Super Motards

**Wolf** · 23rd March 2005, 15:07

Originally Posted by sAsLEX

he was a bit younger than present and the bars broke his feet as he went past them!!

OUCH! poor enigma!

**slob** · 23rd March 2005, 17:12

Coming from someone who has a motard project (XR600R) sitting in the garage for the last 8 months - don't try to do it yourself unless you have HEAPS of spare time and motivation. Having said that - I'm still planning on completing it - someday! Actually, just to get it going all I need to do is swap the swingarm for an NSR250 one I have handy, bung the wheels on and hook up the VFR400 master cylinder to the NSR250 brakes! The full exhaust system, big bore kit and dyno tuning come later!

Re: choosing a bike to convert or ready-made motard: There is a world of difference in the performance between the following:
1. Race Supermoto (not "motard" that means "rider" in french) (e.g. KTM 525SMR)
2. Street Supermoto (e.g. KTM 640SM)
3. Motocross bike (e.g. CRF450),
4. Trail/Enduro bike (e.g. XR650R) and
5. street-oriented dual purpose bike (e.g. XR650L)

Race supermotos, motocross and enduros bikes (generally) have less concessions to civility e.g. light flywheels, sharp throttle response, noisy exhausts and kickstarts. They are best left at race tracks or offroad. Their engines tend to be highly-tuned and therefore higher maintenance. Exception to the tuning would be "older" generation trail/enduros bikes like my XR600R or TT600s that run on a modest state of tune.

Street-oriented/dual purpose are comfier, but less exciting. My mate's XT600E, for instance was significantly heavier than my XR, comfier and less snappy (read: less wheelie-prone). I think getting a motard based on this sort of bike is kind of missing the point.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to get across is that the further towards the race/motox end of supermotoing you get, the more thrills and discomfort and expense you will endure. IMHO, go for the XR650R. They are (relatively) low maintenance and very tuneable (if you need more pep). They are used for all sorts of purposes from enduros to adventure riding to paris-dakar to commuting and there's a shit load of resources on the web and accessories available for them.

As far as the kickstart discussion goes, it boils down to this - the first day I took my XR out for a ride, it took me 20mins to get it going. After a couple of weeks, I was down to 1st or 2nd kick. You just get used to it I guess - and figuring out where TDC is.

**Coldkiwi** · 23rd March 2005, 17:24

yeah, i've been warned of the pitfalls of converting jappa enduro bikes to motards. Not as easy to do or get certification for road use as might be hoped. (will still look like a stumpy enduro model too for the most part rather than a lithe euro motard)

the SMS 610 Husky at colemans looks like my idea of a great street motard with a few more concessions to user friendliness (a dash you can read and pillion pegs) that make it much more usable and not a lot slower

**slob** · 23rd March 2005, 17:39

Originally Posted by Coldkiwi

yeah, i've been warned of the pitfalls of converting jappa enduro bikes to motards. Not as easy to do or get certification for road use as might be hoped.

Bugger! Really? Like what do they catch you out on? I'm kinda thinking of just converting back to original condition for WOF checks and such (shouldn't be more than a day's work) as it is already road-registered.

**Bytor** · 30th March 2006, 23:27

Shame we can't get the XTX660 in the orange (as shown below) or the red, which make it look a lot sexier than the dull blue/black...

**Brian d marge** · 31st March 2006, 06:26

Hi folks
Its 3 in the morning here and this sad fella is getting stuff ready for the motor show tomorrow. ( like finding me wallet !)
So I am doing this from memory .

Aprilla have released an awesome motard bike I mean nice , the frame looks like a 2 piece job I can scan a pic or hopefully there will be one to take a photo of tomorrow .

With any bike the bits on it do a certain job, such is the case with motards . eg 17 inch rims turn easier , have a wider choice of rubber and are on laced up rims so that they can be repaired ,
Flywheels can be heavier or lighter depending on how you like the response of the engine . I use heavy flywheels as the tracks I ride on are tight and twisty , I asume american tracks are open and fast , so a lighter wheel would be better.
Suspension is lowered , as the travel is not so important on a motard as only 1/2 the track is dirt with only on or 2 jumps ( though the track at Motegi had a whoop section !)
If the suspension is lowered then a stiffer spring will be the required as the number of active coils has now changed.

