I have a weird relationship with sports bikes. I have owned 2 of them before. I crashed both of them. I have also owned 9 non-sportsbike motorcycles (standards, nakeds, adventures, Sports-Tourers) and ridden them for thousands of kilometres over many years but never dropped any of them. Not even in the garage. But sports bikes, I get on them, they fall over and never get up again. It’s like the fuckers have an agenda against me. Like they’re racist or something. They see me comin, they be hatin. My mates call me the sports bike killer. And not in a Lady Killer kinda way.
So when it became clear to me that the XT660R I was commuting on every day, was not going to last very long, a sportsbike was the last thing I was going to replace it with. The XT was good as an all-rounder but didn’t do any one thing exceptionally well and is a compromise on a number of fronts. For one, it doesn’t make me want to masturbate furiously when I look at it in the garage. There were other things about the XT that bothered me that I may write about at another time but to cut to the chase, the XT was on BikeSales and so was I, memorising the Supermoto section!
I’ve been lusting for a balls-out, super-light, super-torquey wheelie monster SuperMoto ever since I rode a KTM 690 SMC a few years ago. SuperMotos are probably the funnest thing on 2 wheels and if you can ride one without getting breathless with excitement, you should call the depression helpline NOW.
I rode this
I’ve been lusting for a balls-out, super-light, super-torquey wheelie monster SuperMoto ever since I rode a KTM 690 SMC a few years ago. SuperMotos are probably the funnest thing on 2 wheels and if you can ride one without getting breathless with excitement, you should call the depression helpline NOW.
I rode this
My gender determinator throbbed. The salesman told me it was 10 grand. This made me feel gender neutral.
For 2 weeks I lived and breathed SuperMoto research. Huskys and Husabergs and KTMs and Suzukis. I knew all the models, the differences between the years, the exact weights, HP and Torque figures for 50 different models. Money was a key criteria. I didn’t want to spend more than what I got for the XT (which sold within a week in a “first to see will buy” scenario). I narrowed it down to the Huskys as the best value for money but they were especially confusing with a multitude of factory motards that had similar names SMR450, SMR510, SMR449, SMR511, FS450 (not to mention the “TE” dirtbike range, some of which had been converted to motards) but in reality they were all vastly different bikes. I eventually discovered the different Husky models reflected all the change in ownership the brand has gone through in the last few years. From Swedish to Italian to German to Austrian!
I rode this
For 2 weeks I lived and breathed SuperMoto research. Huskys and Husabergs and KTMs and Suzukis. I knew all the models, the differences between the years, the exact weights, HP and Torque figures for 50 different models. Money was a key criteria. I didn’t want to spend more than what I got for the XT (which sold within a week in a “first to see will buy” scenario). I narrowed it down to the Huskys as the best value for money but they were especially confusing with a multitude of factory motards that had similar names SMR450, SMR510, SMR449, SMR511, FS450 (not to mention the “TE” dirtbike range, some of which had been converted to motards) but in reality they were all vastly different bikes. I eventually discovered the different Husky models reflected all the change in ownership the brand has gone through in the last few years. From Swedish to Italian to German to Austrian!
I rode this
My heart said Yes, Oh YES!
The SMR450 is more manic than the 510 as it revs higher. By fuck it is immense fun. It is almost impossible to keep the front down under moderate acceleration in the first 2 gears. The powerful brembo brakes are huge overkill on a bike weighing 120KG fully fuelled. I’ve never done a stoppie in my life but if I can’t do one on this bike then stoppies are not for me.
Then I rode this
The SMR450 is more manic than the 510 as it revs higher. By fuck it is immense fun. It is almost impossible to keep the front down under moderate acceleration in the first 2 gears. The powerful brembo brakes are huge overkill on a bike weighing 120KG fully fuelled. I’ve never done a stoppie in my life but if I can’t do one on this bike then stoppies are not for me.
Then I rode this
My heart said something but I was trying to find my fingers which I suddenly couldn’t feel. The TE model had horrible vibrations and usually have much abuse from their time on the dirt.
The SMR 510 is a barrel of fun but very highly strung and the engine feels tight and likely to explode at any point. These things have a 13:1 compression ratio on a big single piston.
Then I rode this
The SMR 510 is a barrel of fun but very highly strung and the engine feels tight and likely to explode at any point. These things have a 13:1 compression ratio on a big single piston.
Then I rode this
From my research, the SMR511 was the pick of the bunch in terms of build quality and practicality. It is still an insanely fun motard but is just about smooth and reliable enough to be a reasonable daily ride. BUT, they cost close to 7K for a half decent one and in my opinion that is too much money for a single cylinder dirt bike with road wheels. Especially when you compare it with what else you can get for 7K in today’s market.
Even the decent 510/450s cost close to 6K and I didn’t want to spend more than 5. I called a time out and started looking at what else I could get for 6K. And it’s a bloody goldmine out there. For 6K you have a whole raft of options to choose from the supersport category, even some newish high mileage superbikes, Duke 690. You put all these high tech, quality road bikes with 10K KM service intervals against a Husky supermoto whose engine will likely need to be rebuilt every 10 thousand KMs and you start to doubt yourself.
Even the decent 510/450s cost close to 6K and I didn’t want to spend more than 5. I called a time out and started looking at what else I could get for 6K. And it’s a bloody goldmine out there. For 6K you have a whole raft of options to choose from the supersport category, even some newish high mileage superbikes, Duke 690. You put all these high tech, quality road bikes with 10K KM service intervals against a Husky supermoto whose engine will likely need to be rebuilt every 10 thousand KMs and you start to doubt yourself.
So I got back on the BikeSales freeway, waved goodbye to AdventureLand, on from DirtVille, clicked past NakedTown and took the Sportsbike Road exit. Sportsbike Road wound round Superbike central, turned into Nippon Avenue that lead straight into Supersport Cresent. I had never been to SuperSport Cresent before so got a bit lost. I phoned a friend who did a 50/50 on me and lead me round Honda Corner, straight to this.
As I stood over her admiring her curves, she begged me not to kill her. I grinned and replied “We’ll see baby, we’ll see”. And threw money in her face.
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