Supermoto suggestion

M

menG

Well-known member
Hi all, I'm currently in the market for a supermoto. I have never rode a supermoto before but I have always wanted to give it a shot. My friends tell me I'm missing out in life haha. I ride redwood road fairly often on my cbr. But due to a recent accident, my bike is totaled and even though my girlfriend dislikes the fact that I'm buying another motorcycle. She's cool enough to allow it.

I'm currently at a 5-7k budget and constantly browsing through craigslist. I have stumbled upon huskys, ktms, aprilia and suzuki. I'm not too worried about the service intervals as I can learn to do it myself.

I work with honda finance, and the good thing is I can get honda products for cost. But, I don't know anything about their dirt bikes and the last time I visited the dealership the salesman told me it wasn't street legal. To me, nothing on the 2015 honda lineup wows me (maybe the cbr1k sp, but that's out of my budget and I dislike idea of financing even though I have good credit).

Here is my purpose for the supermoto:
-I ride redwood road fairly often 3-4 times a week.
-Something that can last a while with proper maintenance
-Might commute to work every friday which is from castro valley to san ramon (15 minutes drive).
-occasional errands locally.
-something to have fun on and not kill my back (with the riding position) :ride

any suggestions on a supermoto? thanks ahead of time :teeth
 
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J

Junkie

gone for now
The last Honda I'd look at for a street-going supermoto is the XR650R. You can find some plated ones around.

I have a plated WR450. Not great on the freeway but fun on fun roads.

How long do you mean by "a while" and how much maintenance are you willing to do? If you can find a KTM 690SMC in your budget I'd look at that, or a nicely set up XR650R could be nice, etc. Generally the smaller bikes aren't as good on the street. DRZs are ok but heavy/slow.
 
dowlinginchico

dowlinginchico

Home Wrecker
I have a drz400sm. Fun as shit, but underpowered. I have ridden a 690, has LOTS of power. All mentioned above. If you really want to knock your socks off, KTM 990 SMR. But I would not consider it a "true" supermoto. All options are within your budget, used of course.

YOU WILL LOVE A SUPERMOTO!
 
M

menG

Well-known member
Junkie said:
The last Honda I'd look at for a street-going supermoto is the XR650R. You can find some plated ones around.

I have a plated WR450. Not great on the freeway but fun on fun roads.

How long do you mean by "a while" and how much maintenance are you willing to do? If you can find a KTM 690SMC in your budget I'd look at that, or a nicely set up XR650R could be nice, etc. Generally the smaller bikes aren't as good on the street. DRZs are ok but heavy/slow.
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I wish I worked for KTM or ducati hahaha. I had a friend that suggested a xr650r for the reliability, performance and value wise. I haven't bumped into anything on craigslist that has a supermoto setup on it already (maybe I'm not looking hard enough).

I was hoping for a supermoto that can last 5000-7000 miles before a rebuild with proper maintenance and care. I've been doing everything I could on my cbr which is pretty simple since it's just the usual chain adjustment, take tires off and on, oil changes and doing some wiring. I am prepared and understand that supermotos are high maintenance unless I get a drz.
 
M

menG

Well-known member
dowlinginchico said:
I have a drz400sm. Fun as shit, but underpowered. I have ridden a 690, has LOTS of power. All mentioned above. If you really want to knock your socks off, KTM 990 SMR. But I would not consider it a "true" supermoto. All options are within your budget, used of course.

YOU WILL LOVE A SUPERMOTO!
Click to expand...

hahaha, i love the way you put it. I like the 690 but everyone on craigslist wants 8k+ for the bike. Last time I drove down to santa cruz to meet with someone, they had one with like 15k miles or so. He wanted 7000 or so for it. What i really want is a hypermotard, but I don't want to buy something I can't afford and then over extend on a toy.

WHY DOES THE 510smr ON CRAIGSLIST NO HAVE KEY IGNITION! how does a person even feel safe taking the bike out lol...
 
J

Junkie

gone for now
Most of the 450 enduros should do fine for 5-7000 between rebuilds as long as you aren't winding it out all the time, and do oil/valves fairly often. I think the 510 is similar maintenance to most 450 enduros.

My WR450 doesn't use a key either, but I got a Baja Designs kit and will be adding a keyed ignition. It still won't be too hard to steal but better than nothing.

http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=472446 is an XR supermoto, but I'd want to put USD forks on it. Has a great license plate on it too. With your budget you could certainly put a set on with your budget vs what that bike costs.
 
M

menG

Well-known member
Junkie said:
Most of the 450 enduros should do fine for 5-7000 between rebuilds as long as you aren't winding it out all the time, and do oil/valves fairly often. I think the 510 is similar maintenance to most 450 enduros.

My WR450 doesn't use a key either, but I got a Baja Designs kit and will be adding a keyed ignition. It still won't be too hard to steal but better than nothing.

http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=472446 is an XR supermoto, but I'd want to put USD forks on it. Has a great license plate on it too. With your budget you could certainly put a set on with your budget vs what that bike costs.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. I actually saw that bike for sale a while back, but I wasn't in the market back then.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/mcy/4937110447.html

I saw this yesterday night before I went to bed. Seems like the previous owners spent a lot of money on the bike. What do you think about this husky? I tried looking up the ignition kit for it on google but I didn't have any luck.
 
J

Junkie

gone for now
I will admit that it doesn't exactly make it secure - anyone who knows what they're doing can hotwire it in less than 30 seconds. However, the same thing is true of factory DRZ and KTM ignition switches (at least on my old 625SMC).
 
M

menG

Well-known member
Junkie said:
I will admit that it doesn't exactly make it secure - anyone who knows what they're doing can hotwire it in less than 30 seconds. However, the same thing is true of factory DRZ and KTM ignition switches (at least on my old 625SMC).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. How's the service interval on your wr?
 
J

Junkie

gone for now
I'll be doing oil and checking the valves every 1000 miles or so. It only takes 1.1L oil and a filter is $4-5 so it isn't too expensive. If the valves never move I might extend the interval.
 
M

menG

Well-known member
Junkie said:
I'll be doing oil and checking the valves every 1000 miles or so. It only takes 1.1L oil and a filter is $4-5 so it isn't too expensive. If the valves never move I might extend the interval.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Getting to the valves isn't too difficult right? Because on sport bikes it's a pain lol
 
J

Junkie

gone for now
Pretty much everything is easier on a dirtbike. I imagine you can probably get everything apart and checked in half an hour without a problem.
 
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