How good are supermoto bikes as dual-sport

[zee 0]

Hello everyone

The way I understand it is that dual-sports are supposed to be street legal dirt bikes. However there are plenty of dual-sports which are the other way around (mainly street bikes with offroad capabilities).

Given that, how suitable would supermoto be for off road, dirt tracks (since they are designed to be street bikes)?

The reason I ask is that I can find a couple of good deals on supermoto bikes, and so I am tempted to buy one. Would it be possible to use supermotos (with their smaller front wheel) on dirt tracks. I am not looking to run a race or win a championship, just something that works well and is easy to handle.

[paulmbowers 236]

Hi, Zee!

I'd hate to challenge a decent trail with a 17" front. Plenty of people do it, but it makes me shaky. Sure- a fire road or something is no big deal.

But anything interesting? nah.

[SCHWINN 0]

You just buy another set of wheels and tires complete. You take the 17s off and put your 18 & 21 on. keep the same size rotor so changing is simple. Oversized rotors are more for racing. My buddy bought a husky SM and it wont convert to 21 on front, something about fork lowers having integrated stays for calipers or something, he works at a husky shop.

I own the KTM 690 SMC supermoto with 17s and bought 18 & 21s for it plus a skid plate and a KTM 450SX front end so it handles better offroad and changes to supermoto rather quickly.

[kellymac530 0]

yeah it depends on the model of sm bike. but you can, on most models, swap wheel sets in a few minutes and be street or dirt.

i prefer to go the other way, buy a ds and add sm wheels. ALL ds can get a set of sm wheels. not ALL sm bikes can get ds wheels.

a full set of rims, tires, brake rotors, sprocket, tubes complete for about 1000-1500 bucks. it is a great way to go, having two options.

as to just using the 17" sm wheels in the dirt...sure it can be done, and it is not horrible, but it is not great either. the rougher it gets {funner for most of us} the worse sm wheels get.

big issue is the 320mm or so front brake rotor on the 17" wheel, there is only a few inches between the ground and the rotor.

if you get into ANY rocky sections you WILL bend a rotor. they start at 120 bucks and go up to 300 bucks. when they bend, your day is done, you wallet is done, and if you are going down hill....your body is done...cartwheeling over the front on a rocky downhill=hospital visit.

fire roads and real mild trails the sm tires are ok. on pavement they rule. sm bikes wipe up the floor with sport bikes on tight pavement twisties.

18/21" wheels wipe up the floor with sm bikes in the dirt

[rexr 0]

It also depends on how much Supermoto vs Dual Sport riding you do. If you do 80% sumo and 20% dirt then get the Sumo and take the hit in performance on the dirt. If you ride mostly dirt then the opposite allies. If you are 50/50 then I would go with the DS and get a second set of wheels.

I have been through 10 motorcycles in as many years searching for the perfect do it all bike and am still looking.

[HVYWT 3]

Something else is the rake isn't the same ( for cornnering) and the axle on SMs is under the fork not in front of the fork.

[paulmbowers 236]

I have been through 10 motorcycles in as many years searching for the perfect do it all bike and am still looking.

My heart regrets the day I sold this wheelset, but my body probably thanks me all the time. Not to mention my driving record.

But, ohhhh. What fun.

[rexr 0]

I think that is as close as your going to get.. A DS with a set of 17s.. Now I just gotta convince the wife that I NEED another set of wheels.

[bikeslut 1]

For a true "do anything" bike, I don't think you can beat a big bore dual sport

Pick your tires based on how you ride it, regear it as needed, and add do-dads as required- twisties, slab, fire roads, singletrack; they'll do it all

I would start at 500cc up, but smaller bikes can do it too

[BC330 0]

I have been through 10 motorcycles in as many years searching for the perfect do it all bike and am still looking.

My heart regrets the day I sold this wheelset, but my body probably thanks me all the time. Not to mention my driving record.

But, ohhhh. What fun.

I know how ya feel :lol2:

[RogerTOWM 0]

But, ohhhh. What fun.

Fakey I have to admit that Mister Bill looked sweet with his sumo shoes on. I thought about getting a husky sumo and dual-sporting it but it is much easier to go the other way.

[Audible 0]

"I have been through 10 motorcycles in as many years searching for the perfect do it all bike and am still looking."= +1

I do not get the whole supermoto deal...I like one bike for each purpose. My Husky for dirt; Z750s for street romps; and wish I could afford the Heritage my father-in-law is selling for long distance cruises with the wife...like a noisy couch

[paulmbowers 236]

Funny- I'd rather have the swiss army knife of motorcycles...

[KTMrad 513]

Didn't read all the posts so don't know if it's been mentioned, but sometimes the Super Moto bikes have less travel in the suspension, depends on the model bike.

[zee 0]

Thanks for all the updates. After switching the wheels (and taking care of suspension), it does not look like a great deal (which is why I was considering supermoto in the first place).

However I like the comment above to get a smaller tire for DS and switch back and forth. That would be triple-sport

As for having different bikes for different purpose, this is not practical for me. For one thing I don't have the money (or the space) to keep all these bikes. Nor do I have a truck to haul non-highway worthy dirt bikes. Supposing I had the truck, I would also need a driver to drive the truck while I ride my cruiser to the dunes

[Jaynen 0]

"I have been through 10 motorcycles in as many years searching for the perfect do it all bike and am still looking."= +1

I do not get the whole supermoto deal...I like one bike for each purpose. My Husky for dirt; Z750s for street romps; and wish I could afford the Heritage my father-in-law is selling for long distance cruises with the wife...like a noisy couch :dance:

You need to ride a supermoto to get the difference vs a street bike. If you are riding 300lb street bikes maybe its about the same but a supermoto corners on rails in the tight stuff compared to a sportbike/streetbike. Even on the street a supermoto compared to say a sportbike compared to say a touring or sport touring bike are that different. The combination of low weight, upright riding position, different power curve of a thumper and ability to dump it without breaking the whole bike make for a lot of fun.

[bikeslut 1]

I'll deny it if asked, but I agree with Jaynen

On slab, I'd rather be on a sportbike...any other road give me a SuMo or DS bike. Twisty backroads, they'll keep up with sportbikes until it straightens out. Get one on a real tight track/road and a sportbike would be tied in knots...not a SuMo. Around town, I prefer them too.

If I had to ride a bike to Vegas, I'd rather take a sportbike, but that's about it.

[kellymac530 0]

if you go up to say palomar mt road off of hiway76, the sumo bikes tear sport bikes up. it is pretty tight and twisty so the left to right weight transfer is tough on a 300+pound bike. on a sub 300 pound sumo bike they just flick over.

too stinking fun. im saving right now for a set of dna sumo wheels.

i want to buy a zrx 1200r from my buddy for longer more sport touring stuff, but in the twisties its all sumo for me

[Jaynen 0]

Yeah ideally I want a sport touring bike and a MX/pure off road bike to compliment my DS/sumo setup