Where are all the supermotos going?

just want to re-state that I love my 610SM.



Thats all

Very few bikes have a load carrying rating of 500+ lbs. Mostly the huge cruisers/tourers, such as the Goldwings, BMW K/R bikes, and Victories.
My 800cc Suzuki C50 cruiser doesnt have a rating that can carry that much weight; neither does my BMW G650GS plus he stated he wanted a ranger of 300 miles between tanks, if I kept the g650gs between 40-45mph for the whole tank, and sipped it almost dry, I might be able to coast into a gas station at 300miles, and the g650gs has one of the highest mph fuel ratings of any dual sport on the market- and the SMs get less fuel milage; even less bikes which can carry that much fuel and have a load rating of 500+ load rating. The KLR has a 6 gallon tank so should be able to go 300 miles between tanks without that load, but with that load-very doubtful. The BMW R1200GS is supposedly rated off/on road (but it weighs almost 600 pounds-not too many people really want to heave that beast off road), can carry the payload of over 500lbs, and may be able to go 300 miles between fill-ups.

Standard U.S. wretched excess... a 400 isn't enough, nor is a 650, it has to be a 1000. I'm amazed there isn't some 1000cc motocrosser built for the U.S. mentality, but I guess the off road market learned from the Yamaha SC500 and Suzuki TM400 (although a well set up TM with a TS lighting system would make an entertaining supermoto that could easily power wheelie up to about 90 mph!).

Then, of course, there was the AMA "promotion" (or should we say destruction) of Supermoto in the early 2000s. No idea how they could screw up such a spectator friendly sport that could be put on in a parking lot, at a go kart track, or inside some paved automobile short track - especially the ones with a figure 8 built in them. Talk about hosing up a good thing... of course they did it a decade earlier with the Stroh's Mile Grand National sponsorship too.

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KTM950SE. Granted, not an MX bike, but it is a full out dirt bike that happens to have lights. I rode one. It could be a very dangerous machine to someone without precision throttle control.

KTM, DUC, Aprilia all make SM's in the 1000cc range. I bet they'll wheelie past 90. Have not ridden any of these, yet.

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+3

Single cylinder not having to run at 5,000rpms in 35-45mph traffic just so it's in the band...

Then the streetbike can never really USE all it's power...

High insurance/squid fatality rate.

A SM is not 450lbs.

Less complex engine...



If only a few stunter shows (Jason Britten) would show them they'd taker off quicker than a Kawisaki Ninja without a fairing (ER650n)... (hint)

That is pretty nice.

The gig is up!THe companies found out and realized how much fun you guys were having and said WE cant allow ll these people to have all that FUN ! FUN no WAY in hell was that gonna fly anymore! So they cut production ok now back to WORK nothing to see here.

Practical? For what they cost? A basic cheap bike of any sort that gets good mileage is a city bike. Blander the better so they dont get stolen.
Hard to go fast and slide corners in a city so a Super-Moto is a poseur city bike for the most part.
I think most people buy su-mo bikes for the look anyway.

If only Husky had given us the STR (the concept bike pictured above in Post 108) before BMW purchased them! Instead, we get the TR650 Strada. Even the SMS-630 was a much better option, alas also now gone from the USA.

[Edit: when I saved a copy of the photo, I noticed that its title is transposed. It is STR, not SRT.]

The lastest picture of my L

If you're talking about a real race supermoto, sure. But a low-tech dirtbike/dualsport with 17" wheels can be had for a VERY reasonable price.

I have $6K total in both of my bikes, one bought new and the other with <4K miles. 75mpg for the CRF230, 50mpg for the DR650.

Ugly and drop-tolerant -- check.

Not hard in my city, unless by "fast" you mean >85mph. Light bikes, wide sticky tires, and 17" front wheels make for agile cornering at city speeds -- better than the dirtbikes and dualsports that are their ancestors.

Low-tech sumos are light, nimble, easy to maintain, look OK when filthy, are ridiculously cheap to insure, and provide great visibility in traffic (upright riding position, tall-ish seat). At least once or twice a month I go over curbs and train tracks in gravel rail beds to take a shortcut -- try that on your street bike.

Personally, I think supermotos look pretty crappy (especially mine). But for my urban riding (lots of low-speed turns, no luggage, park inside my building at work after pushing the bike up a ramp) they are a practical year-round commuter.

Supermotos are the perfection of all two-wheeled beauty.

I agree sm's have their niche, unfortunately I think its too small for manufacturers to make a profit at. You can pick up a ds and leave it dual-sported, and have the ability to do what a sm can do+ hit the dirt. A sm has to try and compete with true street bikes, which they can only do for city commuting.....once you try and take a real road ride or a long freeway run, you find out how uncomfortable and underpowered a single cylinder no wind protection sm really is for serious street duty.
They're cool bikes for some, or if you can own multiple machines, but it seems like for the majority they aren't working well enough to buy?

This bike has it's Niche for sure. I got 17"s on order, gonna have (2) sets of complete wheels, best of both worlds.
although not the world beater SM, I think XR650L's have a very decent platform to work with

I ride my girlfriends SM630 at 80 mph with ease and the wind blast with clean air is not too bad with a good helmet (Shoei Quest), as good as any other non-fared bike. Plus when you need the binders or side of the road to avoid an ER visit from a texting cager.. there is nothing better than a SM.

Found it so fun to ride that I picked up a pair of 17" SM wheels for my TE630 to swap out the with real dirt tires.

As for long freeway ride.. 250 miles+.. agree.. I'd take my FJR and nock off 1000+ miles a day with ease but now we are talking something other than a "city bike".

Not really sure what experiences you have had to reach your conclusions but they differ from mine??

A Supermoto is better on dry dirt than skinny knobbies are on pavement! I run 19s on my XR650R, which is the best of both worlds!

While SMs make crappy street or dirt bikes, I seldom ride mine. But they are CRAZY FUN and great way to go to jail and/or lose you license! I laugh out loud when I do ride it and it's never leaving the stable!

While not a SM (lacks the suspension travel and the dirt-bike frame geometry, the Duke 390 confirmed today should be an enjoyable, nimble street thumper. Specs say 44 hp and 324 lbs. wet with full tank. Suspension travel of 5.9" and 6.7" ground clearance sounds OK for the urban environment.