Super Moto

[Chriss]

Ok, I'm not exactly new to biking, but if it's anything other than a modernish (80s+) sporty(ish) bike, I'm pretty much clueless in the world of bikes.

At the moment, I ride a Daytona 600, which is a great, except I've done 17,000 miles in the last year, mainly because of my job, and my previous job. Now, 17,000 miles probably isn't a lot to many of you, however, I don't want to rack up the miles on it, I'd rather have it for fun, and have a bit of a work horse. But I can't stand boring bikes, so basically, I want a bike I can have fun on (in a different kind of way), be cheap on insurance, and if it's good on fuel, bonus!
I'd love to know what options I have for Supermoto bikes (road going version of trials bikes, incase I've called them the wrong things) mainly because as I see it, they're easy to wheelie, as I'm crap at them, they mostly have small engine sizes, which is ideal for insurance for me, and I've been told I could change the tyres, and go off roading with them, and it's a different bike, so I won't be comparing it to my Daytona! So if anyone knows of what bikes to look out for, brand and models then please let me know! If you have one for sale, or know someone who has one for sale, in the Kent area, also, let me know.

Thanks a lot! Sorry for the long post.

Edit: I also want it to be be four stroke, as I could never trust myself to remember to put two stroke oil in, and four strokes are, apparently, more reliable.
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[G]

I suspect most supermotos will handle the miles a lot less well than your daytona, especially 'decent' ones, as these tend to be in a fairly high state of tune.

I'm not too up on the ready made ones, but if you can find one modified from a 600 enduro bike you should have some decent time before it goes bang .

Easy to wheely tends to be partly because they're a lot lower geared with a decent amount of power. Downgear your TT by 33% and it'll be easy to wheely as well .


Personally, I'd be inclined to ignore the supermoto and just get a trail bike with trail bike wheels (can still get some quite grippy road tyres.) This way you've got a bigger choice.

While this sort of bike'll be better for commuting in town, it won't be so great and can ge to be a (literally) pain in the neck for faster journeys.

[lilredmachine]

If you were to have a supermoto, that would be the fun bike. Your Daytona would have to become the workhorse.
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.

[Chriss]

I think I've been missinformed about Supermotos, are they not trial bikes with road going features?
That's what the local Kwacky dealer told me.
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[G]

They are trail bikes (different to trials bikes, but you were thinking of trail not trial when you said it) with road going features.

By the nature of trail bikes they tend to have low gearing (crap for distance but good for short stuff, like green lanes, mx tracks or inner citys ), they also tend to be higher tuned.
It's not that often that people do 17,000 miles off road, while it's pretty common on road.
So service intervals are often shorter, much shorter for a 'serious' supermoto.
The tend to be less good for distance because, like trail bikes they are high and often quite vibey.

[Chriss]

If I were to get a commuter, and seriously mess with the gearing, would that be a wheelie beast too? I guess I want a bike that I can run into the ground, not really care about, but get me 20 miles (nearly all dual carriage way) but also be able to drop trying to wheelie and stoppie on.

Thanks for the advice, is much appreciated!
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[G]

I would look at maybe an old 600 sports bike or even say an old fireblade and down gear it.

[Chriss]

Are old sports bikes going to be cheap(ish) to insure though? (How nice would life be without having to pay insurance? )
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[G]

Depends your age etc.
Older bikes are often cheaper to insure, look at spending less money as well, so can go for TPO and it can come out quite reasonable.

For the TRX I paid £240 TPO, but including cover to ride any bikes and my 'history' is now terrible for getting insurance .

[Chriss]

I'm sorry for taking this slightly off topic, but what sort of gear ratios do trial style bikes have? Is it the gearbox where they're short, or is it the front/rear sprocket?

I've been offered a bandit 600 for cheap (although it's heavy! ) and was thinking if I just changed the front/rear ratios, it could serve my purpose? I guess the main reason I want a second bike is to wheelie, but I'd use it to get to work, which is why I don't want a 2t, as it's not as reliable.

Sorry for being a pain!
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[lilredmachine]

The bandit would have no problem wheelying.

What you tend to find is that supermotos go 25 in first, 40 in second etc. with extremely quick changes. They tend to top out at about 90, but will wheely all the way there, whilst spinning the rear wheel.
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.

[Chriss]

Just had a quote for £400 for a DR400, compared to £550 of a GS500e and £600 for a Bandit 600. Said it was because DR400s can be crashed and have little damage to it?
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[lilredmachine]

Yeah, when the previous owner dropped the MZ it cracked the plastics in a couple of places and damaged a grip. That's all.
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.