El cheapo Motard conversion

[Tallpom]

I was wondering if anybody has done any Motard conversions on the cheap (i.e under $2000)?

I know that if you where do do a proper job with new 17" wheels and brakes it would cost quite a lot - but is there any budget methods to get a decent second hand MX bike all 'tarded up with used parts?

Obviously I don't mean to race standards, but to a decent commutable bike that looks good, and is going to be a death trap.

[nodrog]

...... and is going to be a death trap.

well in that case you should check out this thread

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=77651

[Tallpom]

That is a sweet looking motor - but I'm interested more in the cheap wheel and brake conversion, assuming you had a decent secondhand bike to convert.

There's got to be a nice little side business in this for someone over here. Cheap Motard conversion packages - ranging from the el cheapo to the full racing outfit.

[CookMySock]

I'm interested more in the cheap wheel and brake conversion, assuming you had a decent secondhand bike to convert.You could buy brand new Hyosung GT-R stuff. It's not expensive at all. The knockers will bash my comments almost immediately, but the result should be commutable and look good for sure.

Search for "caliper" on this page.
http://www.richardhyosunggvgt.com/cometgt125250650rs.htm

There is the occasional wrecked GT250R around also, and probably more to come as they have been on the roads for more than a few years.

If you want to eyeball the size of these bits, just check out a GT250R at a dealer. If they can stop a huge GT250R then they will stop a little 200cc dirtbike.

Alternatively, you can lace new motard rims to existing hubs.

HTH,
DB

[Tallpom]

That is a great suggestion.

This guy converted a back wheel:

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-295587.html&

[Tallpom]

I have a mate in Vancouver who says there's a big motard trend going on over there - he got his bike converted by these guys who do kits for most bikes:

http://www.vancouversupermoto.com

[CookMySock]

I have a mate in Vancouver who says there's a big motard trend going on over there - he got his bike converted by these guys who do kits for most bikes:

http://www.vancouversupermoto.comGee, they're not cheap are they. Motards on the street - bring it on!! Reminds me of the good ol' days on the the XR500 through the traffic lights.. :whistle:

DB

[awayatc]

have a look

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Parts-accessories/Wheels-tyres-brakes/auction-167303356.htm

[Macstar]

I did my conversion on the cheap using old TZR wheels and shrewdness. The bike went flippen awesome and dusted sports bikes on the tight stuff. Pulled awesome wheelies 1st-3rd gears, stoppies etc. I dropped it 3 times (2 racing it) and apart from scratches it was sweet - until I blew the engine.

DO it mate!

Check these out:

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showpost.php?p=1270939&postcount=63

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showpost.php?p=1274137&postcount=69

http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=HsTgNX6OyYE

[Tallpom]

Macstar - very nice conversion.

Say for instance I was to use an XR650R - keeping it stock, apart from switching the wheels, braking system, and tweaking the suspension and gearing - how much do you reckon it would be for a 'tard conversion?

The wheels on trademe are $500, what else would I need? (please list with prices if you could).

[Macstar]

Thanks. From memory I spent about the following:

New front and rear sprockets and chain link $70
2nd hand rims and tyres $600
Spacers and wheel axels $150 ish (mates rates engineer)
Drilled air box holes - me
Digital Speedo $140
Indicators & mirrors $120ish

Approx $1000

The rest of my spending was on mechnical stuff and adjusting suspension etc. This was a pre-registered bike so all I had to do was get a new WOF and pay another 6 months of rego. If you are trying to geta bike registered for the first time I expect you could be in for some difficult times LTSA-wise.

[Tallpom]

Macstar - cheers for that. You did a very nice job for very little money.

I looked online for something and found this wheel set:

http://www.motoworks.co.nz/wheels/warp-9-supermoto.html

this has Includes disc rotors, adapter and sprocket for $1700, so with tyres that would make it just over $2000 for a bling setup.

What additional items would you need to get on the road? And how much do you think a garage would charge you for putting all of it together?

[Macstar]

Macstar - cheers for that. You did a very nice job for very little money.

