this bike?

Since my green supermoto wheels are showing up Friday, I started to look around the web.
This is one I found.

http://www.bikepics.com/members/nedragr/06klx250/

 

I don't quite understand why you would want standard street tires on a dual sport? It looks interesting though.

 

i wonder the same thing.. no offense but why not get a streetbike if your lookin for the motard thing.. is it just the look that attracts people?

 

its the look and that just a simple quick change of wheels and you have a dirt bike now.... if you like the look of dirt bikes better and wanna ride street, just throw a set of motard wheels on.....

 

From my point of view, I have blast In the really tight mountain twisties. The bike is at home there and the additional suspension travel allows it to handle the bumpy portions much more easily than a 'street bike' will. To date, there hasn't been a single 'Street bike' that can keep pace with me in the really tight stuff. Yes, I have met others like yourself that are convinced that a DP bike with 17" wheels is totally ridiculous before they ever give it a try. I owned two 1000cc and above 'Street bikes' before buying the KLX250 in motard trim (D-Tracker)and there is no way you could have told me I would have as much or more fun than I had on my liter bikes, but my way of thinking has totally changed after the first ride. These bikes are 'da bomb!' I also commute to work in the summertime on this bike, so why waste a set of knobbies or enduro tires for that matter?

Oh, and I can throw a some KLX250 wheels on and in inside of an hour be ready for the dirt riding. Try that on your 'street bike.'
Tell me exactly what qualifies as a 'street bike' anyway[&:]

 

a bike thats suited for the street only.. ie.. stiff suspension etc.. i have a hard time believin that youd beat a ninja in the twistys on a klx as much as i love mine tho. [8D]

 

Well, let's talk about the design of a dual-purpose bike for a minute here. It is designed to work on the road and off road. Because of the compromise, I'm sure it is NOT the best off road, nor the best on road that it can be. Now, if you change a couple of things around and enhance the handling and braking, the KLX will simply rip in the tight stuff.

Up at Deal's Gap - 318 turns in 11 miles (sorry for the math Deej, but here goes!) - (5280 X 11) / 318 = 1 turn every 185 feet! Now, we're not talking 15, 30 or 45 degree turns here, we're talking real turns here! Well the "King of the Hill" of the road rides a KTM Duke supermotard. He will whip anyone that runs the "Gap" by a wide margin. Not only can he ride, he lives in the area and is very familiar with U.S. 129.

I have had first hand fun with some of the sportbike guys. If you put them on a very tight course, they can not run with a dual-purpose bike. I have done this both on a very short course and another course that was ours to use for awhile. There was a housing development that ran into some financial woes. The roads were built and then the money problems hit. It was out in the middle of nowhere and we marked a nice little short course out there. No straightaway longer than 150 feet, sharp turns, lots of "S" turns and just something took a lot of skill. One of my good friends is an ex-semi professional motorcycle road racer. He had his MuZ Mastiff - a dual-purpose bike, Yamaha 660 cc engine and sportbike tires. Weighed about 320 pounds. He toasted rider after rider on GSXR 600's, 1000's, ZX's, CBR'x and YZF's. Nothing could come close to him. I went out with my KLR650 and came close to what he was doing. He made a bit more power, so I couldn't pass like he could. However, I could still go to the inside of the sportbike guys in the turns as I could carry more speed into the corner than they could.

No, if they have a straightaway where they can take advantage of their powerband, there is no way you can keep up. The idea is to pick your road to have fun on. Here in Florida, there are not many roads where that can happen - at least not without special help in making one.

Supermoto racing is one of, if not the most exciting form of motorcycle racing - at least in my opinion. I love to watch them slide the bikes around through the turns and I'd bet that if Rossi, or Hayden or any of those boys brought one of their MotoGp bikes to a Supermoto race, they would get eaten alive! You can make instant power like a thumper with a multi-cylinder motor!


Of course, this is just my opnion.

 

ok so why is a supermotard faster in the corners? when a sport bike is made for speed and handling? i belive you on that marty, but im just wondering why? is it the weight? is it that it can be leaned over more? a sport bike is definately more areodynamic.... [&:]

 

Weight is the biggest factor!

Most sportbikes weigh about 400 pounds - we're not talking "Japanese Dry Weight" but real weight.

You also have a set of handlebars that you can make the bike turn with. The SM can be leaned more without hitting pegs.

And probably the biggest reason is the lack of horsepower! You can go wide open on the throttle of the typical SM bike in a turn as you don't have enough power to break the rear tire loose, nor take weight off the front tire and make you go wide!

There are times when having limited power is advantageous!

 

ah ok... makes sense..