I love my Hypermotard EVO SP; its agility, handling, responsiveness and the liveliness of the engine are unmatched. Easily one of the most fun bikes you can ride, and it looks GORGEOUS too.
Still, the bike was fundamentally flawed. I got the full 2-1 Termi installed before even picking it up new from the dealer, thinking that it would address the stalling and fueling issues other owners were complaining about. It did not.
From the get go, the bike's fueling was unpredictable. The engine would sometimes shut off when pulling in the clutch to downshift. It would happen a lot more after holding the gas steady for a while (say, after riding on a freeway for a stretch). It happened a couple of times while doing quick downshifts entering a corner at significant speed - major sphincter contractions followed as the corner was taken on a dead bike.
Several trips to the dealer followed - they adjusted and tuned all the obvious things, multiple times. It helped a bit, for a while, then back to random stalls. As the miles went up it got even more unpredictable - sometimes I could go a few days without an issue, then it would die on me 5 or 6 times just coming back from work. On top of that, the bike's fueling under 4K was always on the rough side - keeping a steady throttle below 5K or so was almost impossible without lurching/hesitation.
I know people on this forum are well aware of the above issues. Anyhow, as you can imagine confidence in a bike is soon lost when there is a chance that shutting the throttle and pulling the clutch could result in the engine dying. I finally had enough and decided to get the bike properly sorted out.
Took it to my friend Tige at CycleMall in Tustin (
----Welcome to CM Motorsports----) and he put a Bazzaz FI unit on and did a custom map on the dyno. The results are amazing: no more stalling, not a hint of lurching or hesitation, I can hold the throttle steady at 3K RPM and it is just a perfectly smooth low frequency rumble. So awesome...
All of the insane backfiring is also gone - infrequent loud "pops" now only happen when cutting power hard (which is great fun) as opposed to being obnoxiously omnipresent.
And Tige did not stop there. After riding the bike he pronounced the handling "horrible" (he does that
) - he then lowered the rear and raised the triple clamp some until he was happy with it. Again, the results were remarkable. Relaxing the geometry just a bit really calmed the front end. Cornering is much more linear, without that excessive initial drop. The bike just
rolls side to side - there is also less dive on hard braking. Those that are bothered by the frontend and blame the suspension should try the same change - it really improves handling exponentially.
Overall, the bike feels totally transformed - its promise finally fulfilled. If you are having similar issues then it is worth taking the plunge.
Now I can't wait to take it to the track!
However: Speaking from personal experience; Lowering the ride height in the rear is a bad idea. I had it "there" at first... After taking it to the track, and not feeling the front end "plant to grip" sufficiently, a friend (08Hyper Alex) advised Mi to jack the ride-height link up ala stinkbug, so that more weight could be on the front wheel, permitting hotter corner entry. The brakes are incredible on this bike, I always want to push it to see how late/hard I can brake!
You mean Willow Springs 
Linear Mode