I looked online for something and found this wheel set:

http://www.motoworks.co.nz/wheels/warp-9-supermoto.html

this has Includes disc rotors, adapter and sprocket for $1700, so with tyres that would make it just over $2000 for a bling setup.

What additional items would you need to get on the road? And how much do you think a garage would charge you for putting all of it together?

Hey mate, that's actually quite a good price that you have found. I don't know what the quality of the rims are i.e. if you get into true motard racing doing jumps and stuff - whether the rims are up to it, but I am sure for on-road they'd be fine.

Like I said in my last post, I don't know if the bike you're thinking of getting has been road registered before or not and whether it comes with a road kit?

You may be extremely lucky and score some axels and spacers that allow you to just bolt the new wheels and existing brake callipers straight on - but more than likely you will need to customise at this point.

I'd hate to think what it would cost to buy OEM axels and spacers new...? $4-700? Getting an engineer to make you some up from scratch would be a similar price if not more, unless you get hooked up. I suggest you put up a spearate post in the Mechnical / body work section of KB and see if any KBers will give you a deal on fabrication work. Don't bother asking whether or not such and such axel will fit such and such wheels for such and such bike though... noone will know those kind of answers.

I would also be careful to see if you can return the rims in case they don't fit your bike as I remember I only had about a 1cm gap between the trye and the chain on my KTM and ended up having to offset the wheels by quite a lot.

In short, you are getting into uncharted waters and without mechanic and engineering type mates, you could spend $1600 on rims, $500 on tyres, and up to $1000 on getting the wheels fitted (spacers, labour, chain, sprockets, axels etc etc). Then you may need a new speedo for a WOF if the old one was hooked up to the front wheel hub.

Not to discourage mate but I reckon bank on nearer to $3k and anything less is a bonus. Given that figure, I'd suggest buying an already converted motard unless you can get your dirt bike real cheap i.e. I got my KTM for just over $3K from a farmer leaving the country so it made sense to do the process myself. However I see currently there are KTM motards on TM for $7K ready to roll... Nowadays I'd just grab one of these.

Ok balance out the negativity: I remember I still had the dirt bike front mudgaurd on the KTM which acted like a bloody aircraft wing at speeds over 110 kph. You'd be ripping along at 140kph and the front wheel would be off the ground! So I got out my hand saw and trimmed the thing right down wihch solved the problem and saved me $200 from buying a "motard front guard".

[Tallpom]

Thanks for the info mate, I thought the axels and spacers are going to be killer. I'm going to do a bit more research and email the guys that sell the wheel sets. I'll see what they say and if they know of a cheap way of doing it. From what I've see so far, they are damn cheap for a good looking wheel and what appears to be a good brake. I won't be racing, nor offroading (too much) so I don't need a high end wheel.

You make a good point about buying one altready motarded. The DRZ400 SM is around 8 grand, and that's for a brand new motor. Buying a street legal second hand dirt version and converting it would be around the same money. Ideally I'd like to get one second hand as my budget is around 6 grand. Anything over that and my wife's spendometer will go off.

[Macstar]

The DRZ400 SM is around 8 grand, and that's for a brand new motor. Buying a street legal second hand dirt version and converting it would be around the same money. Ideally I'd like to get one second hand as my budget is around 6 grand. Anything over that and my wife's spendometer will go off.

DRZs are sturdy but slow - you'd be lucky to powerwheelie one of them, clutch-only from what I hear. Most high-performance motards are going to need rebuilding every 80-120 hours, oil changes every 5-10 hrs, valve clearances every 20 hrs etc etc. You may pick one up for $6K in time, but you'll need another $3-4K for annual maintenance (again if you get a high-performance one).

Don't buy a motard on a budget. Get a Honda CB900!! In my opinion they are the best value for money bike out there. 2nd hand, 7-8K will get a 1-2 yr old one. Go to my KB home page and click on my attachments link. I've posted some pictures of my Hornet with mods for little $$$

[glice]

thats some good advice. I'm thinking of getting a motard next.

[Tallpom]

No doubt - your CB900 is one sweet bike.

What I'm thinking about for my motard is more a stock XR250 or 650 commuter workhorse with motard wheels and brakes - rather than a high performance race bike that needs a rebuild every 5 minutes. I would like to use it 3 times a week to and from work (50km round trip), so you're right - a typical race motard would be a very expensive mode of transport.

