What exactly is a SuperMotard?

[sceason]

I keep reading about the SM, SuperMotard, etc. and I don't know what I'm reading, or what that refers to. ?

Explain please? ?

[panaman]

basically, its a dirtbike with street bike wheels

here is a picture of the 2005 DRZ400SM

[alophind]

The supermoto (which is also called supermotard in some countries) is actually a hybrid of daddy road-bike and mommy dirt-bike. The supermoto history began in the USA around the late 70's. The Americans wanted to bring together all their riding talents into one event (Speedway, Motocross, superbikes etc.) For that event, they came up with this hybrid bike but dropped the whole idea pretty fast. In Europe on the other hand, people were really excited about it and the whole thing took off, especially in France. Nowadays. supermoto is a well known sport in most modern countries, whether they have legalized motorsports or not (Israel for instance...)

So what do you do with a supermoto? Well, the fun part about this bike is the ability to lean it up to your ears, even at low speeds. This means that the whole sport could be developed in parking lots. In countries where this sport is legal, kart tracks are sometimes used, as well as landing strips and even indoor tracks, like in supercross events. In Israel, tracks are marked inside abandoned parking lots. Well, ya got to start somewhere...

So what do you get eventually? A bike wearing super-sticky sport tires with all the advantages of a dirt bike - lightweight, quick, loves stunts, and of course is not afraid to fall down... Like in enduro riding, when a supermoto falls down the rider gets up, picks up the bike and goes on. Sadly, this is not the case in super-sonic sportbikes, needless to say.

The main thing that separates a supermoto from a regular dirt bike is the wheel size - In dirt bikes, the rear wheel is 17" or 18" and the front wheel is usually 21". Supermotos run on a pair of 17" wheels that are also wider than those of dirt bikes, which make it possible to use good sticky road tires.

Hope thats help (brought this to you from the Israeli SM site)

[Gyro]

Its a tool for terrorizing the neighborhood ?

[alophind]

Its a tool for terrorizing the neighborhood ?

?

[sceason]

Thanks. That was quite a read!! ? :cry: