how to super motard?

[musturbo]

Can any of the respected wise men post a "how to " super motard?  I have heard cbr f3 wheels will fit a kx 500 but do not know what spacers, etc are neded.  Does anybody know a fairly inexpensive way to  supermoto a k5 without buying   a supermoto wheel and brake set for   $2,000?  any help would be rewarded with sick supermoto pics.  Thanks, Kurt :drunk:

[John]

If you are planning to use the bike on motard tracks you need wheels with spokes, anything else might look fine but will break.

Someone could probably write a book on this subject. I will share some of my own experience, for what it's worth;

There are a couple of options; order / build your own wheels. Buy new wheels or (the cheapest and less troublesome route) buy used wheels from another KX motard. Bare in mind that the KX5 changed the forks and axle diameters around 90. Make sure you get the right ones?

If you plan to ?build? this yourself;
You only need to change your front brakes, keep the back breaks (and move over the brake disk to the new wheel).

In essence there are only two things you need to be aware of; the wheel hub widths and the wheel axle diameters.

If the wheels hubs are too wide, you can't fit your brake disks (and / or) rear sprocket.

If the axle diameter is not the same you will have to manufacture a new axle or change the hub / wheel bearings (again a good reason to have spokes).

Either way you look at it you will have to ?manufacture? a front brake calliper bracket. You can use a donor bike (preferably a faster type of bike with a single front break disk). Two things too look out for before you buy anything;
1) Make sure you have enough clearance between the disk (the disk is likely to be thicker than your standard KX5 disk) and the fork leg / mounting bracket.
2) The KX5 master brake cylinder has a large diameter piston and if you use it on a different calliper you will find it to be very powerful but without real control and feeling. It almost becomes a binary function. ?Bloody scary!!? was one comment on my brakes. Use a master cylinder from a KX125 or KX80, they have a smaller piston.

I strongly recommend that you buy proven used kit unless you have access to a metal workshop. It?s amazing how much money you can burn when you need to manufacture stuff.

Check out this web site http://www.supermotech.co.uk/ . It contains lots of useful information related to this. Try google a bit as well.

Good luck,

//John

[moburki]

There are a couple of guys on Supermotojunkie.com that are running KX5 SM. Good site for info. I'd reccomend building you're own wheels with stock hubs and new spokes/rims if the budget is tight (still cheaper than sportbike rims and mods). Standard brakes with good fluid and steel braided lines will get you by for all but the fastest tracks.

[demographic]

Unfortunatly I cant tell you how to make sportbike wheels fit your KX but I can tell you what I did in the hope that it might help you.

Wheels
I wrote Talon engineering a letter asking them for a TRADE catalogue (note that a trade catalogue is for traders and the prices are less) and made sure that the letter had a letter heading for a bike company with me as the director, then I ordered some wheels from them.

Instead of costing 700 or so pounds (retail price) they were 485 pounds (bear in mind that theres no con here really as I paid in advance and the same amount as any bike dealer would do.

I already had the Braking wavy disc (320mm) but if I had bought it through them it would have cost about 120 pounds instead of the 175 that they cost retail.

The front rim is 3.5" wide and the rear is 4.25" wide and the hubs are black but at the time they had no black rime so I got silver instead.

I have an Electrex lighting coil but to be honest it's crap, I will be paying through the nose for an e-line 200 wat coil when I get the cash.

I stiill have the original front caliper connected but have bought (secondhand from Ebay) the front Brembo calipers from a Ducati 916/ Aprilia RS250 and a few other bikes use the same.
Brian SM from on here and supermotojunkie used the same type left caliper on his KX500 so when I can find the time I will make it fit.
Think it cost me 32 pounds and this page shows what it looks like...
http://www.yoyodyneti.com/detail.aspx?ID=267

I bought a UFO Ghibli front light (as far as I can tell they are the same as the ones on KDXs other than KDX ones can be adjusted better because they have an adjustment screw that the UFO unit is missing.

I have a Trailtech panoram speedo thing and a clear tank that makes filling up at petrol stations simpler to work out what oil I am needing BEFORE putting the petrol in so the incoming petrol mixes it better.

I currently still have the original front mudguard but the bike gets a wobble on at 90 or so and at about a hundred I don't think the massive front mudguard flapping around helps matters much

I made up my own wiring harness but it's a pain in the arse to do so if you can get one thats ready made.

There are differences in spindle sizes so if you are buying secondhand hubs it's worth doing your homework.

In short, convince suppliers that you are a dealer to get the prices down, retail prices are the price that you KNOW is about the worst you will have to pay, from then on you can haggle.

I will come back to this thread when I have thought of more things but for now...

Regards Scott.

[musturbo]

Thank you all for the replies! I now have a direction to head....

[GDubb]

I frequent supermotojunkie.com quite a bit too, and I think I need another KX500 just so I can have one for dirt and one in supermoto trim. Decided instead to wait and get one of the Suzuki DRZ400SM so that I can ride it on the street and not have to worry about mixing fuel.

[Timbowe]

What about 1 of these.?

[Timbowe]

660cc

[GDubb]

Never seen one of those before. Alittle too street-bike-ish  for me. 660 is nice though. Thats the main gripe I here about the Suzuki is that they dont have much power.... but I like them anyways and I'm not looking to get in trouble or get hurt so 400 is good enough for me on the street. Plus after you lose the moose antler mirrors and the huge license plate hanger it looks just like any other dirtbike... only with street wheels and tires and thats exactly what I'm after.... a street-tired dirtbike.

[demographic]

What about 1 of these.?

Trouble with those Yamaha XTZ things is that they weigh as much as a small neutron star

Not much point having a Motard that weighs as near enough the same as a sportbike in my opinion.

[hughes]

That Yamaha looks bad a** but it would be nice if it look more like a dirt bike. 660 I bet you better hold on.

[musturbo]

I bought Brian sm's setup!  Thank you all for your input!  now about that pesky cbr900rr my buddy has........

[r1ray]

That looks like fun.

[GDubb]

Ooooh.... so THIS is what "Envy" feels like!
That thing is sweet!

[musturbo]

thanks guys . hope to go racing soon