Showing posts with label Supermoto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Supermoto. Show all posts

Sunday, September 20, 2015

BIKES: 605 Supermotos from Around the Interweb

The internet, apparently it is not just for cats. In my usual google perusal of any combination of "ATK, Rotax, Supermoto, 605 etc..." I've come across a few pretty distinct SM customs, some better than others. I hope I don't come off as snide, because I think it is awesome what each of these people has done to make their vision become a reality.

#1 I'll call this one "OLD YELLER"

Yellow Frame and plastics? It almost looks factory! Wave rotor hotness. Black Tank. Black swingarm. Are those fork tubes anodized? And note the Non-ATK rear fender!

Swingarm seems to indicate 600 like the DT models... hmmmmm...

The 17's and especially these footpegs probably make this a whole lot more fun to ride.



#2 Yet another terrible alien supermoto headlight with a red white and blue motiff on this next one I'll call "ILL EAGLE ALIEN"

RED seat WHITE Tank BLUE Frame.

Terrible headlight is almost visible in this one.

The lack of number plates looks okay from the left, but that battery box begs to be hidden by some square footage of plastic.



#3 Sometimes dipping goes a little too far. This one I'll call "Midas Touch"

The black rotax looks pretty sharp, I'm just hoping they used something relatively high temp resistant on that motor and Supertrapp. Can't tell if that's a sprocket protector or not from the pics. The 320 mm rotor in front for stoppie time. It kind of reminds me of this one



#4 Fully stock looking except for the tiny wheel and custom fender, so I'll call this one "LITTLE FOOT"

This little 350 is a sleeper though because the owner did some engine work described later. Looks like they left the 18" in back. No additional views were available on his photobucket account, and no information about the fender on ADVrider where this was originally posted. The owner indicated on the forum that this was a 350 that he bored out to a 440. you might wonder why not 494 or 605. Well, a it turns out if you do the calculations, the limited stroke of the 348 (70.4 mm as compared to 79.4mm for the 494 and 81mm for the 605) means that even bored to 89 mm (494 bore)the total volume of the compression chamber will only be 440 cc. Even if he sleeved it out to 96.5 mm (bore of the 605), he would have only ended up with a 517 cc. That's enough math for now.



#5 I'll let you guess what the most prominent feature on this one is, meanwhile I'll call it "Hot Wheels"

Looks pretty standard except for the Yamaha tri spoke cast wheels.

Which is a pretty big accomplishment given that the ATK Talon size is seen as a "unicorn" fitment and so many people fret about destroying their dirt wheels to make a supermoto set. I wish there was more information available on how these bad boys were jimmied into position (Link up above to the description). It's not that I want tri spokes on the 490, but it might help the many of us interestd in not tearing apart the dirt set, and might give more options for rear braking given the "unobtanium" status of the rear brake rotor.



#6 Supermoto style with minimal investment! I'll call this one "18 WITH A BULLET"

I've often wondered why I shouldn't just relace the front hub to an 18" hoop to drop the bike a little and get a supermoto look. This guy did more than just wonder.

It might look better with a smaller front fender but overall the look is acheived.

The big drawback to this approach is the limited amount of tires available in 18" format. You might get the supermoto look, but you will likely end up mounting a rear tire on the front. This is somewhat contrary to the idea of making your bike into a SM, because the high sidewalls and lack of taper to the contact surface means no significant gains in cornering performance.


Well, that's it for this installment, I'll be keeping my eye on CL and eBay for other sweet custom rides. If you have any pics of some SM ATK's post them in the comments. NOTE: I omitted Bones and Michaelangelo's SMs because I have already posted them in previous blog entries.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

MODIFICATIONS: New Tread AKA "Goodbye to the supermoto dreams"

Since I got the 490 in 2010 I have dreamed about having two sets of wheels thinking a set of 17's would make road riding that much more awesome. After 3 years of rolling on two sets of 80 / 20 21" / 18" Pirelli MT Scorpions, I decided that I hate the slippage on the washboard sections of dirt roads and that I would give a try to a set of 50 / 50 Mefo Explorers.

I never liked that skinny 21" Pirelli on the Front. The 140 18 looked super beefy by comparison.

Amazing that such a simple frame and motor can bring so much happiness to my life.

Not quite knobbies...

But perfect for the numerous Humboldt County loops.

The thought of spending more on a set of supermoto wheels and tires than I paid for my bike has never appealed to me, but getting to and making it out of tiny corners of the world that the ATK has given me access to appeals very much to me. I have yet to see how the Mefos hold up to lots of road wear, but so far they are holding up to the curvy sections of HWY 36 at the speeds that the Scorpions would tolerate without all the slippage on the washboard.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

BIKES: Craigslist Customs

When I run across interesting bikes on Craigslist I try to make a point of saving the pics, which I will publish here with absolutely no permission whatsoever, except that the original owners put them out on the interwebz, and I say that is open season. Also, by "interesting" I may mean kick ass, or not so-much-so.

Carbon Fiber may look cool on some bikes

this is not one of those bikes

Gotta love the black and blue no logo style.

Note the custom black rims too

This bike is super clean, and takes advantage of the weight savings by ditching the plastics and bash plate.

I'm pretty sure you could save that much weight by taking a poop before riding. He also has incorporated the oft needed after market kick stand.

This owner tried to make his bike look super pimp with some color variation, but inadvertently provided us with a nice photoshop template to try out new colors on our bikes!

This shot looks a little more honest

This is the only appropriate color scheme for a red frame. Don't know why we don't see more of these floating around. Super beast mode! Also that sprocket doesn't exactly look like a Talon made situation... hmmmmmmm

Mardi Gras themed ATK. Would you like to earn some beads?

Super clean street tracker.

Looks like the owner plopped an 18 on front and done. Digging that custom seat, looks plush.

Flat track style: check - low mounted Supertrapp, custom tank topper to match the seat, all he needs is the last bikes wheel set and he should be golden.

MURDERED OUT! This guy's ad said that he had just murdered the whole bike out using Plastidip... I'm willing to bet that has not stayed on the Rotax. Just be glad he left the discs alone.

Red, White, and Blue

Yet still looks a tad alien, no?

Like a girl with some overenthusiastic rhinoplasty.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

INSPIRATION: CHUCKY A.K.A. MICHELANGELO

If like most people looking to supermoto (verb) an ATK, you turn to Google for inspiration. In turn, you will run across the very familiar pictures that Chucky (on the ATK forum) A.K.A. Michelangelo (on the supermotojunkie forum). His bike has provided an artistic accomplishment in motard'ing an ATK, since I have seen so many "not so good looking" ATK motards. Perhaps it is the custom headlight, or the custom cut side panels, or maybe the powder coated swing arm, but whatever the "It Factor" is, this bike has it. Unfortunately he has since sold it, and we must be content to peruse the pics that remain in better times when cash could be rolled and Rotaxes roared the open plains!





Images taken from: Supermotojunkie.com

INSPIRATION: BONES

Not uncommonly, my desire to change my motorcycle from a perfectly happy healthy state of being into something different was not uninspired. Bones is one of those people that has taken the canvas of the ATK 605 and transformed it into many different states of awesome. From the older full frame 1995 701 SM conversion, to the 1999 605 full dual sport outfitted monster, he has managed to make a beautiful machine even more magnificent. A master of machinery, an Alaskan ATK muse, a man of vision and purpose: BONES.



Bones' SMUGMUG account for more detailed pics of each build.