| Author |
Message |
|
|
|
|
Post subject: Supermotard advice Updated. Now with Pics
|
|
|
|
mercer_350  Mmm, Fully Synthetic! Joined: 11 Jul 2004 Total posts: 1028 Location: Close to the enemy |
OK, so the Supermotard bug has bitten.
I had the chance to ride a friends Aprilia SXV5.5 a few weeks ago while on holiday. It was fantastic, super quick, handles like a dream. So I start looking around when I get back home and discover that these things have a nasty habit of grenading themselves at any given moment. Seems that approx 50 to 60% of them have to go back for repairs within the first few thousand kms, some completely destroying themselves after as little as 300kms. The dealers over here dont want to honour any warranty and one of them said he will no longer sell the bike at all. Not a great story all round.....
Anyone have one of these or have a diferent perspective?
So I start looking around at alternatives. Test ride the Husky 610.  Nearly fell asleep on that. Compared to the Aprilia, its not even on the same planet. Husky 510 sounds like it would be better?
The new KTM is just Sofa King ugly, I couldnt look at the thing if I bought it now matter how well it went.
The new Hypermotards seem like a good idea but lose the whole point of being light and nimble....
So now I am thinking CR500 with the right wheels, brakes, etc.
Anyone on here have one of these? Whats it like to ride on the road?
Is it worth trying to find one that has already been converted? Or do the conversion myself? Ally frame or Steel?
I smell a project coming on..... 
|
Last edited by mercer_350 on Tue Aug 05, 2008 8:18 am; edited 1 time in total
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:54 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
|
|
|
|
greengoatchoker Daily Burner Joined: 03 Sep 2007 Total posts: 150 |
if your going to get a cr500 supermoto . buy one thats done otherwise expect it to cost a fortune . spares are a problem for anything older than 87 . brutal is the best way to some them up
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:02 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
|
|
|
|
SEB4LO All-gear Wheelie! Location: FRANCE - QUIMPER |
| greengoatchoker wrote: |
| if your going to get a cr500 supermoto . buy one thats done otherwise expect it to cost a fortune . spares are a problem for anything older than 87 . brutal is the best way to some them up |
+1
be carefull , don't expect road friendly CR500 , the engine even no trashed can't make more than 5000 km without service !!!
buy a converted bike but forget road use
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:51 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
|
|
|
|
mercer_350Mmm, Fully Synthetic! Joined: 11 Jul 2004 Total posts: 1028 Location: Close to the enemy |
Hey guys
Why not use for the road now and then? I am thinking its the perfect tool to scare the traffic on the way to work. Obviously no freeway work, but the normal 30 minute backstreet and lane riding may work...
It seems like lots of people use them on the road like this?
Are you thinking reliability is the issue?
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:19 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
|
|
|
|
SEB4LOAll-gear Wheelie! Location: FRANCE - QUIMPER |
50 hours services on road  , not a daily thing 
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:58 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
|
|
|
|
mercer_350Mmm, Fully Synthetic! Joined: 11 Jul 2004 Total posts: 1028 Location: Close to the enemy |
I see your point Seb. I was reading about the Aprilia service intervals and these guys are changing oil every 500kms. Thats also pretty bad.
In researching things a little more, it seems that the CR500 motor is considered to be pretty reliable as a Motard, even more so than the 4 smoke race motards perhaps... I think I prefer to swap a set of rings than have to replace valves every 1000 kms. 
This is the dilemma though..... The real race 4 smoke motards are a lot of fun, but very high maintenance and are not road legal so thats no good.
The Road legal ones are either boring as you like (Husky 610, etc etc) or destroy themselves at their earliest convenience (Aprilia SXV5.5)
So what do you buy if you want a lot of fun?
Thats why I was considering the CR500 route...... 
Suggestions anyone?
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:30 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
|
|
|
|
twostrokeshop Suburban Commuter Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Total posts: 94 Location: Cairns, Tropical North Queensland, Australia |
We are working on a conversion kit to put a Cheetah 485 engine into the Yamaha WR450 chassis.
Why the WR? Well simple really - there are just so many of them, and by extension, so many of them with toasted valves, bores, pistons, etc. that will cost a fortune to fix.
But more importantly, this is a HUGE opportunity to combine BOTH desirable attributes of sporty bikes - light weight AND high power, and bring them together on the road and track.
Plus - and this is the big fun - this fitment of a 112HP two-stroke twin into 'the enemy' - a bike designed around a farty four-stroke single - is a righteous move indeed.
See, we've all become indoctrinated into believing you can either have a pissweak, hopelessly underpowered four-stroke single bike that weighs around the 100kg mark, OR you can have a litrebike with 160HP, but that weighs over 200kg. There is NO middle ground. The SXV550, while it is a lovely machine, only manages around 70 horses - and at that you can hear the thing wearing out.
