950 Supermoto Chronicles

[goodcat8]

I can't wait to see some pics of your monstered up SM's.

[6USMC6]

Originally Posted by KHVol

Francois of dualsporttouring.com said today that he could get them on June 15th

That will be cutting it close.

I'm suppose to ship them to Fairbanks before I leave on 1 July so they'll be there when I arrive on the 9th or 10th.
.

[preppypyro]

Originally Posted by omnivore

Yah...Bluestreakracing tells me June as well

I didnt see the tkc80s on their website, but can a guy order the tkc80s from them? I was pondering getting a slave cylinder from them and if I can order tires at the same time i would.

[omnivore]

I deal with BlueStreak for most stuff- they sponsor my racing efforts.
I got my Oberon slave from Tony......He keeps them in stock. I think it was $140ish CDN, free shipping. He can get you just about anything...his website only lists a fraction of the stuff.

I called him the other day about both the TKC80s and the Trail Attacks, which are both supposed to be available soon in sportbike sizing.

On those tires, his quoted prices were a little high....but he openly said he couldn't get them yet anyways.. I usually get great deals on tires from him. I have bought 4 sets of street tires from him....he either gives you free shipping or free install. I always take the install since he is only 45 mins from me. However, he always promises me that he can price match, so I have found an online retailer that has better pricing on both the Conti tires I am interested in....I will see

[KHVol]

Originally Posted by 6USMC6

That will be cutting it close.

I'm suppose to ship them to Fairbanks before I leave on 1 July so they'll be there when I arrive on the 9th or 10th.
.

They may get poor tire mileage on the road, Mike ( but you will be on gravel). I used MT-60's on an SM for our Colorado ride, if I remember correctly they were pretty well gone by 1300 miles. Different tires but similar function and market..

[wpbarlow]

Originally Posted by KHVol

They may get poor tire mileage on the road, Mike ( but you will be on gravel). I used MT-60's on an SM for our Colorado ride, if I remember correctly they were pretty well gone by 1300 miles. Different tires but similar function and market..

The MT60s would probably get worse mileage on gravel than pavement as they are pretty soft. Might also be more susceptible to off pavement punctures. Fantastic tires for a lightweight bike and real good in the rain (often used as supersport rain tires by a lot of folks years ago); but not my choice for a heavier bike or long trip.

[KHVol]

Originally Posted by wpbarlow

The MT60s would probably get worse mileage on gravel than pavement as they are pretty soft. Might also be more susceptible to off pavement punctures. Fantastic tires for a lightweight bike and real good in the rain (often used as supersport rain tires by a lot of folks years ago); but not my choice for a heavier bike or long trip.

I wonder how much softer / harder the TKC80's are than MT60's ?

Just thinkin'...may end up taking my loyal SM out West again this year, although I don't think the SM is in any way a dirtbike, it is impossible to see an interesting dirt road and not go down it. Stock tires are like snowboarding thru the turns...

One thing to remember, what we get in the way of better dirt performance with a tire like this, we also give up in street performance. I spend 90% of my time on the road....plus, a crash from the wrong tires is much worse on the street than the dirt.

[preppypyro]

Originally Posted by wpbarlow

The MT60s would probably get worse mileage on gravel than pavement as they are pretty soft. Might also be more susceptible to off pavement punctures. Fantastic tires for a lightweight bike and real good in the rain (often used as supersport rain tires by a lot of folks years ago); but not my choice for a heavier bike or long trip.

So I dont mean to hijack what your talking about, I have a question for you. You have had both the SM and the SE, and I was just curious how much higher the SE sits? I just got my SM dropped off at my shop today, and was just curious. The rest of the "feel" of the bikes are very similar are they not? (like how ya sit on them and whatnot, besides the se being higher)Looking at the pictures of the two, they look very very similar, generally speaking. (besides the obvious!)

Took my sm for the first burn down the street and man does it have POWER!

[6USMC6]

KH -
Where did you find an MT-60 wide enough?
Perelli lists a 130/80 as their widest size.

My R1200ST needs a 120 on the front and a 180 on the rear and I was looking at the Conti Trail Attack for most of the trip and the TKC-80 for Fairbanks north (and back). I could also use the Perelli Scorpion Trail or the Dunlop 616.

