Supermotos - cool or pikey?
Discussion
I'm thinking of graduating to a 'proper' motorbike (my current 'bike is a CVT learner machine, which has helped introduce me to two powered wheels but won't exactly set the world alight), and I've become quite interested in supermotos - KTMs and their ilk.
They appeal to me because they do seem to offer a very wide range of abilities - fairly quick on the road on account of lightness, very slim for traffic, and great fun on greenlanes and trails. To be honest, I'm more interested in perhaps getting it off-road than riding a fast road sports 'bike, as I've always been into mountain biking and I see this as an evolution.
However, it hasn't escaped my attention that they do seem firm favourites with the pikey crowd. You do see a fair few around gypsy camps and being ridden by lairy farmers' sons, wearing a helmet, T-shirt, shorts and trainers. They do hover around the 'illegal minimoto/untaxed quadbike in park menace' territory.
But for such good value, toughness and a wide range of abilities, it would seem they're pretty unbeatable. I tried out a fair few for size at the GMEX show last Saturday and they suit my long legs better than most sports bikes too.
What's the general bikers consensus on these machines? Great, tough, practical fun or the two-wheeled equivalent of an untaxed, bodykitted Civic?
They appeal to me because they do seem to offer a very wide range of abilities - fairly quick on the road on account of lightness, very slim for traffic, and great fun on greenlanes and trails. To be honest, I'm more interested in perhaps getting it off-road than riding a fast road sports 'bike, as I've always been into mountain biking and I see this as an evolution.
However, it hasn't escaped my attention that they do seem firm favourites with the pikey crowd. You do see a fair few around gypsy camps and being ridden by lairy farmers' sons, wearing a helmet, T-shirt, shorts and trainers. They do hover around the 'illegal minimoto/untaxed quadbike in park menace' territory.
But for such good value, toughness and a wide range of abilities, it would seem they're pretty unbeatable. I tried out a fair few for size at the GMEX show last Saturday and they suit my long legs better than most sports bikes too.
What's the general bikers consensus on these machines? Great, tough, practical fun or the two-wheeled equivalent of an untaxed, bodykitted Civic?
Where would I be riding it? Everywhere, that's the point. They strike me as bikes that can handle both the average road ride no better or worse than the average Naked, but if I fancy bombing up a gravel trail somewhere, I can do without worrying about whether the tyres have enough grip or whether the fairing will get any stonechips. Incidentally, I'd get the knobbly tyres, of course. Don't see the point in one of these 'bikes with smooth road tyres.
dern said:
Twincam16 said:
Incidentally, I'd get the knobbly tyres, of course. Don't see the point in one of these 'bikes with smooth road tyres.
I thought that's what a supermoto is... a traily with smooth fast road tyres (that is not knobblies). Surely a supermoto with knobblies is a trailie.dern said:
Twincam16 said:
Incidentally, I'd get the knobbly tyres, of course. Don't see the point in one of these 'bikes with smooth road tyres.
I thought that's what a supermoto is... a traily with smooth fast road tyres (that is not knobblies). Surely a supermoto with knobblies is a trailie.
a supermoto is 'tarmac' biased but obviously still has the suspension etc to go off-road... a supermoto therefore has 'road' tyres... i believe the correct term for a road going 'off-road/motorcross' bike is 'dual sport'... (sounds a bit gay tho!)eta imo theyre cool, but unfortunately also popular with pikeys HTH
Edited by Mattmeister on Monday 7th January 15:02
I've had a KTM 640 LC4 Supermoto, a few years back.
It was great fun on tarmac, and OK for a bit of gentle green laning. A set of racing "wets, would be a great help for green laning, I had a mate who would change the wheels on his, for the bigger off road one's, for more serious off road work.
Reliability wise, I had no problems with it in over Four Thousand miles, I did change the oil every Eight Hundred miles, just over 1 ltr, (I think) and Two oil filters.
I had a Husky 250 enduro, for serious off road work. that was road legal, but I wouldn't liked to have used it on road all the time.
I wouldn't call them Chav, just buy what you want.
It was great fun on tarmac, and OK for a bit of gentle green laning. A set of racing "wets, would be a great help for green laning, I had a mate who would change the wheels on his, for the bigger off road one's, for more serious off road work.
Reliability wise, I had no problems with it in over Four Thousand miles, I did change the oil every Eight Hundred miles, just over 1 ltr, (I think) and Two oil filters.
