets watered down by the boardroom.

All of my designs are in my head — no drawings, no CAD, no CNC, no 3D printing — just hours of pondering. When I saw the final design in my head, I set about making the custom bodywork from fibreglass, which was a baptism of fire as I’d only ever made a bikini fairing before from the material. A couple hundred hours later and an overflowing swear box, the bike took shape.

The brushed aluminium inset within the fibreglass caused further pain, but the end result was worth it and sets off the SC Projects oil-cooler perfectly.

A custom-fabricated subframe was made and is completely hidden underneath the bodywork for a clean look. ZX-10R forks up front mated to CNC triple clamps along with a modified carbon fibre mudguard. A heavily modified open airbox was created which also houses the ECU and is a very tight fit under the 848 tank.

Wanting to keep the bike as narrow as possible (I hate mirrors), I fitted a rear-view camera with the monitor tucked behind the fairing, which also doubles up as a sat nav (don’t think I will be using that function though with that bar position).

The front lights were purposely selected and positioned to look like eyes, giving the bike that raptor look, especially topped off with the satin traffic black paintwork.

Performance wise, well not to much to write home about, but with a wet weight of 172 kg and a tweaked ECU, Raptor gets on with it round the twisties, fun under a ton with bags of torque.

Thanks to Dave for the photography.