Grendel spent the better part of a week ripping through northern Italy and the dolomites in rented motorcycles. There were five of us on what was to be two hypermotards (S models); two on monsters (1100 S models); and the new version of the Multistrada. Grendal had one of the Hypers. As the group pulled out, quick wheelies showed the other Hyper to be below par as it quickly blew it's fork seals. Flipping around back to Lucca, we got a Streetfighter S as a replacement for the same price. 

Now the group was finally off. Our route took us north to Sirmione; then to Passo Del Stelvio; then to Feltre; then back to Lucca. A total of 9 passes were ridden and across the alpinini's twice, doing 260 to 300 miles a day. For Italy it was a lot of miles each day. Starting at 8 and ending at 7 most days (with Italian lunches in between). 

The hyper is brilliant. Wonderful bike. So here is the comparison to the Superduke. They don't. The engines are completely different, one being air cooled the other water.  The hyper's motor needs a lot more shifting to keep it on the boil. If kept up above 6k it is a great motor. Below that is okay. but is not as responsive. It took a lot of down shifts to make sketchy passes between cars at high altitude. 

Suspension is more compliant and honestly better for the roads than the Superduke. The roads were perfectly smooth to teeth jarring rough. The hyper just soaked them up. 

Handling is  brilliant. The bike can be thrown from side to side with ease As picked up the bike had new tyres. Grendel quickly scrubbed them to the edges - something he usually reserves for the track. And it did not feel as if he rode with any less margin. 

It was a good thing Grendel rode in italy as the towns are close together. The fuel range is a joke. The bike had a set of arrow pipes and Grendel thinks that was just to let the petrol escape faster!  And the pipes had a horrible resonance on deceleration. Grendel wished he could escape from his pipes after one day. 

The other thing Grendel did not like was the open dry clutch. When cutting through holiday traffic and super tight hairpin corners, the clutch started to overheat and fail. When really pushed it would be better to have a wet clutch. 

On the whole, Grendel could live with one - but it is 
A different tool than the SD.

and you run out of clearance with the pegs too soon!!!

but i found that the hyper had better torque down low than the SD up to about 4kRPM but you need to change gears a lot to make the most of it. You do have to ride it very differently but it is an easy bike to throw around, it is just not as forgiving as the SD chassis

what did the trip cost you grendel if you dont mind me asking with the bike hire and stuff , sounds like an awesome adventure , any piccies ?

Grendel has not added the cost yet. He is playing in Cinque Terre watching titties now. Pics will follow.

Cool hoilday, yes, pics please

Would a comparison with your new single be closer? Needs to be kept on the boil, quick direction changes etc.

Yes pics please

That is actually a much better comparison. The hyper fits right in between the two. The seating position is very close to the SMC. It is not as easy to stand up on the hyper as the SMC. The seat is obviously nicer on the hyper. The way you use the motors is similar but the hyper is way more flexible.