Wretched Excess: The 950 Superenduro

Motorcycling, and the machines we share it with, are an essentially irrational pursuit. They are about emotion and philosophy, speed and poise, more than they are about fuel economy and weight, horsepower and ground clearance. Whenever someone asks me what bike they should get, I always tell them to get something that turns their crank. "If you're going to do something irrational", I always say, "at least get the joy out of it. Don't neuter your passion".

So I'm surprised that I fell into the numbers trap. I saw the 950 Superenduro, I wanted the 950 Superenduro, and I talked myself out of it. "It doesn't have the fuel range". "It's got way too much horsepower and weight for the riding I prefer". "It's neither here nor there, neither a capable dirtbike nor a flexible adventure tourer". Call accounts receivable, my boss must miss me.

Finally, curiosity killed the cat. I rode one at a clinic in SoCal, and came back talking so fast that Walker had to hit me upside the head. I rode one again in AZ and couldn't get an intelligible sentence out for 10 minutes. I got the chance to own one, and I didn't hesitate. Now I understand.



What makes this bike fun is wretched, wasteful, excess. It's about going to full throttle and getting scared, guaranteed, every time. It's about wheelies at 90mph on the way to the trail, and passing a KX450 once there. It's about going as fast as my 525 would, and having 3 gears left. It's about spinning the tire right now, any time, any place. In short, the business of the Superenduro is peeling your cheeks back into a grin that you hold so long it hurts.

I'll use this thread to chronicle my ownership and modifications, to muse about the bike, and to compare notes with other SE owners. Please feel free to chime in with comments, questions, and stories.

Excess is good. DAMHIK

Looking forward to more updates and I am thankful I did not ride it in New Mexico last week.

First congratulation on the new toy...

So Ned since you have the Two bikes, the ADVenture and the Super Enduro can you tell us what is the big difference that makes the SE so much more fun to ride...

Personally i love the way my feet and knees fit on the SE tank and back plastics since is so much narrower and I can wear my knee braces with out feeling like i'm riding a horse..

So what else, I'm sure your analytical mind can solve the many canandrums in between the two bikes.


ps: maybe you can post some of Baldy's pictures on this tread, pretty impresive riding

First ride was to Salida to see Hayduke and Bonnie A. About 250 miles of pavement, with a quick dirt loop thrown in while there.

Once on the street, all I could think of was how similar it was to my old Duc 900 Monster. Sufficiently rearset pegs to not feel like I was getting blown off the back. Plenty of motor, plenty of brakes, handles very neutral. The seat offers tons of flexibility for positioning.

Air handling was a revelation, just like it was on my Duc when I also had a GS. My sentiments are, either handle air well, or don't handle it at all. The dirty air I get from both the GS (very badly) and the 950 Adventure (somewhat badly) leave me not looking forward to pavement rides. The SE, counter intuitively, is better on the street than the Adventure (for me- everyone has a different posture/ height/ whatever that makes this more or less true for all of us).

Ricky- you raise a good point. I'm going to spend a bunch of time on this- including weighing them both, swapping suspension between them, and hopefully, weighing components to try to figure out why they feel so much different from one another. My own theory is that the weight distribution is the secret, but we'll put it to the test.

Congratulations on the wretched excess, Ned. I was wondering if that was yours when I saw the pic you posted of the bike outside of Rotelli's here in town. Enjoy -- go fast; take chances...

Thanks for the write up Ned, now get over to Steve's thread and set them goldwing guys straight.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256028

Looking forward to your thoughts, and your planned mods....

Same thing happened to me Ned. Have solice knowing you're not alone. The SE is a bike unlike *anything* else I've ever thrown a leg over.

Did our conversation today spur you into putting pen to paper...don't make me pull the trigger on what we were discussing, I still owe the IRS and I'd be using you as an excuse....Ned made me do it...it's all his fault....look forward to more of your thoughts...lets catch up when you get the chance.

This is exactly what I told myself when I decided to go for the Adventure.

Well, except for the whole "too much horsepower" part. That's just crazy talk, I've never met a bike that couldn't use some more horsepower.

It'll be interesting to hear your take on the differences between the two, and whether our rationalization against it had any merit..

Irrational exuberance has unduly escalated our serotonin levels causing unexpected and prolonged wallet contractions ...

I am glad we now have one more person who suffers from the same mental disorder as me. SE + Sand dunes + fresh rear knobbie = spooky fast
I found that my Shoei X-11 street helmet is so much better with my SE than any of my other bikes, so I know what you are talking about with the wind.

