What am I missing about service intervals?!

[Pickledswede]

I've been looking at supermoto bikes recently as an alternative to the CB, because I love the hooligan feel, easy wheelies off the power and the sound. I love the idea of having one for blasting around town. Wouldn't mind doing some greenlaning too, but the main purpose would be for around town and hoons.

But one problem seems to have struck me, the service intervals on all these sorts of bikes seem ridiculously low? I know they tend to be made for off-road and racing more than general road use, is that why the intervals are so regular?

Can anybody recommend me a more practical supermoto, which doesn't need servicing every 5 minutes (do they exist?!), in about the 400-600cc bracket, which I could pick up used for under £2k? Ideally it needs to be an absolute hooligan and sound like it's violently shit itself every time you blip the throttle!

Apologies if I've missed something obvious and sound like a noob!

[BigTobyD]

DRZ400SM - Not that powerful but very reliable with roadbike service intervals. I like the supermoto'd XR650R too, bit of an animal....

[CRF_Rider]

DRZ thats been properly sorted might be up your street, also maybe the Husky 610 or the 'berg 650 if ya don't mind taking a dip in servicing intervals for hooligan-ness. Also what about the CCM r30? very lumpy and i found it heavy and underpowered for the cc but might be alright for ya.

the berg has the most racing pedigree of the lot and they go like although i find it too much for the track. servicing is about every 500-750 mile which is pretty decent. i wouldn't mind a blast on one on the roads and have thought about getting one to go with the CRF450R.

hope it gives ya a few options ya might not have considered
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Why is it everything i race, seems to be going backwards?
Current: Honda CRF 450 R Supermotard
Previous: Yam TY250 x2, Gas Gas TXT 200, Sherco 290, Suzuki TS 50,Honda CG 125, Yam SR250, Suzuki DR-Z400E, Yamaha YZF R6 112rwbhp

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Paxovasa]

XT600E
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Suzuki GSF600 K3 (in the fastest colour, black).

[Pickledswede]

Cheers guys! So it looks like my options are the DRZ, the XR650 and the XT600. Seem to have intervals of 1000-1500 for an oil + filter change, which is much better than the <1000 for some bikes!

Think the Husaberg and Husky are probably a bit out of my price bracket!

Quite like the look of the KTM 640 which seems to have similar intervals, but expect that's a bit expensive too!

Is there anything else I need to know about riding a supermoto on the road?

Cheers

[CRF_Rider]

They aint that bad actually <£2K. The Ktm you refer to is the LC4 good motor although they are quite heavy.

Riding one on the road hmmm (this is from the CRF remember).... No1 plan your fuel trips. I filled the tank on the CRF and filled up a 5gal spare which i strapped to the back. Set the milage to 0 then went for a good fast blast to where it started to stutter made a note of the milage and filled it up with the spare. 58m lol. No fuel light etc i thought about getting a clear tank but now just know when to pull over. No2 avoid city Centre's at all costs! over-heats faster than i dare admit. Wide bars = good maneuvre-abilty unless there's arctic's about! the gap ya need to fit the bars through is bigger than you'd expect. No3 £££££ its a very expensive hobby! there's so much stuff to buy its very easy to spend a lot of money. An ya go through C+S, Tires (once ya start backin it in anyhow), brake pads etc faster than sports bikes. No4 once ya get out on them a bit an ya go to your fav local twisty roads an ya see a plastic race rep infront you will start to try to chase him down, just for the fun of it! No5 find a few people who ride SM's and go for a blast with them, everything turns Kamikaze! Its the biggest fun you can ever imagine but bad for the licence!! 6+ SM's all flying over the moors is just crazy, plod are all over the place now lol. finally No7 Enjoy it, they are there to be ridden like a nutter not auto gylmed


Typical UK SM ride out https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x675rn_supermoto-weekend-partie-1_auto don't ask why its mirrored though
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Why is it everything i race, seems to be going backwards?
Current: Honda CRF 450 R Supermotard
Previous: Yam TY250 x2, Gas Gas TXT 200, Sherco 290, Suzuki TS 50,Honda CG 125, Yam SR250, Suzuki DR-Z400E, Yamaha YZF R6 112rwbhp

[G]

The bikes that are reliable aren't going to be uber-nutter bikes.
The ones that are, are the equivelent of getting a motogp bike and riding it on the road, basically - it's gonna be fun, but servicing's gonna be a bitch!

The XR650 and some of the lighter KTM LC4s are ok (later ones are 3k service intervals, earlier 1500), also look for the Husky SM610 (later ones are 3000, don't know about earlier ones.)

Personally, I'd say the big attraction with supermotos is the lack of power; as it means you can rag it a much.
However bikes like the DRZ400 will probably be a bit too much of a down-grade for most.

[Pickledswede]

So you wouldn't advise the xt600?

I'm having a bit of trouble with the KTM LC4s, seems the 640 comes in enduro (which can take supermoto tyres) or supermoto, (which can't take enduro tyres).

The obvious option is to have the enduro so that I can do both but I can't seem to find anywhere saying what the other differences are other than the sm having stiffer suspension...

Also, does anyone know if the KTM 660 offers any advantages or disadvantages over the 640? I don't want to buy a 640 and then find I want more power which I could have had from the 660?

G I take it when you said the lighter LC4s are ok in terms of servicing that means the 660 has smaller intervals? And I assume it's also more expensive? At the moment I'm on the lookout for the three you suggested, sm610, xr650 and KTM 640 as the consensus seems to be that these would suit me best!

[G]

Note that I believe the KTM660 is a racier version of the 625 which only has a kickstart (they did do a silly-light 'factory' version too I believe). The 625 is the bit-lighter-than-other LC4 versions - the 625SMC is equivalent to the current 690SMC, which comes in a decent chunk lighter than the 690SM and 690 Duke.

Not sure on service intervals between the 660 and 640/625, I do believe older LC4s were 1500 miles, but newer (pre 690) LC4s moved up to 3000 a few years ago.

On (the notoriously inaccurate) bikez, the XT600 is listed as the same weight as a Triumph 675, yet with a third of the power. Not quite the 'hooligan' thing you are looking for, I suspect.

In the end, I think you really need to get some test rides if possible to see what you'd like.

[Pickledswede]

Just checked on MCN and you're right, 625 seems to be between the 660, and the 640, with the 640 being the most road-orientated.

Test rides are probably unlikely with me being 18 on a restricted licence, but the XT is listed as a fair chunk less power than the KTM or the Husky, it is a group lower insurance though!

I think ideally then I'll be looking for a later KTM with the long intervals, either a 625 or a 640, but I expect the 640 is the way to go if I want reliable road use more than I want off-road!

[G]

[Hazylogic]

I doubt you can pick up the xr650r for under 2k with the sumo gubbins on it. I'm not even sure that you could get a drz400sm with sumo wheels for under 2k. The problem is that they haven't/aren't popular; so sumos, in general, are in short supply - for your price range.

[Hazylogic]

[Pickledswede]

[G]

You find any of these massively quicker on acceleration than your cb500 I suspect - a bit, but with the higher centre of gravity, it's going to be limited anyway.
First gear on my GSXR is only slightly shorter than top gear on my 690. It gets there pretty quickly and very easily, though not sure exactly how quick the 690 is to 60 or whatever.