Ideas on a Motard

[hammadown]

I am considering adding a motard to my stable. Thing is I'm really not an expert in the area, so I'd like to see what models you all would recommend. I'm looking for a good all around type bike. I will definitely be putting it on the track, and probably be using it for street as well. I''ll also probably have a set of knobbys for a little dirt riding, but nothing too hardcore there. I assume any of these can handle relatively tame dirt riding (ie not hitting any crazy motocross jumps) given the roots of their design and use. I'd like something that has a little power and won't struggle to keep up with you crazy bastards on the street when things get a little spirited. Your thoughts? Pros and cons on specific models? I should add I am not looking to break the bank so maybe in the 4-5K range. Thanks in advance!

[highsider]

I went through this once already when I decided I wanted a motard. It really depends on what you want.

Personally, I think the KTMs are the best deal in this area. You can get them right from the factory with a supermoto and a dirt setup, they have plenty of power and brakes, and are known for being lots of fun to ride. In your price range, you'd need to look for a used one, as you can easily spend $7000 on a 450, and the price goes up as you get into the 525 and 625.

You can get a Honda or a Yamaha, and they make good power and are reasonably priced (though you's still need to buy one used to stay in your price range). The only difficulty you will run into is that the motard equipment - wheels, tires, and brakes - can get expensive, well upwards of $1000 depending on how you set it up. It can also sometimes be difficult to get them registered for on-road use, as the titles are usually branded "for off-road only".

Then there is the DRZ400SM, which I own. It is a fucking SLUG. Very, very slow. With that said, I have a great time on it. I had fun at Loudon with it (its a bit slow for a bigger track), and kept up with the 600's in the intermediate run group. I also was able to source dirt wheels and tires for it very cheaply ($600), an it is a direct bolt-up - no changing brakes, etc. - canbe done in 15 minutes.

Hope that is somewhat helpful.

[snowborder]

How about from a maintenance stand point... I was looking at an Aprilia located here in NH.... but it sounded like it required a lot of maint.. parts are hard to come by. Dealer recommend pistons be changed every 4k miles!

I am in the market as well now... well maybe a minivan instead HA!?

Seems Out the door solutions are only KTM / HUSKY

[highsider]

How about from a maintenance stand point... I was looking at an Aprilia located here in NH.... but it sounded like it required a lot of maint.. parts are hard to come by. Dealer recommend pistons be changed every 4k miles!

I am in the market as well now... well maybe?

As you may have imagined, the Japanese offerings are better with maintenance. I also think (just my own opinion) they are more reliable.

[Rick Lee]

I love my CRF450r for what it's worth. Aprillia have many issues. The DRZ is the easy way out but as its has been stated it's like it's made out of lead. KTM's are NOT reliable. As for Husky i'm not really sure. I haven't heard anything bad about them but i would imagin getting parts isn't easy. If your looking for something to make street legal you might wanna look at the CRF450X. Hope this is helpful.

[sanfelice]

Then, there is the Aprili SXV, no? Might be different, maintenance-wise, from other older Aprilias? Don't know, of course, but I lust after that 2-banger.

[Rye]

I have only ridden a couple other SM's and not for enough time to judge. I am running a XR650r and I'm real happy with it. So here goes:

Pros:
-Beefy frame and suspension make for a pretty stable bike.
-Big motor does not take the abuse of smaller, higher revving machines. ~50hp when uncorked (a $35 operation)
-Designed to run 100mph through the desert rather than a converted mxer with lights.
-Aftermarket galore
-Dead simple valve adjustments (tappet...no shims...no cam removal) and not as frequent
-Reasonably good range out of std. tank size.
-The XR track record was hard to beat as far as longevity...these things just flat out handle the mileage.
-Load up dirt wheels and go riding
-Honda

Cons:
-Heavy 277 dry and ~300 fully loaded. (If you are running tight NE woods then it can be cumbersome...fire roads and singletrack...it's a ball! but thats for dirt trim. For SM work on a street...I prefer the higher weight rather than the twitchier options.
-scarcity in these parts
-not street legal out of the box
- no E-start, but fires by the 2nd kick once the technique is down.

It's powerful, solid, reliable, and very fun to ride. I'm not disappointed with my choice one bit.

[Manny]

I've got a pretty stong opinion on this as well having gone through this last summer as well. I agree and disagree with highsider on the drz and here is my point of view.

No bike is perfect for everything motard, as in street both city and highway, road race/track days like NHIS, and also dirt. The bottom line is to get the best power out of the bikes, they require heavy maintenence and bikes like the apprilia and KTM demand it or they blow up at the track.

Here is my pitch for the drz particularly if this is a daily driver/dirt rider/track bike. Its cheap to buy new, cheap to run, can take a beating, last forever basically and the aftermarket for it is freakin insane in terms of parts and is really really cheap. You can put a full yosh ti race system on for like 500 bucks. Its been around a long time and the maint is easy to do, and easy intervals.

The downside is that stock it is down on power compared to other bikes. However, it can be opened up VERY easily with a bit of research and has a lot of life under the skin. Basically a full pipe and a new carb and its a different bike.

I took a brand new $5500 (OTD) bike did the pipe, jetting, forks and rear shock for my weight, STM slipper clutch, SS lines and stearing damper for roughly what it would have cost to buy a new KTM street legal motard stock. If I want the extra power, which for the street and dirt it does not need for my riding style, but for the track it would be nice, I can bolt on a big bore kit for a couple a hundy. And for what I did to it, it needs no additional maintenence, just change the oil (which is a 10 minute job) and check the valves every 10K miles or so.

Check out thumpertalk.com and you will get all the info you could possibly want.

Here is mine after its makeover....