I had a Husky 250 enduro, for serious off road work. that was road legal, but I wouldn't liked to have used it on road all the time.
I wouldn't call them Chav, just buy what you want.
I have a Honda FMX with road tyres. I love it. High seat position to see everything, does 90MPH if you want it to (although not recommended for long stretches) and the best bit is they are very manoeverable and great through traffic. I'm going to do a trail course this year and if I enjoy it will change the bike to something with road legal knobblies so can go green laning etc. For now road tyres work for me.
odyssey2200 said:
The new Aprilia 450 looks sexy.
Personally I would have the Yamaha XT660.
But IMHO Supermotos are cool!
If only I had the balls/talent to drift the bike into bends.
I was thinking of getting an SXV5.5 but the posts on various owners sites do seem to indicate a certain frailty with those bikes. Gorgeous though!!!!Personally I would have the Yamaha XT660.
But IMHO Supermotos are cool!
If only I had the balls/talent to drift the bike into bends.
If you wanna race them or have a couple of biking mates with the same style of bike id say go for it...however as a "fun" road bike, they have limited appeal, you have to be on the right roads , there generally fragile lumps(certainly the more interesting ones are), dont under estimate what a PITA the poor tank is , any meaningful accleration is gone by 90MPH and dont expect to keep any with any sports bike riding mates over a distance of journey, no matter what any supermoto riders may say, they aint fast enough to keep up and <<<whisper>> on any bend other than a hair pin there slower at going around corners as well..
If it was me, id by pass the whole supermoto thing and if that style of bike interests you, get a dirt bike, a proper tool not trying to be a jack of all trades and master of none.
If it was me, id by pass the whole supermoto thing and if that style of bike interests you, get a dirt bike, a proper tool not trying to be a jack of all trades and master of none.
podman said:
If you wanna race them or have a couple of biking mates with the same style of bike id say go for it...however as a "fun" road bike, they have limited appeal, you have to be on the right roads , there generally fragile lumps(certainly the more interesting ones are), dont under estimate what a PITA the poor tank is , any meaningful accleration is gone by 90MPH and dont expect to keep any with any sports bike riding mates over a distance of journey, no matter what any supermoto riders may say, they aint fast enough to keep up and <<<whisper>> on any bend other than a hair pin there slower at going around corners as well..
If it was me, id by pass the whole supermoto thing and if that style of bike interests you, get a dirt bike, a proper tool not trying to be a jack of all trades and master of none.
In my Yoof I had Yamaha XTs, the final one being an XT550.If it was me, id by pass the whole supermoto thing and if that style of bike interests you, get a dirt bike, a proper tool not trying to be a jack of all trades and master of none.
This was great until my (younger) mates pasttheir tests and bought 500ish sports bikes.
R.I.P the XT.
I killed it trying to keep up!
Great fun though around town and on the twisties.
Not I have the SP-1 for the road, a Yam TT350 for the green lanes but a XT660X would be a welcome addition...
Definitions.
Supermoto - Enduro Machine with Road Tyres and Suspension setup for Road use. Bets engines over 500cc
Trail - Off roader fitted with Trial or Road Trail Tyres, Suspension setup for gentle off roading. Up to 400cc. Dakar Versions go up to 1200cc but aren't really serious off-roaders unless modified.
Enduro - Off roader With Enduro or Trial Tyres. Smaller tank also higher seat and sump guard as most up to 500cc are Moto-X bikes with lights.
Trial - Trial tyres. Only used mainly off road as they are not really suited to road riding due to small engine and U shaped frame.
Moto-X - As enduro but with really Knobbly tyres unsuited to road use. No lights but "plush " suspension makes them relatively comfortable. Bigger engines tend to have too much power to grip even with big "knobblies".
Supermoto - Enduro Machine with Road Tyres and Suspension setup for Road use. Bets engines over 500cc
Trail - Off roader fitted with Trial or Road Trail Tyres, Suspension setup for gentle off roading. Up to 400cc. Dakar Versions go up to 1200cc but aren't really serious off-roaders unless modified.
Enduro - Off roader With Enduro or Trial Tyres. Smaller tank also higher seat and sump guard as most up to 500cc are Moto-X bikes with lights.
Trial - Trial tyres. Only used mainly off road as they are not really suited to road riding due to small engine and U shaped frame.
Moto-X - As enduro but with really Knobbly tyres unsuited to road use. No lights but "plush " suspension makes them relatively comfortable. Bigger engines tend to have too much power to grip even with big "knobblies".
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