Any supermoto riders?

[northernboy]

Last time I was around this way, I was riding a 'Blade. Since then, I noticed that I was having more fun riding my dirt bike on the roads, so sold the 'Blade, and bought a Husqvarna WR250 enduro bike, with a set of road wheels and sticky rubber.

I now have a bike with a 50 mile tank range, which requires oil to be mixed with the petrol every time I fill up, and which only has 60bhp.

On the plus side, it weighs 109kg, and makes me grin. A lot. It feels back how biking did when I very first started.

Anyone else around here done the same sort of thing?

[a j]

No but seriously thought about it a few months ago. Ideally need one as well as the R6 (and the poss race bike and the poss trials bike....speed boat....plane..)

[raceboy]

Well my bike is a sort of SuperMoto style, but not exactly the screaming beast I'd like, it's a Cagiva SuperCity with is a crap name which is why the stickers have been removed just leaving the 'UrbanCross' ones
It's only a 125 (the same engine you get in a Mito) which I'm on 1st name terms with the insides of (see another thread somewhere)
It's a bit underpowered and a bit heavy to be a proper supermoto but it was ideal for the commute when it was all slow speed bobing and weaving, now it's a high speed blast it's not happy
Respect due to the supermoto rider I met the other Sunday going around Nottingham ringroad when I was in the car getting bored by the specs cameras, nice wheelie through the cameras and loved the fact you couldn't see your plate until you stood it up on the back wheel

[northernboy]

Part of the reason I bought mine was that I simply wasn't getting the best from my 'blade. I was able to circulate the local roundabout just as fast on my enduro bike as on the Honda, which is a bit poxy. I can now corner much harder on my current bike, as the squashy suspension and upright riding position give me more confidence to push properly hard. If one end lets go, it's generallly no hassle. When I lost either end on the 'Blade, it was a bit scary.

I can do jumps on this bike too. Something I've always wanted to be able to do.

[rsvnigel]

northernboy said:

I can do jumps on this bike too. Something I've always wanted to be able to do.

Pah, I've launched the mille of a humpback bridge and on a couple of crests on the A68

Still fancy a CCM R30 though.

[northernboy]

rsvnigel said:

northernboy said: I can do jumps on this bike too. Something I've always wanted to be able to do. Pah, I've launched the mille of a humpback bridge and on a couple of crests on the A68 Still fancy a CCM R30 though.

I test rode one of those, and it nearly put me off the idea of a supemoto alltogether. Underpowered, uninspired power delivery, heavy, and slow steering.

It's a bit like if you test drove a vectra to see how a Lotus Carlton was...

[cazzo]

Have been considering one for a while, have had motocross and road bikes and thought that the combination of the two would be fun - then a mate of mine got a KTM 660 LC4 absolute stonking fun! and definitley quicker on the narrower 'B' roads than the 916. I'm seriously considering one, although I did also want another 'crosser and I'd really like to keep the Ducati.............Mmmmmm what to do......... - I know sell the kids for medical experiments!!! but then the wife would me, ah well just have to go on dreaming.

[ninjaboy]

I miss my trail bike so much

[T.K.E]

Ooops, missed this topic, but here's a picture of my bike:



It's a 1988 Yamaha YZ250, so it's quite old and currently being subjected to a full rebuild. Might buy myself a WR450 next year and get a set of 17" wheels for it, though ultimately I'd love a Vertemati.

[chief-0369]

what makes a good supermoto?

Someone on here said good ones were customised by their riders, standard ones were too heavy and not powerfull enough

[Northernboy]

chief-0369 said:

what makes a good supermoto? Someone on here said good ones were customised by their riders, standard ones were too heavy and not powerfull enough

Well, they are supposed to be very light, have very high end componentry, and to be quite powerful. This means that the best supermotos are made from off road machines. Motocross or enduro bikes weigh around 100kg nowadays, and can put out about 60bhp. If you take one of them, and put on light road wheels (Talon hubs and excel rims being the norm), and a bigger front brake, you are left with a supermoto.

The "problem" with factory built supermotos is that they have tend to have a fair amount less power (around 40bhp), and to wigh more like 150-160kg.

They still have the riding position, the suspension travel, and the slim design of the performance based bikes, but are a long way behind in performance. Like I said above, the CCM 640 I test rode was bad enough that I nearly never bought one.

The Husqvarna 250, on the other hand, felt every bit as fast as my 'Blade away from the lights.

So, it's not so much that the best ones are modified, but that they come from a different starting point. It's hard for the factories to produce a bike like this, as riding on the roads puts the engine and transmission under very different strains to on the dirt (on the dirt, the back breaks away when you get the power down, on the road, it sticks), so they'd struggle to make them mreliable enough. A grand prix MX bike makes a great hooligan tool, but will never last as long as a bike with softer engine, cush drive, and so on.