[ahtune69]

I picked up a husky 07 sm 510 few months ago and the bike is awesome. The bike has good power and handles pretty well stock. The seat on the bike sucks big time, ur ass will start hurting after a few hours of riding. So far I have about 15hrs on it and no issues on the bike.
I had the suspension done new springs,revalve,offset triples and pilot powers all done by pete at gmd. Taking it to the track sometime this month to try out the new mods.

[hammadown]

Great info thanks everyone.I'll start looking into everything you all recommend. Keep it coming! (not really a relevant smiley, but it is a most excellent addition to the list and I had to use it)

[Puppet]

The KTM RFS engines (smr's) are maintenance heavy and I wouldn't recommend for a street bike. I'd also say the same thing about CRF's and YZF's for street bikes. For the race track they're fantastic, but changing the oil after every ride would get old pretty fast to keep them reliable day to day

The KTM LC4 engines, however, are reliable and if I was in the market for a street 'tard I'd be looking at the 625 smc in a heartbeat. I had a DRZ previously and I would also recommend it for a street/trackday ride. The other one I'd look at for street duty with some trackdays thrown in is the Husky 610. Bigger engine, but a little less high strung than then 450 or the 510 which should help with the longer term use...although that's mostly from what I've read without personal experience with the husky. It seems like the husky's I've heard about with holes in the bottom are 510s from street duty

[hammadown]

Yeah the KTMs did catch my eye b/c they seem to be so well setup right out of the box.I'm starting to lean towards the 625 sma if maintanence isn't too big of a deal. Oh man Im gonna go impulse buy instead of waiting for a good deal at the end of the season lol

[markbvt]

I read a four-stroke dirtbike forum off and on, and a lot of the guys over there have supermotos they've built out of Honda XR650R's, XR400R's, Yamaha WR450F's, etc. Pretty much any of these will make a good supermoto. In your price range your best bet would probably be to buy a used XR650R (I see them on Craigslist occasionally for around $3k, three or four years old). Do not get the XR650L model -- it's street-legal right off the bat, but it's got an air-cooled engine that makes a lot less power than the R's liquid-cooled one.

--mark

[Rye]

the xr400's are a little anemic motor wise but they bomb proof and I'd love one for the woods! The WR450 would be my only alternative to the xr650r as it has had some positive reviews. Husky has it nailed with respect to looks and performance but I tend to make my decisions on avoiding the KTM's/Huskies/Aprilias/Bergs etc. based on the numerous horror stories I hear. I'm sure some have had rock solid examples but I just seem to hear of more catastrophic failures amongst those brands relative to the XR/DR/WR crowd.

[Hamburgler]

I just bought a ktm duke (the origional 620 one) and i love it. The ktm lc4's are very reliable, just not much fun to change the oil on. Not that fast compared to a supersport, but more than enough power to have fun on. My major advice is to buy something already street legal, just spend the extra money instead of buying wheels/tires/dealing with a title and all that.

[hammadown]

The past couple of days I have been reading a lot at work, since I haven;t been doing anything else, and decided to go with a 625 smc (or a husky 610 if its a realllly good deal). Seems like it is everything I want, even though the price tag is going to be a bit more than the alternatives. Thanks everyone for your input and advice, very good info! If anyone see's anything, please let me know.

[hammadown]

So I found this, and it seems like a pretty good machine for less than I'd spend on one of the KTMs or Husky's. What do you think for the use I mentioned above. (JayI think this is the one you told me about). For 4500

100% street legal super motard ready bike. Brand new rebuilt motor, High compression Wiseco piston, stainless kibblewhite valves, kibblewhite dual valve springs, Hot cams stage 2 cam, rev box, Full titanium muzzy exhaust, jetted for all out performance. Freshly done Red powder coated frame, 17x4.25" rear excel rim, 17x3.50" excel front rim with Continental Contisport SM tires front and rear. Z hub billet hubs anodized red. Wheels were built by east coast wheels and come with a lifetime truing service. If they get loose or get outa wack from a crash u can send them to em and they true them for free. Red Stainless brake lines, over sized 3.4 gallon clarke fuel tank, over sized EBC 320mm front rotor, red PWR silicone coolant hoses, red fat bars. All bolts are drilled and safety wired. Everything is new with 2 hours on the motor, and is built to be a reliable road tard. INSANELY FAST. Hasn't seen the track, just local back roads for some hooligan action. All new plastics and graphics. Baja designs legal kit, blinkers, brake lights, horn, high/low beam. Rickey stator flywheel and stator kit. Fully legal with NH road title in hand. Hate to part with it but i have no time to ride. Everything on the bike is brand new including fresh powdercoating. Motor has 3 hours since rebuild. I am located in salem NH, about 30 mins from boston.

[hammadown]

[highsider]

Yep, that's the one you'll want. Fits your price range and is hooked up well.

Bear in mind that with any built up thumper motor, you'll want to be very vigilant about maintenance. Built dirt bike motors like to grenade.

[hammadown]

WORD Email sent, now hopefully he still has it cause its been listed for a little while. Thanks for the input everyone and hopefully you'll be seeing this puppy trackside for the sept 2 day!

[rebelpacket]

Edited because I'm an idiot.

[highsider]

Congrats! Looks great!

Watch the valves on those... if you have to use a shim, start saving for a head/valve job. The OEM valves have been known to cup. Kibblewhite makes good replacements which won't cup like the OEM's.

It says in the description it already has the kibblewhite stainless valves.

[rebelpacket]

Not enough coffee this morning. Sorry hamma. Enjoy your new hooligan-machine!

[hammadown]

Too bad it was already sold Still looking.

[highsider]

I have this DRZ I'll sell you.....