Lads, it's time to strike a blow for stroker solidarity, and invest in some serious two-stroke horsepower - and let's dramatically improve the power/weight ratio of today's and tomorrow's motorcycles!
The goal of any right-thinking sport-minded road rider, I reckon, ought to be a 100kg bike with at least a 100HP engine. Because that's a LOT more fun/manoeuvrable than a 200kg bike with 200HP. The former is a super-fly Billy Whizz zipping around the ankles of the fat, weight-blunted litrebike.
Time to choose the characteristics of yer own ride, lads!
Cheers, 
Steve
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:01 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
|
|
|
|
z1100r Ace of Spades Joined: 05 Aug 2003 Total posts: 4769 Location: Coventry |
Its surprising isn't it....I never reaslised how much the 4-stroke crossers wear out....how much they go bang.....and how much they are to repair....in some cases not worth repairing at all.
My mates a MXer and he cant afford to run 4-strokes...he runs a Yam 125 and his lad a KTM 250. We was talking the other night and he reckons a KTM250 is all you need for a mega fun supermotard...they are apparently an awesome engine.
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:26 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
|
|
|
|
twostrokeshopSuburban Commuter Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Total posts: 94 Location: Cairns, Tropical North Queensland, Australia |
Yeh, the single-cylinder stroker engines are good fun ... on a tight circuit. But God has not yet found a way to make any single-cylinder engine truly haul out impressively, and so even the 'potent' KTM 300 EXC, when motarded and pointed at any decent stretch of road, or even mid-speed corners, is revealed as the turgid, dawdling vibey ride it is.
There ain't no such thing as a truly fast single-cylinder motorcycle. The poor single-pot mill - whether two or four-stroke - has all the laws of physics working against it being so. Plus singles wear faster than multiple-cylinder engines. 'Orrible unsophisticated things, gruff and coarse and jerky in operation.
Singles = not sexy. Four-stroke singles = retch and puke-worthy.
And typically, two-stroke singles of over 300cc are just so horribly vibey, they would barely pass muster as even a commuter ride. I put my hand up for a ride on a CR500 motard once - and it was only once. I would not thank anyone for putting me back in that particular saddle. The vibes were just intolerable. And the characteristics of the engine were soooo disappointing - all low-end and midrange. These big-potted buggers just cannot fill and empty their huge bucket capacities quickly enough, so they run out of revs early in the piece.
They have the opposite problem of four-cylinder 500s; whose cylinders on the other hand flow so efficiently, (the old combined port area vs. swept cyl capacity jig) loads of fresh intake charge goes out the exhaust port until the engine has spun up fast enough, combined with the 'spannies reflection pulse, to stand a chance of keeping a decent charge in the cylinder.
Eeeeh by gum, where does that leave us as to the solution of 'The Ideal Cylinder Size For a Two-Stroke?'
Well, simple really. If you love screaming revs and top-end zing, go for an engine with small cylinders. If you like wheelies from idle, go for the biggest pots you can lay your hands on.
A happy medium for strokers (remember, we are talking about the old old compromise between port area vs. cylinder capacity here) seems to be around the 200 to 250cc cylinder size; which combines decent low-end and strong midrange punch, allied to a whopping top-end kick. Enough low-rpm urge to be satisfying, while fulfilling the classic two-stroke requirement of a power-band hit in the midrange and a screaming top-end rush.[/i]
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:05 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
|
|
|
|
1601peteDaily Burner Joined: 24 Sep 2005 Total posts: 167 |
I built a Cr500 supermoto and did a total of 100 miles on it. I never planned to keep it, just built it for the challenge really.
I realised before I started the project it wasn't going to be a practical bike for the road.
I would leave a CR500 well alone if you want to cover more than 10 miles a ride. They vibrate quite alot and either on or or off on the throttle. Not particularly happy cruising.
Just my advice. A CRF450 would make a better Supermoto IMHO.
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:55 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
|
|
|
|
ianboom Powerband Master Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Total posts: 594 Location: Shirley, Solihull. |
Having raced a CR500 supermoto in hillclimb, I wouldn't recommend one for the road!
CRF, WR or a KTM would be my choice.
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:20 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
|
|
|
|
SEB4LOAll-gear Wheelie! Location: FRANCE - QUIMPER |
I made track sessions with 3 of those in the last few years
http://images4.hiboox.com/images/2708/48d14604de326ccf3b329d599bc46d8f.jpg
one even lost the handle bar while i was braking !!
another one lost a rear set in the straight
.........
i made a complete trackday week end with one of those bikes and had to torque it every session to keep all the bits toogether 
no way to keep those things bolted together
but i love them
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:51 pm
|
|
|
|
Options and Permissions
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You cannot download files in this forum
|
| Page 1 of 3 .:. Goto page 1, 2, 3 Next |
|
Powered by phpBB. copyright © 2002 phpBB Group. Template design - Vereor.
