History is sprinkled with bikes that only came to exist because of an accidental throwaway comment or a corporate desire to build something for no reason other than for the sake of it. The Honda RCV213V was the result of an alcohol-fuelled conversation, the Kawasaki H2-R exists only as a statement of what they can do if they really had to, the NR750 from Honda also follows the same lines, and in case you’re wondering where I’m going with this, yes, I place the all-new for 2024 Ducati Hypermotard 698 Mono in that same line-up.
According to Ducati, the Mono exists because one of the engine designers on the 1299 Panigale casually suggested one day that now the 1299 V-twin superbike engine had been superseded by the 1100cc V4 layout, he felt that half of a 1299 Panigale engine would make a pretty good singlecylinder engine… and just like that, the project began to add a really niche bike to Ducati’s already niche Hypermotard range. So, now for some anoraking…
It’s not actually half of a Panigale 1299 engine. Contrary to what the name suggests, it is in fact 1285cc and has a bore and stroke of 116mm x 60.8mm. In contrast, the Mono 698 is actually 659cc and has a bore and stroke of 116mm x 62.4mm, so it shares the same huge bore as the Panigale, but it has a longer stroke, presumably to give the torque numbers a bit of help and make it less revvy, which sounds hilarious given that the Mono revs to 10,250rpm. It does make you wonder how high it would have revved if it had the same stroke as the Panigale, but at 10,250rpm, Ducati claims it’s the highest revving and most powerful single-cylinder engine in the world. I have no way of validating this because I have no real knowledge of the arena in which singlecylinder engines are the standard – off-road and MX – so I’ll just agree.
The engine is, of course, wholly new, with a few bits and bobs lifted straight from the Panigale. As well as sharing the same bore size, the Mono shares the same piston, the same combustion chamber design, the same Desmo valve train, the same titanium valves as the 1299 Panigale, and a trick alloy lined cylinder straight from the 1299 Superleggera. It has its own engine casings and crankshaft coupled to two balance shafts for zero primary vibrations, and the covers are magnesium, so to say that it’s a properly trick motor is a fair statement.
Contrary to some reports, it’s not Ducati’s first single-cylinder engine. I’ve got one in my garage from when I made a whim purchase many years ago of a rotten 1960s Ducati Cadet two-stroke. It was rubbish in the 1960s – which is why Ducati abandoned it and focused on sports bikes, thank god – and it’s still rubbish today, but one day I shall get round to putting it all together for no reason other than while it may be rubbish, it is an interesting piece of relatively unknown motorcycling history. There have been others, such as the Supermono race bike, of which only 26 were ever made, and which I would give my right nut for a go on, more than any other Ducati. It was the last Ducati to win at the Isle of TT in the singles race in 1995 – a race for single-cylinder bikes, not people who are single.