Supermoto

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

in the situations where the DRZ feels underpowered the SV feels just right

in the situations where the SV feels poorly suspended the DRZ feels right

if i had miles of sweeping A road to ride on every weekend with good surfacing i'd take the SV every time, if i spent my time on dirty little country lanes then the DRZ would be a better choice. the SV does have noticeably more shove than the DRZ, which becomes apparent when overtaking at NSL speeds, however it does feel heavier and the suspension doesn't feel nearly as sorted

if i had to sell one, it would be the DRZ, but then i have another supermoto in the garage, if i didn't then it would depend on what type of riding i wanted to limit myself to, island back road blasting or touring/main road flying.

I agree with that - and I would also add that if you're thinking of an SV, you'll probably get on better with the naked version as it's more akin to the riding position of a supermoto which spoil you a bit - I couldn't get used to the S but the naked feels great.

Only thing to do is try one - but if you do, make sure you have the money because you will want an SV.

Nana

Thanks boys,it sounds like the sv is probably the better bike for me,i have got to get a ride on one soon,and i really do hope i like it because there doesnt seem to be much else out there for the same money.I did fancy a yamaha mt03,but i was very disappointed after having a go on one last week, it seemed to have less go than my drz.I dream of superdukes, and 950smrs,but the bank balance is a few grand short of one of them!

[Red Herring]

I'm reasonably fortunate in that I get to ride both my XR650 and my SV650 competitively on and off the road. I also have a bunch of mates who also have sports bikes and Supermotos, and we quite often mix and match when we go out. In the dry the SV won't live with the big sports bikes on fast A roads, but it's quite capable of leaving them on smaller twisties, especially in the wet..... The situation is similar with the SV against the supermotos. In the dry the SV can live with them on the twisties (provided there isn't to much gravel involved) and leave them on the open road, however if it rains the Supermotos have the advantage. I will say that my SV has been modified with the usual GSXR front and rear shock, plus I've fitted straight bars and lost some weight off it. Personally, unless I want to get really serious, I've found the SV to be almost the perfect compromise, so much so that I ended up doing less than 1,000 miles on my sports bike last year (and they were nearly all round a track), and I hardly touched the XR all summer.

Thanks,thats exactly what i wanted to hear!

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

The situation is similar with the SV against the supermotos. In the dry the SV can live with them on the twisties (provided there isn't to much gravel involved) and leave them on the open road, however if it rains the Supermotos have the advantage. I will say that my SV has been modified with the usual GSXR front and rear shock, plus I've fitted straight bars and lost some weight off it.

didn't we do this before? the 170kg+ SV won't keep pace with a proper supermoto once the road gets twisty, unless the riders are completely mis-matched in terms of ability, even if the SV has lost a couple of kg, or the road is dry, or it has GSXR suspension - perhaps the definition of twisty there is different to what it means here but having spent much more time on the SV and KTM back to back since the last argument / discussion it's only highlighted the differences, and the only time the SV is going to get ahead is when the road is straight or if the SM rider has a severe skill deficiency

if anyone fancies a trip to the island to see what my definitions of twisty and supermoto are then let me know and we'll take a tour of the IOWTT circuit

I wonder if it's possible to learn to ride a supermoto, like a track day type thing. I'd definitely want to do it. Can't help thinking I'd be crap jumping on something so tall and light, though I definitely want a go..

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by Sean_C

I wonder if it's possible to learn to ride a supermoto, like a track day type thing. I'd definitely want to do it. Can't help thinking I'd be crap jumping on something so tall and light, though I definitely want a go..

http://www.adysmith.co.uk/

^^^the guy i bought my 560 off knows a thing or two about supermotos, having won two british champs - he runs a supermoto school at kinsham raceway in herefordshire, which is an awesome tarmac track

if you want to practice jumps try a motocross school, there's a bunch of us SM guys going to take our bikes to www.apexmotocross.co.uk some time to practice, after one of the guys took his SXV up there and found it was much easier than you'd think

300 quid for the supermoto school, blimey.. Well, that's something worth saving for
Thanks!

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by Sean_C

300 quid for the supermoto school, blimey.. Well, that's something worth saving for
Thanks!

it seems expensive, but all reports are that the guy knows his stuff...

tbh it's fairly easy to pick up on the basics, and every trackday will have a few guys who race and won't mind telling you what to do to improve if you ask them

I'm not sure about the sticking your foot out thing..
They look like great fun though