A race bike is a pain in the arse on the road. Can be done ,,but for example the Cr doesnt have an Idle circuit ..you can tune it to idle really well BUT In a race you really dont use the idle .!

The seats on a Mx bikes are hard and narrow ,,a sore bum get , you will,,,, said yoda

Me I would sell the R1 , buy a cheap sensible bike for commuting touring . Cx 500 ? cheap. bullet proof and boring ....
And
Convert a CR500 into a motard , now if you have a look at this photo from Nordies site , ( lots of great pics though I saw this straight away !!!)

its a cr500........ now I think the 250 frame is the same as the 500 ( dont quote me as I would love to find out myself ! the reason is that cr 250s are common and very cheap ,,,but 500 are more expensive though engines turn up on Ebay sometimes ) ,,,any way ... lowered USD forks, resprung as well as rear ... Add a lighting kit, aserbis lights and Excell rims , I still cant find a cheap source for these !

and there you have it a awesome FANG machine ,,for half the price !

Stephen
If a 500 cr engine dro[s into the steel framed 250 let me know !!! ( no the 125 frome is different , I tried that !!

**Insanity_rules** · 31st March 2006, 07:04

I just dropped into this thread to get some insight. I'm a long time dirt rider who didnt really get motards until some obvious points were highlighted to me.
1) Fast steering, yep they must corner pretty hard.
2) Riding position, gotta say my sports bike gets a bit tiring and its by far not the most raked over machine out there.
So find myself liking the concept more but would have to have a strop on one to fully get the idea.
And before you say "stupid sports biker" I've owned dirt machines a lot longer and my last stint was 6 and a half years on a CR250, which I got seriously hooked on. Thanks for the education people.

**nudemetalz** · 1st April 2006, 07:06

Boyles here in Welly have a street-legal KX-500 which looks the biz.
Wonder how I could get a ride on it.........

**Goblin** · 1st April 2006, 08:44

Well I had the pleasure of riding this '02 XR650 most of the way home from Wanga's

(sorry its not a better pic)
Had so much fun on it and my bum didnt get too sore. Great fun in the twisties as I saw my bike getting further behind me. Easy as to wheelie and I did a couple of short blasts up to the 160 kp/h, but it had plenty more to go. Being a short arse I couldn't start it with my skinny little girly kick-start leg but riding it was easy as and most enjoyable. I love to watch the supermotards. There's one guy Nigel Curtis from Chch who I see every year doing soooo bloody well and he does it with one hand!

**NordieBoy** · 1st April 2006, 09:22

Who needs 2 hands...
He was scraping the pegs with only one on the controls...

**slick** · 1st April 2006, 09:23

I've been commuting around AKL on a XR650 motard for a few months now. After doing the same thing on a 'blade the XR is awesome. Tall, grunty, reliable! I have always managed to get it going even if it means a bump start, which can be interesting when it suddenly fires up! Tank range is good, I ran it dry yesterday, kinda on purpose, and it had done 173kms!

Tested a couple of other motards...KTMs, Husabergs etc. Stunning bikes, lighter and more power than the XR but service schedules rule them out as commuters (e.g. Husaberg, oil change every 10 hours, check valves every 20 hours, engine rebuild 200 Hours)! Honda avaerages at least double these and engine rebuild isn't mentioned.

The XR has tons of low down, instant grunt, smallest bit of throttle has it in the air so you need your wits about you. Doesn't eat tyres like a sports bike either, can't understand that one as the rear takes some serious punishment, must be the light weight?

On balance...do it! The only down side is the kicker.

**moko** · 1st April 2006, 12:34

KTM now sell S/Ms specifically aimed at road use as well as the more focussed stuff.
If you want something really nice looking and practical how about the Aprilia Strada?Got the 660 Yam motor and a more "mot-ish" version due soon
http://www.onyerbike.net/2006/aprilia/pegaso_strada.htm