My SE is soon to recieve Leo Vince Al mufflers ($300 less than TI Acro's).

The only down side to the SE is how fast you burn through rear tires... I try to stay off the throttle but I fail- it is too much fun.

My 950 adv is an amazing bike...the most capable machine I have ever owned....and I love it...but the SE!??!?! Damm!!! can you say LUST.....I really want one, but the practical side of me keeps saying, "it is just a stripped down adv....don't bother."

I would like to hear from someone who uses it on extended trips with considerable highway miles...

Well it's about time Ned! Congratulations.

I have an 05 Adventure and just got a Superenduro, what a bike and the grin factor just increased having both bikes. The difference between the bikes is significant which increases the range of use quite a bit. The 950 ADV is now my touring bike for long trips with my wife. We just did a 1800 mile roundtrip to the Washougal MX and she loved it. The Superenduro is the bike of coice to find all the dirt trails in the foothills. That bike is a balst and the ADV is fun but to heavy for the trail work. Now I can hang easily with the thumper crowd and even make them want to have my dirtbike on steroids.

Now to the difficult choice one will encounder when you have both beasts....which one to take when a ride is needed to get the grin back.

:eek1





Congrats!

Its about running off track, hitting a tree and knocking it the hell out of the way!

Sheeze, I want one of these things.

Neduro, I've had my SuperEnduro for over a year now. I was lucky enough to get one of the first to arrive on the East Coast. I've got 9,000 miles on it now, mostly dirt. I also have a 520 EXC, so can easily compare it's capabilities in the dirt.

All I can say is that I've stopped trying to tell others about the bike. It is so well balanced and engineered for high performance dirt work that it's really quite silly! I have done single track with buddies on two stroke singles, and have little trouble keeping up, and I have very little talent. The bike is that good.

The only problem, of course, is when you drop it. It is hard to pick back up. Otherwise, incredible.

I personally just have an extra 21 inch front wheel, so that I can switch quickly back and forth between street and serious dirt. A Karoo T works beautifully on the street, and a cheap motocross knobby does the sand and mud. All I need for the back is a Dunlop 908 RR, which works beautifully in both dual sport and serious dirt worlds.

So glad someone with your ability also thinks this bike is decent!

My only regret on my last duelie ride was that the bike will wear out. I'm almost tempted to buy another one just to have around when the first one is toasted!

Gimme that SuperEnduro and back away slow mister....


Congratulations Ned. The SE rocks! You put it well in your first post. It IS ALL ABOUT THE GRINS!

I just got my first KTM, a '07 Adventure 990S and it definitely gives me big grins. My wretched excess is my Aprilia RXV550 which wheelies in 4th on throttle and pulls through 120, at 280lbs wet and street plated... MAJOR big grins. Yeehaaaa!

Look forward to what you have to say about your continuing experiences on your new SE!

One of the first things that struck me about the SE (especially with Unaweep's experience) was the lack of skidplate protection. I'm going to take this thing places where that matters, and I know from my other bikes that even on a gravel road, it's possible to kick things up with the front wheel that can have an impact.

As soon as I rolled it in my garage, I took the Black Dog Cycle Works skidplate off my Adventure and bolted it to the frame mounts, which are the same on the SE as on the Adv. It was immediately apparent that it would damn near bolt up, if I got rid of the lip on the front which bolts to the tank mount. I called Kurt, and he sent me a skidplate to experiment with. Here's the results:





Here's one courtesy of Baldy:



All I did to make this fit was tear off the lip, and drill two holes on the front of the plate to utilize the stock mounting holes in the oil tank. I put thick rubber grommets in the forward holes, to make sure there was a little give in the case of a big rock hit- literally 20 minutes to bolt it up. The quality, as everyone knows from the adventure version, is excellent.

I'm not in love with bolting to the oil tank, but every other option I can see presents more problems than it solves. I think that insulating the tank from a shock blow should protect the threads and oil tank in all but the most severe collisions, and at that point, you probably had other things to worry about. I'll put a bunch of miles on this one soon in testing...

I'm going to mark this plate up with modifications to make it fit the SE better (basically, narrowing it up at the front where there's excess space on the adv model to accomodate fuel pump, and etc) and send it back to BDCW, and we'll get a production version of the SE plate out as quick as time allows.

Some more pics:

Will be narrowed here:



And here:



All in all, though, Bomber protection and just what is needed for the kind of abuse this bike will get.