Super Motards

[swanman]

It seems to find a decent super motard for under 8k is pretty hard. My question is about converting regular off roaders to super m's. Is there anybody/company here in NZ that does it for a reasonable $. I.e suspension gearing and road wheels etc?

[Mr Skid]

I guess it depends on how far you want to go with a motard..

A top shelf conversion would see excel rims, different sprockets, different springs and valving, as well as a bigger front brake and master cylinder. And that's excluding any possible engine work there might be, such as different carbs, cams, exhaust etc.

There are a few examples on the supermotard.co.nz site, including this http://www.supermotard.co.nz/scottsxr.html a conversion of a xr650.

I reckon you could get a dirt bike, and then convert it as you saw the need. You could start out with putting road tires on dirt rims, and firming up the suspension.

If you wanted to go a bit further you could get a set of road bike rims from a wreckers, and have them powdercoated if they were looking a bit shabby. If you went with that option, you'd need to also get brake discs, that match the wheels, and have some machining done to get them to fit and the brakes to work.

You'd probably want to look at working the brakes at this point I think.

More coin and you could go with excel rims for the real motard look, combined with upgraded brakes. I think you'd probably be happy with that, running on firmed up stock suspension.


I guess apart from some of the machining involved for axles etc, the beauty of a motard conversion is that you can upgrade as your requirements and budget allow..

[gav]

define decent? How competitive do you want to be? $8K seems a little cheap to me, but could always check Trade Me. I mean you'd pay close to $10K for a good CRF450 plus still have to mod it with wheels, brakes etc.
Theres a KTM520EXC for $7500 on there Katoom 520 trade me (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Dirt-bikes/auction-24471240.htm)
This XR650R looks pretty good but may be closer to $9K XR650R (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Sports-tourer/auction-24211134.htm)

[Motu]

Wot Paparazzi said,if you want to be cheaper some manufacturers,notably Yamaha and Honda are very Fordish in construction - they are reluctant to change a good thing,or change a set up on machinery,so many parts are interchangable,wheels slipping into forks,forks into yokes,yokes into steering heads etc.Fitting a bigger disc will mean a relocated caliper,this will need to be a quality job to pass inpection,with the added bonus of being safer than cutting metal off a supermarket trolley.

I fitted an 18in wheel from an old Yamaha AT1 into the front of my 1981 XR200,it worked pretty good,until my homemade brake anchor failed...a bit of fun.

How about a new XR400 Motard (http://world.honda.com/news/2005/2050316.html)

[slob]

You could save yourself a bit of hassle if you get the stock hubs laced to 17 in excel rims, thus saving you having to modify sportsbike mags to fit the dirt bike, but this means that you're stuck with stock brakes too.

You could buy purpose-built SM brake adaptors e.g. from Braking (http://www.braking.com/home.asp?sel_lingua=eng), but it will cost you a bundle, not to mention the after-market rims.

On the other hand, if you know someone with machining tools, you could get them to build a brake calliper adaptor + shave off bits from the rear wheel to fit 17 in mags from a 250/400 cc sports bike.

I was lucky in that I bought an XR500 SM off trademe, minus the motor to act as a donor to my XR600R (most dimensions are the same as the XR500). The brake adaptor alone is a huge pain in the ass otherwise.