I live in SW London and work in the city. I curerntly have a 2010 ZX-10 as a track and sunny day tool an a 2003 Daytona 600 as a commuter for the 30 odd mile journey to work and back each day. My bikes are garaged at home but sadly have to be parked on the street at work until I get to the top of the waiting list for the company underground car park. I dare not leave the ZX-10 on the street for obvious reasons but as the D6 is a bit tatty after 44,000 miles it seems safe enough.
As I have always had sports bikes I figured a SM would be a nice bike to try especially as I rarely get to use much of the D6’s power around town. I have looked at a few SMs and have the following comments:
-DRZ400 : Sensible choice No.1 and would do what I ask of it but not sure it has the front wheel hoisting grunt that attracts me to SMs in the first place.
-XT660 : Sensible choice No.2 and perfect except possibly a tad heavy and I guess not a true SM. Would cope with longer journeys too I guess.
-KTM 690 (Either SM or SMC) : Probably the middle ground as it seems quite practical for an SM and relatively light. Seems powerful enough for a single.
-Husky 610 : The least practical but also looks the most fun. I am sure I’d cope fine with the seat etc it is just the reliability that worries me somewhat.
The final aspect that I am sure you guys can help with is; How “nickable” are these bikes? The D6 has sat on city streets for a year and half and been fine even though I know for sure bikes have been taken from the same bays (A nice 848 Evo was taken a few months ago). I have heard that SMs are quite “nickable” due to the light weight and I am guessing the DRZ400/XT660 options would be the safest as they are most common.
I may well keep the D6 on the road till it explodes and continue bringing it to work in the mean time- the SM would therefore initially be for fun, but with the basis that it might need to come to work with me in the future.
one thing you have to consider is if you mind changing the oil every 500-1000 miles and checking the valves every 2000 or so. If this doesnt bother you then you get get a proper lightweight supermoto and the difference between these and the heavier 625,690 610 etc is well worth the extra maintenance in my opinion. but then again this is not everyones cup of tea, so if you want a bike with less maintenance look for a 625 or 690 smc or husky 610. If you want a lightweight then there is a lot to choose from…
Best thing to do is ride a few, take a few test rides. Ride a high maintenance lightweight supermoto and a more street friendly one, then you will sere what is for you…
Had an SM610 and loved it.
It’s easy to work on (according to mechanics ) and didn’t have reliability problems for the year or so I owned it (it owned me).
Here are some posts on my BLOG from that time - http://www.while.co.uk/WP2/?tag=sm610
If I had to get another supermoto as a fun bike, it would be a 510 or 525 - smaller, more powerful and more temperamental than the 610.
They’re all nickable to some extent - someone somewhere will buy the parts, if a bike is common/ popular it will be easy to sell them on.
It’s perhaps not realistic to think that stolen bikes are only sold whole.
I was thinking of the bigger SMs purely to avoid the frequent oil changes/maintenance but to be honest this is no major requirement as I do oil changes and most servicing myself anyway- its not like it takes a long time to do, especially on a SM with no fairing to remove.
I guess the other advantages of the bigger bikes is they are more suited to distance riding -something I may do occasionally on it if it was capable.
I am half inclined to replace the D6 with another cheap sports bike and then get a bonkers SM that will never see the commute and be used purely for fun.
oil and filters on my exc is under 1hour and that’s inc removing my left exhaust for filters. valves ain’t hard to do either. 1ltr of oil is all it takes.
go for a proper converted supermoto that has been setup with shorter forks and good brakes because all the power will be lost to a enduro setup
I have a 520 exc sm conversion as a second bike, and it’s great. Adz gives it the once over once a year and in between I just do oils and filters, but that isn’t so often as I don’t use it that much. I have done a few trackdays on it, one at Brands for which it was a bit small, but still fun, 2 at Lydden Hill, which was great.
Saying all that, an oil change earlier in the year revealed some bits of bearing so it’ll be engine rebuillding time soon. I haven’t yet asked what that’s going to cost When the engine is out, I might tart the thing up completely. That’s the problem with those bikes, you never stop spending.
yep i know what your saying about bling parts lol my parts add up more than the bike cost. asbo’s parts bin would have paid for his new superduke and the bikes still not built Haha
That’s all a bit theoritical though. You really should add your own weight to it, in which case there would seem less in between them.
However, in the real world, the difference in handling/riding experience between a 990 SD, 520EXC and a 660/690 style street moto is completely different.
Published dry weights and hp figures (admittedly both claimed so most likely exaggerated…and I might be a bit off on some of them as I did it via a quick internet search) to calculate the PWR
Driesie the riders weight would affect the outcome so for comparison I thought best to ignore it.
I guess the torque figures should be taken into account…and the gearing/final drive ratios to get a fair comparison…
…also I just put the 990 SMT in there to indicate the difference in outright power between a single and a twin…
but thinking about it you’re right and I’m wrong so I’ve recalculated accordingly…
if you want a low maintenance/reliable supermoto it’s not going to have the same performance as the ‘true’ supermotos due to heavier engine internals etc. work out what you plan to use it for then buy accordingly. if you’re not planning on using it as a commuter get one of the 5XX husky or ktms.
i bought a fuel injected sm610 last year and love it. had to spend £1000 on a full system, power commander etc to get it even near what i was looking for mind, and it still isn’t a 510! but what i have got is nearly 9000 miles on the clock without any problems. do the oil and filter every 1000 miles, valve clearances are easy as they’re the adjuster nut jobbies, a really easy bike to service yourself. the cam chains can be prone to stretching and needing replacing but this seems to vary from bike to bike. got a race battery for it now to further reduce weight and if it behaves itself might look at some lightweight wheels in future to help give me more performance.
gotta be honest and say i kind of wish i had bought a 510, but it would’ve cost me a lot of money, blood, sweat and tears by now so i suppose you pays your money and takes your choice!
one thing is for sure that supermotos are far, far cooler than any other motorcycle on the road!
you must’ve slipped on the husky then mate as that’s 145kg dry
not being funny but if you’re quoting numbers by way of advice then you’ve gotta make sure they’re all consistent measurements (ie. at the crank or rear wheel) otherwise they could be very misleading to say the least
i know i said i’d shut up but just in case any of my husky brothers or sisters stumble across this post they’d never forgive me for not mentioning this…
LiM can you amend your post with these correct figures for the husqvarnas please?! i can’t bear to see that drz where it shouldn’t be…! and seeing as you’re using crank figures…
) and didn’t have reliability problems for the year or so I owned it (it owned me).