I need a good dependable motor that's good for my lanky height (6'5") and is great to handle through traffic. I also figured if I built up something quite sexy (like your KTM) you could also resell it quite easily because you've done all the hard work.

[slowpoke]

Haven't you guys missed the obvious? You wanna cheap motard conversion then just bang a set of road tyres on there and laugh your way into the sunset.

Unless you are gonna race the thing then you can have heaps of fun without resorting to 17" rims.

If you are just commuting or squirting around the 'burbs or 'taka's then you don't need the big brakes either, your average MX/enduro disc setup will be more than adequate.

[Macstar]

No doubt - your CB900 is one sweet bike.

What I'm thinking about for my motard is more a stock XR250 or 650 commuter workhorse with motard wheels and brakes - rather than a high performance race bike that needs a rebuild every 5 minutes. I would like to use it 3 times a week to and from work (50km round trip), so you're right - a typical race motard would be a very expensive mode of transport.

I need a good dependable motor that's good for my lanky height (6'5") and is great to handle through traffic. I also figured if I built up something quite sexy (like your KTM) you could also resell it quite easily because you've done all the hard work.

Sweet mate - you sound closer to a decision! For the record I am 6ft 2-3, and find the Hornet sweetas - a motard / dirtbike was even better when it came to stretching out the legs!

Sold mine for approx $6K - lost about $3k after having the engine and part of the gearbox completely rebuilt thanks to stray part going through the engine... The $3k loss was worth the 4000km of fun and two track days I got out of it though!


Haven't you guys missed the obvious? You wanna cheap motard conversion then just bang a set of road tyres on there and laugh your way into the sunset.

Unless you are gonna race the thing then you can have heaps of fun without resorting to 17" rims.

If you are just commuting or squirting around the 'burbs or 'taka's then you don't need the big brakes either, your average MX/enduro disc setup will be more than adequate.

Yep that's true - especially for lesiurely commuting purposes i.e. not ripping around a sealed race track!

[Tallpom]

I contacted Motoworks regarding their warp 9 wheel set.

They said that the wheel set comes ready to go - brake rotors are standard so you won’t have to do any modification, wheels will bolt in using the existing axles.

This seems like a pretty good deal to me - the wheels set comes in at $1700, add a couple of budget Shink tyres for $280 and you have a conversion for just under $2000.

[CookMySock]

add a couple of budget Shink tyres for $280 and you have a conversion for just under $2000.aww the shinkos will be horrible and slippery.. and in the wet it will be really nasty.. :oi-grr:

DB

[scorry]

Ive put CBR 250 wheels on my wr450,

front went straight onto my axle which was surprising.
all i had to do was get some spacers made up, for that i got some thickish pipe about 3-4mm at the required diameter, then just find out where the wheel sits in the middle and measure how big the spacer need to be.

For the brakes, the std cbr brakes are 275mm and my wr brakes were 250mm, i found a 270mm oversized brake kit for it on trademe and it had the adapter with it, i got my engineer mate to take a couple mm off the cbr disc and that was the front wheel all sorted.

The rear was by far the hardest, cos the hub had to be bored out to fit some new bearings so my wr axle would fit straight in.
You need to do the same thing with the spacers at the back and cut to size.
Then i got my engineer mate to make up a carrier for the brake so that it bolted onto the std holes (note the std cbr disc is 220mm and the std wr disc is 245mm) but then was big enough to throw some bolts through my old disc and the back was all done.

So all up cost:

Wheels $11,000 (LOL i got them with a free 07 WR450) i got the dealer to throw them in when i brought my bike. but could pick them up for $200-$300.
Spacers, 24pk
270 oversized brakes with adapter $120 off trade me
Machining the rear hub and fitting new bearings, $95
Rear brake carrier, another 24 pk
New rear sprocker $50
Super stretchy chain (non o ring) $50
New front & rear brakes $25 off trade me.

Looking around $600 and you have got some cheap racing, or street riding.
I can now change my bike from dirt to road in less than an hr.