[goodcat8]

I have tkc's on my DR and the rear will be lucky to see 2500 miles.
And that's on a bike with less than half the HP as our SM's.

[KHVol]

Originally Posted by 6USMC6

KH -
Where did you find an MT-60 wide enough?
Perelli lists a 130/80 as their widest size.

My R1200ST needs a 120 on the front and a 180 on the rear and I was looking at the Conti Trail Attack for most of the trip and the TKC-80 for Fairbanks north (and back). I could also use the Perelli Scorpion Trail or the Dunlop 616.

Mike , I put them on an XR650R that I had converted to SM. Like Natty said, very, very soft. I think I had a 150 on the back...got it from Dualsporttouring.com . The XR was probably 150 pounds lighter than your Beemer.

Send me your email address and I'll send ya a few pics....

[eSONG]

first time shaving my seat down. it was pretty easy. the hardest part was definitely restapling the cover with my hand staple gun. seat height is probably 1/2 - 3/4 inch lower than oem. also added some better padding. i'm planning to test it this w/e.

[Thumper996]

Looking nice there, i did the same thing to a stock seat after dumping the Renazco seat that came with my bike as it was even taller than the stocker. I sent mine off to Sargent and for a few $$ they did the work. You did a nice job. Air staplers at Harbor Freight are inexpensive and a life saver on my Dirt Bike seat covers i replace.

Originally Posted by eSONG

first time shaving my seat down. it was pretty easy. the hardest part was definitely restapling the cover with my hand staple gun. seat height is probably 1/2 - 3/4 inch lower than oem. also added some better padding. i'm planning to test it this w/e.

[wpbarlow]

Originally Posted by preppypyro

So I dont mean to hijack what your talking about, I have a question for you. You have had both the SM and the SE, and I was just curious how much higher the SE sits? I just got my SM dropped off at my shop today, and was just curious. The rest of the "feel" of the bikes are very similar are they not? (like how ya sit on them and whatnot, besides the se being higher)Looking at the pictures of the two, they look very very similar, generally speaking. (besides the obvious!)
Took my sm for the first burn down the street and man does it have POWER!

For being so similar in a DNA type of way the bikes are remarkably different. Stock, the SE seat is much higher (and more peaked) than the SM and the bike sits higher. Seating is similar, but the airflow over them is different (at least with the same windshield I have on both)-- for example I get minimal Shoei Hornet buffeting on the SE but a lot on the SM. Otoh, a non peaked helmet seems to get less on the SM compared to the SE.

The SM brakes waaaaay better and is more confidence inspiring in hard street riding- both to be expected given the tires/brakes/suspension, and a much better highway platform (again, no surprise). The SM is also more powerful- which KTM engineers (back when they were introduced) credit to the exhaust routing (though the SE's routing looks much better imo).

Don't get me wrong-- for a 440 pound dirt bike the SE is a remarkable street bike, and I'm pretty sure a 19/17 wheel setup and upgraded brake would be an almost ideal split between the two. I was very close to doing that, but wound up getting a 990 Dakar with 2 wheel sets instead. Yeah, what can I say-- I have a bad orange fever infection

[preppypyro]

Originally Posted by wpbarlow

For being so similar in a DNA type of way the bikes are remarkably different. Stock, the SE seat is much higher (and more peaked) than the SM and the bike sits higher. Seating is similar, but the airflow over them is different (at least with the same windshield I have on both)-- for example I get minimal Shoei Hornet buffeting on the SE but a lot on the SM. Otoh, a non peaked helmet seems to get less on the SM compared to the SE.

The SM brakes waaaaay better and is more confidence inspiring in hard street riding- both to be expected given the tires/brakes/suspension, and a much better highway platform (again, no surprise). The SM is also more powerful- which KTM engineers (back when they were introduced) credit to the exhaust routing (though the SE's routing looks much better imo).

Don't get me wrong-- for a 440 pound dirt bike the SE is a remarkable street bike, and I'm pretty sure a 19/17 wheel setup and upgraded brake would be an almost ideal split between the two. I was very close to doing that, but wound up getting a 990 Dakar with 2 wheel sets instead. Yeah, what can I say-- I have a bad orange fever infection

Thank you for the comparison, appreciate it!

Is the suspension on the sm quite abit... rougher/tight? (not sure how to properly word that)