So I checked out a 2002 KTM 640 SM. The bike was clean and well taken care of, but after having my zx6r i find it hard to pull the trigger on this bike. Ill start with the good. The bike handled great (very confidence inspiring), Its light, it can jump a curb if someone comes in your lane. But i found it to be hard to ride around town at normal speeds. The bike bucks a lot at low rpm, it vibrates, very loud, and less power then I expected. Also Im not too sure I want to own a bike with a carb, FI spoiled me. Any supermoto riders want to chime in? Im still up in the air with the idea.
Give it more time. I was skeptical at first too with a DRZ, but after you get comfortable with it's quirks its an addiction you can't give up.
My 625smc was one of the most fun street bikes I ever owned, and I've easily had over 30. It was not happy putting around, and the seat was a 2x4 with bad intentions. It was quirky, parts were expensive, blah blah. Was my go-to Sunday morning retard ride bike when I still roade the street. Sold it to buy another SV racebike. $2800 sounds about right.
Yeah the handling felt like you could do anything on it. But I expected it to rip the front tire up exiting corners. I mean it moved just less then expected. I kinda need a bike i can ride around town everyday, and would this bike be good at a jennings trackday?
I rode one of those about 1 hour on the highway down in Florida. Then rode it around Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. It was a lot of fun for sure. Took some getting used to but after that it was hooligan time! haha
I can't really tell you how it would be at Jennings, mine was fun at Blackhawk Farms for awhile, but it would have needed a lot of suspension work to hustle around quickly. Out just for shits, at a trackday? Sure. Race competitively.... I dunno. FWIW I think there was a major improvment from the 640 series engines to the 625 series, but I can't remember for sure. Everday ride? What kind of riding do you do on the street? Weekend canyon stuff? Sure. Commuting / rides over 100 miles? Honestly, I would look elsewhere. When I had mine, it was my only streetbike. I sold it because I was going track-only, but if I was staying on the street I would have been looking for another 'daily driver' type bike.
My old 2004 SM 450 husky was fairly smooth, and a blast to ride. Although stoopid cali goberment rescinded the tags due to them not being carb approved.. On the track, it was more fun than a barrel of monkey's...
i have one of the KTM 640s and its a fun parking lot play toy and handles the twisties great but impossible to ride longer than 30 minutes. makes my back hurt like hell and your hands and feet will go numb from the vibration
i took the plunge on my heavy pig of a DRZ and never looked back. Its thumper definately lacks a sportbikes speed but its bulletproof got cheap/widely available parts, im able to pull double duty on dirt and street, $10-$30 trackdays.. its awesome. I know you're not looking at DRZ's but all the same supermotos are a blast.. i'd say well over 50% of the people i ride supermoto with came from sportbikes.
My husky didn't have a fan and never ran hot. My DRZ has a fan, but it only comes on when I'm stuck in mud or bad rocks. Supermoto's are not everyone's cup of tea. That said, I would avoid the highway as much as possible on one. For me, I can't see my DRZ going anywhere. I miss the power and weight of the Husky, but the DRZ is just a keeper for me.
They are not sportbikes. But they can be a bunch of fun. Cart tracks are a blast as are the twisties. No they are not comfortable to ride but I still ride mine as my main bike. I have a husky 450 and the front wheel is off the ground coming out of every corner! I literally ride it like I stole it and it never fails to please. Motards love to either be on the brakes or on the gas, there is no in between or you will be kissing pavement.
Another DRZ guy here. It's a blast around town, and I cause way more trouble on it than I do on my sportbike because it just wants to wheelie/stoppie/back-it-in/ride-up-a-flight-of-strairs-at-the-middle-school every time I ride it. The KTM can be woken up a bit with some jetting and a pipe, a smaller front sprocket and all of the sudden it's an around town hooligan machine.