New bike

[Glory Hunter]

Ok, as some of you may have read in another thread, some silly cow slammed into my CB500 while it was parked the other day.

Today I got a call to tell me it's a write off so I guess I'm gonna have to start looking around.

I'm thinking about pushing up whatever I get from the insurers to about £1,500 and would like to switch to a Supermoto - to be honest, I'd long been thinking of switching to a single so this has kind of forced the issue.

I've currently got a Bandit 650 as a courtesy bike and, as much as it's a lovely bike, it's really impractical for my needs. I need a bike that will be very handy in town and good for a blast on the twisties at the weekend. The problem with the Bandit is all the power's at high revs so by the time I've wound it up, I'm straight back on the brakes.

Anyway, the bikes I've considered are as follows:

BMW F650
Aprilia Pegaso
KTM Duke (I or II)
KTM 640 SM
CCM 604

However, I think all of these are going to be out of my price range.

So I was wondering, what about getting an older off-roader and doing the mods myself?

I'm thinking something like a Honda XR400, Yamaha XT600, Suzy DR350 (or the Kawasaki equivalent - if there is one).

I'm assuming that the easy part is the new wheels and tyres, but what other mods would I need to make? What about the brakes, recalibrating the speedo, suspension etc.

Also, what will it do to the insurance?

It's just a shame that there's not too many older SMs out there yet because, as mentioned in another 3d, they're a lot of fun and could easily save your licence.
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2003 Suzuki VanVan - Sold
2000 Honda CB500 - written off by a spoilt brat with no manners
2005 Yamaha XT660 - I'm in lurve....