Here's my review of owning and running a 2010 hypermotard 796 for 4 years... I bought the hyper to run alongside my monster and to use the hyper for ferries, shipping abroad and just hooning about when the mood took me. You could say the 796 is the entry level model into hyper ownership and that's a fair summary. The engine is pleasant to ride with steady power and torque. Not the most exciting engine I've had but an easy, predictable ride that is good for anybody wanting to dip their toes into bigger bike ownership. Handling wise, any hyper excels on the back roads and the 796 is no exception, they're great fun on b roads and mountain passes. I've shipped this bike to Italy twice and it were just the right bike for the passes over the apiennes. Second gear hairpin to hairpin, riding the predictable torque sees a satisfying grin and no twitching arse holes. A great bike for riding on undulating rough manx roads too. Comfort wise, you think ooo this is comfy but after 100 miles of being sat bolt upright, my bloody arse cheeks feel like they've got a bloody blow torch on em.... No big deal.... Stop, have a break and get some blood back in your cheeks. The 796 is frugal too, I could easily get 150+ miles out of a tank full, no matter how I rode or behaved. Apart from the usual consumables of tyres, brakes, chain, sprockets, belts and servicing i had no reliability issues.... Apart from a starter relay failing (it behaved like an intermittent immobilizer fault). I liked the flip out mirrors as the hypers look better (IMO) without the mirrors on stalks. The flip outs make filtering difficult but do work well at all other times. I've traded in for a 939 hyper, which is better in every way..... Apart from the mirrors..... I'll review the 939 once I've owned it long enough to give an honest opinion. Hypers aren't really for massive speeds, you're sat upright and anything above the ton feels like you're going to be ripped off the bike. IMO.... They're for blasting on back roads free of traffic and made solely to make you giggle. Note... I fit the heat shield on the exhaust just from trips to stop my throw overs getting melted.
Interested if anyone has suggestions for alternate wing mirrors for the liquid cooled Hypers. I'm not a huge fan of mirrors on stalks either. I found the bar end mirrors I had on my scrambler more useful, less fore arm... Downside with hand guards is they make bar end mirrors look a bit weird. Thinking of trying something similar to this guy...
